According to Sportico, Jay Monahan earned over $23 million in compensation last year. Fans sure are frustrated about it, calling him the “worst commissioner in history.” This hefty sum included $12.1 million in bonuses and incentives, $6.7 million from post-2023 long-term incentive plans, and $2.5 million in retirement benefits. His base salary was $1.8 million. Too much money for someone who has not even played golf this year, right? Now imagine how someone who played all year would feel seeing this. Bad, right?

Monahan’s pay has been continuously increasing substantially for the past couple of years. In 2017, he earned $3.9 million; fast-forward to 2020, and his compensation was $14.2 million; however, the Tour clarified that only $8.3 million was his annual salary, with the remaining $5.9 million tied up in long-term incentives and retirement benefits. By 2022, Monahan’s total earnings hit $18.6 million. Do you see the pattern here? If this continues, his 2024 earnings will be even more in 2024, which will only come to light next year.

This year was a great one for Schauffele. He went from being a zero-time major winner to being a two-time major winner. He also had other great performances, and as a result, he earned roughly around $18 million this year. Ahead of the Tour Championship, Xander Schauffele was the only player who had a chance at beating Scottie Scheffler’s 2024 earnings. The #1 earned $29.2 million in prize money this year.

Bob Harig on X pointed out something similar. He noted that next year, when numbers come to light, Scheffler will be the only player surpassing Monahan’s payday, as there is almost a $11 million difference between Schauffele’s and Scheffler’s earnings this season. Obviously, this would not sit right with Xander Schauffele, who truly had one of his best seasons. 

This was not the first time the golfer and Jay Monahan would have disagreed with each other. It has happened before, this year only.

Xander Schauffele feels betrayed by Jay Monahan

Back in June, Xander Schauffele accused the Commissioner of never standing up for the players during any chaos. He stated that he felt betrayed by Monahan after the PIF agreement was announced back in 2023. He added that this would make it difficult for the players to once again trust him. Even at the PLAYERS Championship, he said that Jay Monahan still has a long way to go before he can earn the trust of the players.

Speaking to The Times ahead of The Memorial Tournament, Schauffele said: “What I can say is that throughout all of this turmoil, what’s probably bothered me the most — now more than ever — is that we need someone to lead us, we need a leader. My job is to do what I did [at Valhalla] and play good golf and be an entertainer and show how exciting golf can be.”

“Trust is something that’s pretty tender, so words are words, and I would say in my book he’s got a long way to go. He could be the guy, but in my book, he’s got a long way to go to gain the trust of the membership. I’m sure he’s got the support of the board, since they were with him making some of those decisions, but for me personally, he’s got quite a ways to go,’’ said Schauffele.

What are your thoughts about how Jay Monahan is proceeding with the growing rift between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf and his compensation?  Let us know in the comments section below!