“He had my trust. He has a lot less of it now”: Xander Schauffele shares his thoughts about Commissioner Jay Monahan

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan surprised everyone, including Xander Schauffele and other big-name golfers, by agreeing to merge with LIV Golf. The PGA Tour stars were largely caught unawares, like the rest of the world, when Monahan announced the merger with PIF.

Several golfers felt betrayed by the news and expressed shock when it happened. Monahan lost some players' trust, including Schauffele.

Schauffele said via Sports Illustrated:

“I’d say he has a lot of tough questions to answer in his return. I don’t trust easily. He had my trust. And he has a lot less of it now. I don’t stand alone when I say that. He’ll have to answer a lot of tough questions when he comes back.’’

A lot of players are looking forward to Monahan's return from the hospital. The state of the sport, despite the merger seemingly unifying it, is fragile. A lot of PGA players who stayed loyal don't know what to do or how to feel about the upcoming changes.

Schauffele said he hopes Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour will learn to communicate better and be more transparent after this fiasco.

Jon Rahm also recently said he felt betrayed, while Rory McIlroy called out the merger at the players meeting directly following the announcement.

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PGA stars none too pleased with Jay Monahan following merger

It's not just Xander Schauffele who feels a certain way about Jay Monahan following the merger. Several golfers' opinions of the PGA Tour commissioner have changed in the wake.

Jay Monahan has a lot to talk about

Jordan Spieth said:

"I think if there's any disagreements, it won't work. Honestly we're very much in the dark on it. I don't sit on the board and I'm not on the PAC either. You talk to a lot of other players, it's been quite a shock from the get-go. I wouldn't say that there's enough details to be able to really comment much on any concerns..."

He continued:

"Jay is returning Monday and I'm sure as he starts to speak with you guys, maybe things have gone further. Clearly I think we would probably liked to have seen him at the Senate hearing if he was able to do so, just as a representative of the Tour. But I don't know if there's anything that concerns me. I just hear, if you name one factor of it, I've probably heard yes and no on either side of it on about every piece of it."

World number one Scottie Scheffler said:

“We didn’t really learn a whole lot, again. As a player on Tour, we still don’t have a lot of clarity as to what’s going on and that’s a bit worrisome. They keep saying it’s a player-run organization and we don’t really have the information that we need."

He added:

"I watched part of (the hearing) yesterday and didn’t learn anything... Should I have been [involved]? Probably not. But I’m sure that a few our player members should have been involved.’’

Jay Monahan will have a lot to handle once he returns from his medical emergency.