Monahan spoke at the New York Times DealBook Summit, covering a number of topics from the tumultuous past year that included the continued threat of losing players to LIV Golf; the tour’s surprise framework agreement with PIF in negotiations unknown to the players, and the subsequent leave of absence Monahan took to address his own mental health issues.

Monahan, the tour’s commissioner since 2017, returned to his job in late July but has faced withering criticism from some players for the lack of transparency during the PIF negotiations and the concern expressed by some that he is no longer the best person to lead the tour.

Monahan, 53, did not address those concerns in his talk on Wednesday; instead, he portrayed himself as a key player in the continued negotiations with PIF and other potential investors. A deadline of Dec. 31 was set for a deal to be finalized in the original framework agreement.

“We’re having conversations with multiple parties,” Monahan said. “The deadline for our conversations with PIF, as you know, is a firm target. I’ll be with Yasir next week. And we continue to advance our conversations. And I think it’s pretty well known that there’s a large number of other interested parties that we’re also pushing to think about.”

Fenway Sports Group and KKR & Co. investment firm co-founder Henry Kravis have been among the entities that are reportedly interested in a tour stake.

“When this gets finalized,” Monahan said, “the PGA Tour is going to be in a position that … the athletes are owners in their sport, and you’ve got not only the PIF, but you’ve likely got another co-investor, with significant experience in business, in sport and brand that’s going to help take the PGA Tour to another level and help us take share from other sports and even be more competitive.”

In the aftermath of the stunning announcement on June 6 about the PIF agreement, Monahan felt barbs of criticism from numerous sides, and that situation came to a head when, a week later, it was announced that the commissioner was taking a leave of absence from the tour for health issues. Monahan revealed in August that he was suffering from anxiety related to the PIF situation that caused him physical and emotional distress.

“I think what’s happening to me in my head around that timeframe was not too dissimilar to what was happening to me in my head in the months prior to it,” Monahan said on Wednesday. “This had been an extended conflict.”

It clearly pained him to leave at such a critical time in the tour’s history.

“I knew I’m the first person to run into a fight,” Monahan said. “Anybody that knows me will tell you that. And I knew the perception was that I was running away from a fight. And that was excruciating. That hurt me to my core.”

In his most insightful comments since his absence, Monahan called himself “a work in progress,” while noting that he’s taken steps in his life, both mentally and physically, to rectify some of his past problems in dealing with stress.

“You’ll hear people talk a lot about ‘I focus on the things I can control.’ I wasn’t doing a good job of that,” Monahan said. “I was confusing that. I am fully focused on the things I control. And so, you have to realize that it’s part of life, it’s part of who I am, it’s my truth. And I am a work in progress. And I’m just every single day trying to improve.”

Having said all of that, Monahan continues to believe that his decisions during the year have put the PGA Tour and its players in a better position for the future.

“People have made far more consequential decisions than the one that I’ve made and ultimately, the one that we’re going to make,” Monahan said. “You have to look out over the horizon, you have to believe in your heart of hearts that what you’re committing to is the right decision. And you have to be willing to take all the criticism, and there has been a lot of it, and it will continue to be more.”

Image: Jason Allen/ISI Photos

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In a memo sent to players Tuesday (first reported by Golf Channel), Monahan reiterated that his focus remains working “toward a definitive agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour as our priority.”

“Progress has been deliberate given the complex nature of the potential agreement, and we will keep you apprised of the progress, with continued input and direction from your player directors and player advisor Colin Neville,” Monahan wrote.

Since the tour’s surprise announcement that it had come to a detente with PIF in June, the PGA Tour has been entertaining interest from several companies vying to provide financial backing. It remains unclear if this backing would be an alternative to PIF’s support or to supplement it in order to appease U.S. antitrust regulations. Earlier this fall the PGA Tour acknowledged these discussions in a memo to its membership. “We remain focused on reaching a definitive agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour, but not surprisingly, these negotiations have resulted in unsolicited outreach and proposals from a number of other interested investors,” the PGA Tour’s Jason Gore wrote in the memo, which has been obtained by Golf Digest. “All of this activity reinforces the tour’s strong position and our potential for growth.”

On Tuesday, Monahan outlined to tour members that the review of these bids remains ongoing following a Monday policy board meeting. Entities in the bidding process include the Fenway Sports Group (which owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Premier League team Liverpool F.C.), Acorn Growth, Eldridge Industries and the investment firm KKR & Co. Executives from Endeavor—the parent company the WWE, the UFC, and sports agency IMG—said last month its bid was rejected.

