8 things we learned from Jay Monahan's explosive PGA Tour memo

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sent a memo to tour membership late Wednesday, outlining a number of efforts and updates as the tour proceeds with its planned partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. As far as tour memos go it was expansive in reach and progressive in vision. Most notably, it comes just a week after Monahan returned following a health-related sabbatical. Here are eight things you need to know about the tour’s memo about its future.

Monahan is back to full health

Though Monahan has not publicly acknowledged the issues that sidelined him for roughly a month—and which caused him to miss the Senate hearing earlier this month or last week's Open Championsihp—the commissioner told players in the memo that he has fully recovered and is “committed to representing the best interests of the PGA Tour” after returning to the job last week. During his time away, players had been respectful of Monahan's health issues while also acknowledging the need for him to re-earn the trust of many of them after working on the framework partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund without any player input. The memo—and its message—perhaps can be viewed as an initial step in trying to regain that trust.

Raine Group involvement

Monahan announced that Colin Neville of the Raine Group will be brought in to help ensure a transparent, efficient and collaborative process and be a resource for the negotiations between the tour, the PIF and the DP World Tour. The Raine Group was behind the Premier Golf League, the tour that initially attempted to rival the PGA Tour before Saudi’s PIF investment diverted from the effort and instead founded LIV Golf. Neville, sources tell Golf Digest, was an advisor of sorts to the players-led initiative by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods to combat the LIV Golf threat last summer.

A 'task force' will decide LIV Golf discipline

Borrowing a term from the United States Ryder Cup braintrust, the tour has put together a group that will decide what type of penalities, if any, players who defected to LIV Golf would face should they want to return to the tour. A pathway back for LIV Golf members was agreed to in the framework agreement between the tour and PIF. “All aspects of the PGA Tour tournament regulations are being considered, and more details will be provided upon further evaluation,” the memo says. The task force will be comprised of PGA Tour executives Andy Pazder, Jason Gore and Neera Shetty. Speaking of Gore …

Jason Gore will try to keep the peace

Last year Gore, a former PGA Tour player, left his role as the USGA’s first player relations director to take a similar position with the tour. Gore was instrumental in improving the rapport between the governing body and professionals following an era of hard feelings between the two sides. It’s clear the tour will need Gore to do the same as the membership comes to grips with tour leadership’s surprise partnership. Monahan signaled Gore’s importance to players, with the memo announcing Gore has been promoted to executive vice president and chief player officer position.

How the tour will replace Randall Stephenson

One of the upshots of the PIF deal was the resignation of Stephenson from the tour’s policy board. In a letter to players Stephenson, an influential voice in professional golf, said he had “serious concerns” about the new alliance. It should also be noted that Stephenson is a former AT&T executive, and perhaps no tournament was hurt by Saudi Golf’s foray into the sport like the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which was played opposite the Saudi International the past few years. According to the memo, Patrick Cantlay and Webb Simpson are helping lead a search for Stephenson’s replacement, with the ultimate choice needing unanimous board approval.

The tour will not abide by distance rollback

It's arguably the biggest news to come out of the memo. A week after the R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said “Doing nothing is not an option” regarding growing distance gains in the game, Monahan announced the tour would not abide by a proposed model local rule from the USGA and R&A that would roll back the ball if it were to go into effect as potentially scheduled in 2026. In itself this is not a surprise; sources told Golf Digest at the Players Championship, just days before the USGA announced its proposal, that the tour was unlikely to go along with the proposal as currently constituted. With players overwhelmingly against the motion, Monahan is not in a position to fight his players on this front. However, Monahan did say he intends to collaborate with the governing bodies towards an eventual solution on the matter.

Benefits for those that stayed

A growing response from PGA Tour players who remained with the circuit is that they would like to be compensated for their loyalty. Monahan agrees. “We have obtained player input that is helping to inform the potential structure, components and timeline,” Monahan said about player payouts. “This program, should we reach a definitive agreement, will be financially significant in total and incremental to our planned compensation package.” Pazder and Gore will also be in charge of this endeavor, along with tour executive Jay Madara.

Schedule announcement delayed again but not much longer

The schedule for the 2024 PGA Tour season was initially expected to be released during Travelers Championship week, sources tell Golf Digest, but was delayed after the proposed deal with Saudi PIF was announced. According to Monahan, the new schedule is now expected to be released to members during the first week of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Memphis.