ATLANTA – Jon Rahm is greeted at the first tee by PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan during the final round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on September 5, 2021. | Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Jay Monahan has received plenty of criticism, but Jon Rahm and Brian Harman feel that he should continue on in his role as Commissioner.
Since the tour agreed to a deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) on Jun. 6, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has caught a ton of flak.
Many top players, including Jon Rahm, have expressed feelings of ‘betrayal,’ while Rory McIlroy admitted to feeling like a ‘sacrificial lamb.’ Others have expressed their frustrations, too, citing a lack of transparency from tour leadership during their negotiations with the PIF.
Yet, ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship—the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs—both Rahm and Champion Golfer of the Year Brian Harman expressed their complete confidence in Monahan as commissioner going forward.
“I think he should have the opportunity right now to finish this off the way he did,” Rahm said. “I think we’re quickly forgetting how well he managed a lot of things. He did an amazing job during COVID and kept a lot of people employed.”
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jon Rahm talks to the media prior to FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind on August 8, 2023.
Indeed, during the 2020 calendar year, Monahan worked tirelessly, so the PGA Tour continued through the pandemic. No fans were allowed at events, and widespread testing was made available for players and staffers to ensure the safety of all involved.
“I think [Monahan] deserves a pretty long leash,” Harman said. “Without him, I don’t know if we make it through COVID. His leadership and bravery through that — we were the only sport operating, and I can remember we were on the range and in Connecticut, and it’s peak COVID, and some guys were going down left and right like this guy is positive.”
“The world was scared, we were all scared, and we hear Jay is flying up, and I’m like, well, that’s it, we tried, he’s going to shut it down. He gets up there in front of everybody and plows ahead.”
Since then, professional golf has been divided like never before. The rise of LIV Golf threatened the PGA Tour as a long-standing institution.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Brian Harman talks with the media prior to FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind on August 8, 2023.
Top players ditched the tour to seek better pay and play in 54-hole events all over the world.
Golf was divided, and Monahan, along with top tour officials Ed Herlihy and Jimmy Dunne, took matters to the PIF to bridge the gap.
They were rightfully criticized for leaving players in the dark, but they have since admitted that how the agreement was announced was poorly done.
Since then, Monahan has worked to improve the tour—despite taking a health-related absence from Jun. 13 to Jul. 17.
Monahan brought Tiger Woods in as a sixth member of the PGA Tour’s policy board on Aug. 1; his influential voice will impact all critical decisions related to the tour.
“We should give [Monahan] the chance to see this through,” Rahm added. “Then, after everything is said and done, if players want to make a change, then that would be a better time, but right now, I don’t think it is.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