Tuesday’s memo, which came after the PGA Tour Policy Board held a meeting on Monday, also noted that the tour has designed a program that would allow direct equity ownership for players in the new for-profit entity.

Other items in the memo include the announcement that Patrick Cantlay was reappointed as a player director, and that Valero chairman Joe Gorder will join Ed Herlihy, Jimmy Dunne, Mark Flaherty and Mary Meeker as independent directors on the board. Gorder fills the vacated spot of Randall Stephenson, a former AT&T executive and an influential voice in professional golf, who resigned from his position on the policy board in July citing “serious concerns” with the tour’s proposed deal with PIF.

The framework between the tour and PIF calls for a new agreement to be completed by the end of the year, although both sides can agree to extend the deadline. The memo did not address if the deadline would be extended. Additionally, outside obstacles remain for the PGA Tour-PIF partnership. The U.S. Senate opened an investigation into the pending deal, citing that the alliance “raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution.” The deal could be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which analyzes mergers regarding potential threats to the nation’s security. The tour continues to be under an antitrust probe by the U.S. Department of Justice, and PIF’s investment into the tour is expected to fall under this investigation.

“Even if we get a deal done, it doesn’t mean that it’s actually going to happen,” said Rory McIlroy, a member of the Policy Board, during a press conference on Tuesday at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. “That’s up to the United States government and whether the Department of Justice think that it’s the right thing to do. So it wouldn’t be a sure thing.”

Asked more about the status of the negotiations or if he could elaborate on any details being discussed, McIlroy was stoic in his response. “If you were in the middle of it, you would see that there’s a path forward. It’s just that no one on the outside has any details,” McIlroy said. “Loose lips sink ships, so we are trying to keep it tight and within walls. I’m sure when there’s news to tell, it will be told. But getting something done sooner rather than later is a good thing.”

Image: Jared C. Tilton

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The framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has consumed so much of commissioner Jay Monahan’s schedule that there has been no spare time to actually play golf. He didn’t tee up during 33 days of medical leave he took to deal with anxiety, nor since his July 17 return to commissioner duties. “I’ve blown out to a six handicap,” Monahan, a former four handicap, said with a laugh after addressing media at the Tour Championship.

It was Monahan’s first public press conference since his return, and reporters were keen to know the progress on the framework deal with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which finances LIV Golf. Monahan’s 45-minute address had plenty of words, and a positive undertone, but few details. His opening remarks were 14 minutes long.

“I know I’m talking lot here, but I haven’t seen you guys in a while,” he said.

Monahan has been in multiple discussions each week with the PIF. On June 6, the PGA Tour entered into a framework deal with the fund to immediately drop litigation between the two parties and create a new for-profit company, called PGA Tour Enterprises, in which the PIF will be a minority investor. The deal’s deadline, which can be extended, is December 31.

“Right now my focus is on the negotiations with PIF,” Monahan said, adding the tour’s chief operating officer, Ron Price, and executive vice president and president of the tour, Tyler Dennis, have also been in those discussions. “That’s where all my energy and attention is. But I think given the amount of attention that our framework agreement has received, and in particular the fact that we’ve created a NewCo [new company] … I think the realisation that there is an entity that can be invested into at the PGA Tour and the uniqueness of being able to invest into a professional sports league of the calibre, quality and sustainability of the PGA Tour, obviously has generated a lot of interest.”

It has also generated doubt within professional golf as to whether the deal would get done. Mainly, because the PGA Tour is adamant that despite the PIF pouring money into the new entity, the tour will maintain operational control.

“If you saw the amount of conversation and the time that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF are spending working forward from a framework to a definitive, I think would you see the sincerity of the efforts there,” Monahan said. “The PGA Tour [will have] PIF as a minority investor in NewCo, [and] full-board governance and operational control of the tour and ultimately the men’s professional game moving forward,” Monahan said. “Given the fact that there’s frequency of talks, we’re probably right where I would expect that we would be. But there’s an intensity and there’s an urgency and there’s a lot of good work that’s being done. I am confident that we will reach an agreement that achieves a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and our fans. I see it and I’m certain of it.”

Added Dennis: “It progresses daily, and it’s very positive and collaborative in nature.”

