5 big milestones from Jay Monahan’s career, as he returns to work as PGA Tour commissioner

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan returned to work on Monday, July 17, after a month's break due to health difficulties.

Monahan became the PGA Tour Commissioner in 2017, and since then he has dealt with several challenges over the past six years. From tackling the covid pandemic, the emergence of LIV Golf, and more recently the controversial deal with the PIF, Monahan has been part of some of the landmark decisions in these six years.

Here's a look at the five biggest highlights of Monahan's career.

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5 career milestones of Jay Monahan as PGA Tour Commissioner

1) Suspending 2020 Players Championship due to COVID-19

Jay Monahan addresses the media after suspending the 2020 Players Championship

This decision came abruptly and it surprised the fans but it was best for the safety of everyone. When Jay Monahan announced the suspension of the 2020 Players Championship, one round was already completed and Hideki Matsuyama was leading by two shots.

The 2020 Players Championship was being played under the concern regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. Players from other countries were worried about how they would return if the rules would get stricter.

The first announcement came middle of the first round stating that fans would be banned for the next three rounds due to the pandemic. However, by the night, it was announced that all the PGA Tour events including the ongoing event were suspended.

Monahan gave two factors for the decision. The first was the foreign players' concern and the second was the shutting down of Disney theme parks and Universal Studios in Orlando.

"Even though we feel we have a safe environment, we can’t proceed," said Monahan as per Golf Channel.

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2) Giving up salary amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Jay Monahan during the 2020 Tour Championship

Acknowledging the losses incurred by the PGA Tour due to the cancellation of many events in 2020, Monahan waived his salary for a few months until the situation wasn't resolved. Not just the PGA Tour commissioner, the other officials on Tour decided to take a 25% cut.

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3) Suspending the big names for joining LIV Golf

Jay Monahan and Dustin Johnson during the 2022 RBC Heritage

During 2021, there were talks of the new upstart league that was being backed by Saudi Arabia's PIF. Jay Monahan made it clear that the players who were thinking of switching to the Saudi-backed league would face immediate suspension.

The league was initially named Premier Golf League, then Super Golf League, and eventually was launched as LIV Golf League. It saw many big names such as Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Cameron Smith switching to the breakaway league in 2022. All these players were immediately barred from playing on PGA Tour.

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4) Introduction of elevated events to tackle the LIV Golf

Jay Monahan congratulates Jon Rahm for winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions 2023

There were two main reasons why several players chose two switch to the LIV Golf. One was the lesser golf events and the other was the big paycheck. Each LIV event has a purse size of $25 million including the individual and team portion.

To tackle the attractive offer by the LIV, Jay Monahan, and Co. decided to increase the budget of the PGA Tour-sanctioned events from the year 2023. Not just this, 17 events were designated as elevated events, and the purse was increased significantly.

While the Sentry Tournament of Champions had a purse of $15 million, the Players Championship 2023 offered the biggest purse of $25 million. Monahan accepted that the Saudi-backed league was one of the main reasons for the increment in prize money.

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5) Shocking deal with the PIF

Jay Monahan and Yasir Al Rumayyan announced the deal on June 6, 2022 (Image via CNBC)

The most recent and the most controversial decision that Jay Monahan took in his entire tenure so far was the surprise deal with the PIF. Last month, he announced in a joint statement with PIF's governer Yasir Al Rumayyan that both had decided to come together to form a new entity, NewCo. As per the joint statement, the decision was taken for the benefit of the game.

"There’s been a lot of tension in our sport over the last couple of years," Monahan was quoted as saying via CNBC. "But what we’re talking about today is coming together to unify the game of golf and to do so under one umbrella."

Monahan's decision received criticism from everyone including the PGA Tour players who were mostly who were kept in the dark. Families of the 9/11 victims criticized the PGA Tour commissioner for his hypocrisy.

Monahan accepted all the criticism but said this was an opportunity to unify the game and put PGA Tour in a controlling position.

He was quoted, as per Golfweek:

"Any hypocrisy I have to own, nobody else. That’s on me. It shouldn’t be directed at the membership, that’s on me."