‘Jay Is Glad…This Is Our Tour’: PGA Tour Commissioner Is Rallying His Troops to Combat Rising LIV Golf Threat

Brought together by Jay Monahan to bring the PGA Tour players closer together, an integral meeting took place yesterday between PGA Tour executives and 22 Tour players at the place of the BMW Championship scheduled this weekend. Crucially, amongst the players, Tiger Woods was present as well.

The important attendees, with Jay Monahan missing at the crucial meeting

The meeting took place on Tuesday night at Hotel Du Pont, located in Wilmington, Delaware from 5 PM EST up until 8:30 PM. The meeting had 22 players in attendance, of which 11 met in a similar meeting at the J.P. McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor in Ireland last month. The latest 11 golfers were invited by the PGA Tour based on World Rank and their value to the PGA.

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PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, wasn’t a part of the meeting but seems to have kept a keen eye on the developments. An anonymous player in the meeting quoted along the same lines, “Jay is glad that we are able to come together and speak in this way. This is our Tour and we should be advocates of it.”

Sadly, there is very little news on the list of 22 players who attended the meet. With the meeting being conducted unofficially, the media could track down only a handful of players. Experienced pros such as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas attended the meet, along with a few fresh faces on the circuit.

26-year-old Will Zalatoris was part of  the meeting, fresh off his first PGA Tour title last week that lifted him to the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings. 7-time PGA winner Xander Schauffele was also a part of the meet.

The biggest news, however, was the presence of Golf legend, Tiger Woods, who, despite not contesting at the BMW Championship, flew down to Philadelphia to attend the crucial meet. Alongside him was American golfer, Rickie Fowler, another well-recognized face in the sport.

Snippets of what was said in the meeting

Though the agenda of the meeting was to create a bond and stay in unity, a few concerns were discussed among the peers. The most important of them was the feeling that the best players in the world weren’t playing against each other often, which “hurts their product.” They felt the most important players face off each other only at Majors and a few elevated events, which consists of merely 30% of PGA Tour events, resulting in falling viewership.

Another talking point at the meeting was on elevating the voices of the upcoming PGA Tour players. This included the new faces in golf making it to the PGA Tour faster. An unnamed player spoke on the same, asking why he had to play on the Korn Ferry Tour for over a year. The same player also mentioned that he felt confident about competing on PGA Tour, knowing that the rebel golfers will no longer be part of the competition after getting assurances from the PGA itself.

With another meeting to follow up on the one in Ireland, Jay Monahan has made sure he keeps the existing Tour players united against the LIV Golf series. Despite not being present in the meeting, Monahan had a Player Advisory Council meeting earlier and had planned for an informal Q&A with players before the BMW Championship, similar to what he did last week in Memphis, Tennessee.

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