But what exactly is a positive outcome? Is it ensuring LIV Golf, and its 14-event schedule featuring shotgun starts and a team component, ultimately folds? Or that its top recruits such as major winners Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka return to the PGA Tour via some sort of penalty? Monahan couldn’t answer.

“I appreciate your question. These are the kind of topics and discussions that we’re having right now with PIF,” he said. “When we complete our discussions, we’ll have an answer for that question. That’s a non-answer, but that’s my position.”

What he could answer was what the PGA Tour would do with the PIF money should the framework agreement go ahead.

“Use the capital to be able to invest back in our product,” he said. “Like further reduce commercial inventory in our broadcast, further invest in our data businesses, further invest in our media business, potentially invest in entities and companies that we think are going to help us grow and diversify our fan base and the game.”

Monahan added that Netflix’s debut golf series, “Full Swing”, had also helped grow the fan base of the PGA Tour. The drama of this season as fuel for the series’ second season is not lost on him.

“I fully acknowledge that this hasn’t been an easy road … but ultimately I really do feel very strongly about the result we’re going to have,” he said.

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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said the tour remains committed to playing its season-opening event in Maui amid the devastation to the island from recent wildfires.

The Sentry (formerly known as the Tournament of Champions) is currently scheduled to kick off the 2024 campaign during the first week of January. However, earlier this month a series of wildfires engulfed the island of Maui, killing at least 115 people with another 800 missing. The fires were spread out over 17,000 acres of land and caused over $6 billion in damage.

The ongoing tragedy seemingly puts the Sentry in doubt. Not only for the island’s capability of providing the resources to host the event, but the perceived optics of playing a golf tournament for millions against the ongoing struggles from the fires. But Monahan, speaking on Tuesday at the Tour Championship, said the tour hopes to be a “source of inspiration for the great people of Maui and Lahaina by the time that we get to Maui in January.”

“Absolutely,” Monahan later said when asked if the tour will host the event in Maui. “But I think at this point there’s so many unknowns, and we want to be respectful of the challenges. We want to help be a part of the revitalisation. There are a lot of considerations. We’re committed, you know, if we’re allowed to, if we’re invited, if we’re embraced, given all that needs to be accomplished, we will be there 100 per cent.

“The PGA Tour, when moments like this happen, this is when we’re at our best. So we don’t have the answer to that right now, but we want to do everything we can to make certain that that’s a moment for the people of Maui that is entirely helpful and inspiring. And I would also add that our partner in Sentry has been there every step of the way and is doing some pretty remarkable things right now alongside our team and we’ll have more to add on that front. But we are hopeful to be there.”

Founded in 1953, the tournament’s field was historically restricted to winners from the previous year. A change was made in 2021 to invite all those who made the Tour Championship due to the abbreviated 2020 Covid-19 season, and in 2023 the field now includes the top 30 players from the final FedEx Cup standings who qualified for the previous year’s Tour Championship in addition to the previous calendar year winners. Additionally, with the tour revamping its fall season, the 2024 edition of the Sentry will mark the official opening of the new season.

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“A work in progress.” That’s how PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan described his biggest challenge to date.

He was referring to himself.

Monahan on Wednesday revealed that anxiety-induced “mental and physical health challenges” precipitated his decision to take a leave from his day-to-day duties with the tour for slightly more than a month. He further admitted that it was not a certainty that he would return, but “I was fully committed to the process of coming back”.

“I realised that I need to step away and deal with that and to develop the skills to deal with that going forward,” Monahan told a small group of reporters during a one-hour round-table interview in the clubhouse at TPC Southwind, where the FedEx St Jude Championship kicks off the playoffs Thursday morning. “Ultimately, you can’t wait when you’re in a situation like that, and I needed to deal with it. I needed to deal with it for my family and for myself. That was a very hard thing for me.”

The PGA Tour announced on June 14 that Monahan was taking a leave of absence for an undisclosed medical situation. That occurred eight days after he announced the surprise framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Monahan, 53, said that stress that had been building up over a period of time contributed to his condition as opposed to a single event.

For more than a year, the tour had been fending off a challenge from the LIV Golf League, funded by the PIF, that has resulted in several high-profile players moving to the new circuit and ultimately a number of costly lawsuits. The deal Monahan revealed on June 6 with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan included a dismissal of all legal proceedings.

Monahan returned to work July 17. He met with about two dozen players on Tuesday at TPC Southwind and first and foremost told them:“I am healthy, I’m energised, I’m ready and I’m moving the PGA Tour forward.”

