A week after Jimmy Dunne resigned due to the LIV Golf peace talks not moving forward, Mark Flaherty has become the most recent member of the PGA Tour board of directors to step down.
The most recent member of the PGA Tour board to resign is Mark Flaherty.
PGA Tour CEO Jay Monahan confirmed Flaherty’s resignation to members in a memo on May 19.
This indicates that he is the second director to quit in as many weeks.
Flaherty follows Jimmy Dunne, an ally of Rory McIlroy, out the door.
Dunne was one of the main designers of Saudi Arabia’s PIF, a framework agreement that was finalized on June 6, 2023.
He used WhatsApp to get in touch with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the mastermind behind LIV Golf, and they had several covert meetings all over the world with the powerful Saudi businessman.
Many well-known golfers were offended by the move, including 15-time major champion Tiger Woods.
After joining the policy board in August of last year, Woods issued a warning to officials like Monahan that no such agreement could ever be made without the members’ knowledge beforehand.
It seems that the parties have not made much headway toward achieving peace.
In his resignation letter, which was made public prior to this past week’s Valhalla PGA Championship, Dunne made reference to that.
He claimed that the other player directors had shrugged off his role as “utterly superfluous” and had treated him coldly, presumably because they were still upset that the deal had been made behind closed doors.
Woods refuted this and stated he was taken aback by Dunne’s choice.
Jordan Spieth shared Dunne’s disapproval of his assertions.
McIlroy, 35, lamented Dunne’s departure after he was turned down for a return to the board and further talks.
According to McIlroy, “Jimmy was essentially the relationship, the sort of conduit between the PGA Tour and PIF.”
“I think part of the reason that everything is stalling at the moment is because of his absence, which has been really unfortunate over the last few months.”
McIlroy stated that he was less hopeful than ever that the PGA Tour and PIF could come to an agreement.
In his letter of resignation, Flaherty made no reference to the LIV talks.
His service to the board began before LIV arrived.
He wrote this after serving for four and a half years: “I want to express my sincere gratitude to chairman [Ed] Herlihy and commissioner Monahan for their leadership in advancing a successful business and product agenda; it is one that continuously puts our players, fans, media, tournaments, marketing partners, and volunteers first.
“I also want to sincerely thank the PGA Tour staff for their hard work in supporting the board and making sure that our events are executed flawlessly every week, resulting in an excellent product that the golf world can enjoy.”
“I want to thank everyone that has helped me during my time on the policy board.
“Best wishes, Mark Flaherty.
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