An Open Letter to PGA Commissioner Jay
Dear Mr. Monahan...
Golf fans are likely aware that about 11 months ago, the PGA - after fighting tooth and nail against the existential threat of LIV and the Saudi PIF - announced a ‘strategic alignment’ with the aforementioned Saudi PIF. It was largely devoid of details, players were mostly informed when the public was, and began a period of confusion that lasts until this day. Nothing structurally has changed, the PGA has lost one of its top players in Jon Rahm to LIV - which many of us thought might no longer exist by now - and as usual, PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan is largely absent from the public eye. So, here we are.
Dear Jay,
What the fuck?
Sorry. Sorry. That’s a bit strong. But Jay, my man, what are we DOING here? It’s mid-May of 2024 and LIV is still around, keeping a few of the best golfers out of PGA events as well as other ways to qualify for majors. This bifurcation is resulting in exactly what folks feared - two terrible products instead of strengthening the one we already had.
I know, I know - you are not dealing with a rational actor in the PIF, and certainly not with Greg Norman, who largely seems motivated in settling scores from back when you both had color in your hair.
They can throw money around in a way the PGA cannot because of the way the PGA is structured (and also because they are funded by the country of Saudi Arabia who doesn’t particularly abide by a conventional set of rules, morals or standards.)
But my guy … it’s been awhile. In the meantime, what’s changed? The PGA has started with elevated events that are now called signature events (or, maybe it’s the other way around and the fact that I can’t be bothered to check says enough to me) with huge purses and some of them are now smaller fields with no cuts, some of the very things the PGA laughed about with LIV.
The PGA is considered a ‘members run organization’ - something that didn’t stop you and a few of your buddies from negotiating with the Saudis, but HAS prevented any real change as players are unsurprisingly selfish in their focus. And one real star who at least says all the right things about the so-called “mules” on tour, Rory McIlroy, left the board due to essentially acting as the public voice of the PGA Tour (Jay, that’s YOUR job, FYI) and then was essentially blocked from coming back by guys like Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth, who think differently about what the future of the tour should be. (Note: We can both agree that Cantlay stinks and Spieth rules, but maybe we can also agree that they have just a wee too much power controlling the future of this professional sports league.)
From a fans perspective, it’s incredibly confusing what’s going on. Every week, one has to determine if the PGA Tour event is a “real” one - with the stars we’d expect to be there - or if it’s something much, much smaller. And I hear folks complain about this but … you have such an opportunity.
First, nuke the irrelevant events. I know, I know, there are sponsor commitments and that sweet, sweet money is just SITTING there to pay for your expensive haircuts and private jet. But you gotta kill them. There’s WAY too many events and it’s hyper confusing. This past weekend, the Wells Fargo Championship took place at Quail Hollow … and also, the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic was held at The Dunes of Myrtle Beach. We’re starting NEW tournaments now? And how does a casual fan know the difference? Which one matters? WHY ARE THERE TWO OF THEM?
You’ve essentially opened two Starbucks franchises across the street from each other, my man.
The reality is that there SHOULD be two different types of events on the PGA Tour, but they need to be clearly distinct from each other. It’s okay to market one as ‘lesser than’ - the Myrtle Beach tournament, for example, is a way for golfers who aren’t eligible for the ‘big boy’ event at Quail Hollow to earn a way INTO those events.
If this essentially splits the tour into two factions well…guess what? We might already be there. Last week, the @pgatour Instagram account was posting highlights from two different events, without any context as to why there were two. Folks need a reason to tune in (and don’t get me started on how hard that can even be sometimes).
Some of the rift between McIlroy’s approach and the other guys on the board was that McIlroy wants the tour to be a true worldwide tour, and play events abroad consistently. Andy Johnson of The Fried Egg summed this up well:
As an outsider, it appears the split between McIlroy and the Cantlay-Woods-Spieth contingent centers around competing visions about the future of the PGA Tour. McIlroy’s stance focuses on continued evolution of the PGA Tour product and the potential for a more global game. That aligns with what every major sport has attempted to achieve over the past decade in terms of expanded international presence.
If some players want to be sticks-in-the-mud and resist becoming a global league, THEY are the problem. And they seem to be in charge.
Wait. That’s right. YOU are in charge, Jay. But where are you? You make like two public appearances a year, and nobody can deny that you look good in a suit. It’s clear that Rahm thought leaving the tour to go to LIV would be the spark that caused real change and so far, I can’t see any evidence that anything has happened at all.
Jay, you seem to be hiding in the corner hoping that somehow, some way this all goes away and you can go back to hosting cocktail parties and laughing with your fellow rich whites. It’s not gonna happen. You have to do something or get the eff out of the way.
Enough people have pointed out, Jay, that the PGA Tour is basically screwed, no matter what happens. The parallel so many have used is the 1994 MLB strike, which resulted in a 20% decline in audience that took years to recover. I certainly was one of those 20%, though this also coincided with me being in graduate school, so who can say. But before all of this mess with LIV started - years ago, just to make sure we’re clear - the ratings for golf trailed almost every other popular sports in the US. Jay, you know this, but you talk as if the PGA Tour has the leverage that the NFL or NBA have.
The absolute dagger in all of this is recent talk by folks who should be involved stating that everyone needs to get together to talk this out. JAY, what has been going on for eleven frigging months? After I initially wrote this, Jimmy Dunne - one of your closest confidantes, who helped negotiate the June 6 deal with PIF in the first place - resigned from negotiations, noting that nothing meaningful has happened in the last eleven months and that the players involved have basically made him expendable.
This sounds like EVERYTHING is going great, Jay!
If you don’t want any part of this Jay, it’s okay - step down and let someone who can solve this step in. Because I’m fairly sure the tour is irrevocably broken, under your watch. Or, you know, do the job you get paid roughly $20,000,000 a year to do? That’s another way to go.
Sincerely,
Greebs In Regulation