He had no hesitation about stepping back into the high-pressure tasks that come with being the tour’s commissioner.

“I think everyone knows my nature and my nature is to always be one to run into a fight or a conflict, not run away from it,” Monahan said. “Because I had world-class medical care, I fully committed to the process. I was not going to come back until I was told by doctors and medical experts and my wife and my girls that I was fully supported in coming back. And that was not something that was a certainty when I stepped away.

“Anxiety affects everybody differently, and it had been affecting me. I realised the position I was in said this is the right time to take care of myself. I’m a work in progress.”

Monahan was gratified that the most common question players have been asking him is about his health. “Every player has not started off with a business question, but a personal question, and that means a lot to me.”

“It’s definitely good to have him back,” said Scottie Scheffler, ranked No. 1 in the world and No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings as the playoffs begin on Thursday. “I think the tour has got a long way to go. But it’s always nice having Jay back in person. Guys when they want to can have face-to-face time with him, he’s always available. He’s doing the best that he can to make sure that he’s getting as much player input as possible.”

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Jay Monahan presided over his first player meeting on Tuesday at the FedEx St Jude Championship since returning from a voluntary absence, and while the 90-minute gathering was poorly attended and little new information was delivered, several players agreed that it was simply good to see the PGA Tour commissioner back at work.

And, apparently, a lot of work is yet to be done.

Fewer than 30 of the 70 players competing in this week’s first FedEx Cup playoff event gathered in the Oaks Room in the clubhouse at TPC Southwind. The majority of the meeting was spent reviewing the framework agreement that the tour announced June 6 in which the tour and the DP World Tour struck a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. There were questions about how it was rolled out and how a final deal might look.

Jay Monahan. Michael Reaves

“I think everyone has a better understanding of how things are operating,” Rickie Fowler said. “It was more about the release and how it was broken and how it came out was not how Jay or the tour would have hoped for. There’s still a whole lot that no one really knows, and we [the players] don’t know. It’s just continuing to trust that leadership and everyone is doing what’s best for all of us and the tour moving forward.”

Fowler provided a partial list of topics covered: “If the deal doesn’t work what are the potentials of moving forward? Does NewCo still stay around? Are there other investors? Is the tour sustainable how we currently are?

“The tour is in a great spot and it’s going to continue to grow. The possibility of NewCo and still looking at that. It’s more along the structure and what is the best option for moving forward, whether that’s with NewCo or without.”

NewCo is the proposed for-profit entity under which the PGA Tour and DP World Tour would operate with investment from the PIF, according to the framework agreement.

“It’s a lot of unknowns, I guess; a lot of unknowns,” said Tom Hoge. “I think it was good just to have Jay there in front of us all and see him again and see that he is doing well, and who knows what the path will be going forward. I guess we’re all just wait and see. This is my ninth year on tour going to these meetings, and I understand that not a lot comes from them.”

Monahan returned to work July 17 after stepping away for a month for medical reasons.

Among the notable players who skipped the gathering were Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Viktor Hovland.

A few players left the meeting early, disappointed to not have learned anything new. “The questions got to be repetitive,” said Jon Rahm, who stayed for the first hour. “It was the same stuff we already knew.”

“I thought it was pointless,” said Denny McCarthy.

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The PGA Tour has reversed course on its plan to alter the make-up of its three invitational tournaments in 2024, sources told Golf Digest who furthermore added that much of that is the doing of Tiger Woods — who only on Tuesday was given a seat on the tour’s policy board.

The tour announced in March that the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament would be among eight no-cut designated events next year, but pushback from Woods — as well as from Jack Nicklaus and officials of the Arnold Palmer Invitational — has led to a compromise in which the three events will have a field of 80-90 players and a cut to the low 50 and ties and players within 10 shots of the lead. Woods is the host of the Genesis Invitational near Los Angeles. Nicklaus is founder and host of the Memorial in suburban Columbus, Ohio. The invitationals in recent years have had 120 players.

Sources not affiliated with the invitationals said the three events, with purses of $20 million (or possibly higher) could still pay a stipend to players who do not make the cut, similar to the Masters, which also has a cut to low 50 and ties, but no longer has a 10-shot rule. The Players also will have a cut with a full field of 144 players.

“The Masters was definitely the model for what eventually was decided,” said one tour player who has followed the discussions.

