Phil Mickelson has once again had his say on the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, this time slamming the man in charge: Jay Monahan
Phil Mickelson has called on PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to be sacked, with the looming framework agreement continuing to cast a cloud over professional golf.
Monahan is the man at the centre of the pending deal between the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which is set to see them unite with their LIV Golf rivals. LIV’s biggest name, Mickelson has been critical of the Monahan and co’s running of the Tour, which appeared to play a role in his decision to join the breakaway league last summer.
Reports indicate that the two parties are no closer to signing the framework agreement, even as the deadline of December 31 draws near. The Tour is reportedly in talks with other possible partners outside of the Saudi fund.
For Mickelson, the time has come to retire as the Tour commissioner. The LIV star replied, “Well said,” to a tweet criticizing Monahan that was posted by golf analyst Bob Ball. Golf is in this situation solely because of him [Monahan], in addition to the fact that he has strong-armed LIV players, lost all credibility with his staff, and lost trust with his players.
In my view, there is also no unification or way forward with him involved.” After one of the worst moments in the sport’s history, it is still unclear when or if a deal between the American circuit and PIF will be finalized, as well as what it will mean going forward.
However, Mickelson thinks that once the deal is finalized, players from both sides will get back together and resume playing together. He continued, “In my thirty plus years, we never had any tournaments where all the best players played against each other outside the four majors and Players,” in response to a fan on X.
“Every single elite Tour player is now required to compete in these upgraded events. Every elite player in the world will face off against one another multiple times a year when both tours combine. For the fans and sponsors, both scenarios are preferable to the previous one.”
Hours after Ryder Cup teammate and longtime PGA Tour rival Tiger Woods broke his silence regarding the ongoing negotiations, the HyFlyers captain made his remarks. For the first time since the April Masters, Woods is competing this week at the Hero World Challenge. Unsurprisingly, during his pre-tournament press conference, he fielded questions about the merger.
The 15-time major champion has remained devoted to Monahan and the PGA Tour throughout the ordeal, but he acknowledged that he was disappointed in the way the circuit handled the shocking framework agreement announcement in June. Woods remarked, “We [PGA Tour players] were very frustrated with what happened.”
“It surprised all of us.” It happened without our involvement and so quickly. Nobody was aware. That must not occur once more.” Following the incident, Woods was named a Player Director to the Tour’s Policy Board, giving him direct control over the PGA Tour’s future course.
“How we do that is having six player directors so we control the board and we control what we’re going to do,” he continued, discussing how to ensure that he and his fellow players are not left in the dark in the future.
“I believe that Jay [Monahan] has been involved in the direction; he knows that what happened before cannot and will not occur again, not with the players involved or with the player directors playing the role that we do.”
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