Golfweek reported on Wednesday that the 2024 schedule includes 80-player fields with a cut at the invitationals as part of a report on the proposed rundown of the entire schedule, which for the first time since 2013 features the full slate in a single calendar year. Other designated events, which will have smaller fields in the range of 60 players and no cut, will be the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and Traveler Championship.

Sources say the collection of designated events will be called the “Signature Series.”

At the Masters in April, Woods told reporters: “I certainly am pushing for my event to have a cut. I think that maybe the player-hosted events may have cuts. These are things that Jack and I are still in discussion with Jay and the board and the tour and the rest of the guys. That still is in flux.”

At the Memorial Tournament, Jon Rahm admitted that he had changed his mind about no-cut events, particularly at the invitationals. “I’ve gone back and forth on this issue,” Rahm said. “I at first was an advocate for no cut, and the more time has gone by I’ve become an advocate for a cut. So I think it’s a part of the game, and I think it’s an important part of the game, as harsh as it may be to cut out maybe only 20 players.”

One tour player on the prospect that the invitational would retain a cut despite a slightly smaller field said: “Do you think it’s a coincidence that Tiger is now on the board and they have decided to keep cuts? Tiger won that battle.”

Woods was named a player director to the PGA Tour one day after joining with 40 other players in sending a letter to commissioner Jay Monahan on Monday requesting changes to the tour’s governance. Indications are that Woods prompted the drafting of the letter, which was first reported in the Washington Post.

The PGA Tour is expected to reveal the 2024 schedule to players during a meeting on Tuesday at TPC Southwind prior to the FedEx St Jude Invitational, the first of its three FedEx Cup playoff events. Golfweek reported that next year’s schedule features 47 events, eight of which occur in the autumn after the Tour Championship that wraps up the FedEx Cup portion of the season. The season begins January 4 at the no-cut designated event sponsored by Sentry. It no longer will be called the Tournament of Champions because it will invite winners from this year as well as the top 50 finishers in the FedEx Cup standings, which will be determined after next week’s opening playoff event in Memphis.

The schedule also includes a week off for the Olympic golf competition in Paris the first week of August. said the tour seeks to fill an open date in the autumn the week of November 7-10. The tour recently added the Black Desert Championship in Utah to be held October 3-6.

The tour had previously intended to announce the 2024 schedule in late June, but was held up by a number of issues, including a delay in the sponsorship of the Heritage and Canadian Open, both sponsored by RBC. That deal reportedly was finalised on Thursday, with RBC renewing for one year. A report via Sports Business Journal said RBC is waiting to see how the recent framework deal that includes sponsorship of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour by the Public Investment Fund gets finalised before it proceeds with sponsorship beyond 2024.

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Either Masters champion Jon Rahm doesn’t appear to be as supportive of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan as he let on two weeks ago at the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, or he’s been rethinking where he stands.

Rahm, the No. 3 player in the world, said on Monday on the Spanish language podcast Golf Sin Etiquetas that Monahan and Keith Pelley, CEO of the DP World Tour, “have to earn trust again. When they say that the tour is of the players and — regardless of whether what they did is good or bad, without speaking to anyone from the Board of Directors, Rory McIlroy or whoever is there … they have to earn that respect again.”

Rahm’s remarks were translated on Twitter by @handicap_54.

When meeting the media prior to the first round at the Open Championship, Rahm threw his support behind Monahan. It came while other top players such as Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele suggested that their trust in the embattled tour commissioner had waned after Monahan revealed the surprise deal June 6 in which the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — the group that funds the LIV Golf League — had struck a framework agreement that would potentially result in more than $1 billion being invested in the two tours.

“Jay has behaved so professionally and so well with me and my family,’’ Rahm said at Hoylake. “In that sense, he’s a really good man. Now, as it comes to what he’s been doing for us and the PGA Tour, I think he’s done a fantastic job. I would say it was unexpected what happened. The turn they took without us knowing was very unexpected, but I still think he’s been doing a great job. And right now, after that happened, I only think it’s fair to give them the right time to work things out.”

When he was asked if he’s lost “trust” in Monahan, Rahm said, “My trust? No.”

During the podcast (co-hosted by former tour pro Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño), Rahm went on to explain how he learned of the framework agreement between the three organisations just minutes before the deal was made public.

“Two minutes before the announcement came out, someone from the PGA Tour contacted me and told me everything. I thought it was a joke,” Rahm said. “And this is what they should have done from the beginning. Instead, they generated division then decided to come together again. I hope they reach an agreement. Looking ahead? I hope they manage to reach an agreement. I think LIV will continue, from what I understand and from what I’ve talked to their players. None of them intend to return, and that’s why they left the PGA Tour. They left for a reason.”

Rahm was optimistic that the LIV investment meant upgrades to both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

“Hopefully, with all this capital that can come, we can create a PGA Tour that is better for everyone, that the week is better, that the gym is better, that there is a recovery area, that the physiotherapists have better conditions, that the food is more consistent and the best (week after week), that there is a charter flight for the players (between the weeks of each tournament), that having the PGA Tour card implies that you have a minimum of money, so you can make your life as a golfer. I say this last thing because the fact that you can lose money on the PGA Tour being in the top 150, is criminal. And I have told the PGA Tour many times. There are many things that they could improve, apart from the money for FedEx and whatever.

“And for the DP World Tour I think the same,” Rahm continued, “thinking of those who want to continue playing at home, with a better tour. Now, I have no idea what they want. And I hope that whatever they want doesn’t conflict with this. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. I understand most of those who went LIV.”

Rahm, 28, has won four times this season on the PGA Tour and leads the FedEx Cup standings heading into next week’s playoffs. He acknowledged he had one conversation with LIV CEO Greg Norman in Mexico in early 2022 after receiving a message well before LIV launched last June.

That said, he had no problem with Phil Mickelson, a close friend, and countryman Sergio Garcia leaving for the rival tour, and he added that he often jokes with them about wearing shorts, the 54-hole format and playing out of golf carts. “Phil respects my decision and I respect his decision,” Rahm said. “He has told me that I have no reason to go to LIV. And he has told me that several times.”

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In a press release on Tuesday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan wrote that Woods will become the sixth player director of the tour’s policy board, a move that will give players more of a voice in league matters and its direction.

Woods joins Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati and Charley Hoffman as player directors, with five independent directors and the PGA of America director on the board. One of the independent director seats is currently vacant following Randall Stephenson’s resignation in wake of the tour’s framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Monahan also 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, echoing similar sentiments Monahan made in a memo to tour membership last week. The Raine Group was behind the Premier Golf League, the tour that initially attempted to rival the PGA Tour before PIF investment diverted from the effort and instead founded LIV Golf.

According to the release, Woods and the board “will work together to amend the policy board’s governing documents to make it clear that no major decision can be made in the future without the prior involvement and approval of the player directors.”

“I am honoured to represent the players of the PGA Tour,” Woods said in a statement. “This is a critical point for the tour, and the players will do their best to make certain that any changes that are made in tour operations are in the best interest of all tour stakeholders, including fans, sponsors and players. The players thank commissioner Monahan for agreeing to address our concerns, and we look forward to being at the table with him to make the right decisions for the future of the game that we all love. He has my confidence moving forward with these changes.”

The framework agreement outlined that the tour and PIF have until the end of the year to come to a deal for the proposed for-profit entity, although both parties have the option to extend the deadline.

Woods, 47, is tied for the most wins in PGA Tour history. However, he has been sidelined since April as he continues to rehab following surgery on his ankle.

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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sent a memo to members on Wednesday evening, 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, and comes just a week after Monahan returned following a health-related sabbatical. Here are eight things you need to know about the PGA Tour’s memo about its future.

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. The Raine Group was behind the Premier Golf League, the tour that initially attempted to rival the PGA Tour before LIV Golf was founded.

A ‘Task force’ will decide LIV Golf discipline

Borrowing a term from the United States Ryder Cup brain-trust, the tour has put together a group that will decide what type of penalties, if any, players who moved 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 PGAT. Gore was instrumental in improving the rapport between the governing body and professionals following an era of hard feelings between the two sides, and it’s clear the tour will want Gore to do the same as membership comes to grips with tour leadership’s surprise partnership. Monahan signalled 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

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 modified local rule from the USGA and R&A that would roll back the ball. 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.

Monahan is back to full health

Though Monahan has not publicly acknowledged the issues that sidelined him for roughly a month — including the tour’s Congressional hearing — the commissioner said he is fully recovered and “committed to representing the best interests of the PGA Tour.” Monahan returned to work last week, although was not at the Open Championship.

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 programme, 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 endeavour, along with tour executive Jay Madara.

Schedule announcement delayed again but not much longer

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

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