“Obnoxious Greed”: Phil Mickelson Makes a Daring Verdict Against Jay Monahan’s $25M PGA Tour Gamble

Endeavor’s failed talks with PGA Tour for an investment opportunity have shocked many. Given the fact that the PGA Tour was actively looking for new investment proposals and Endeavor, a talent management company that owns UFC & WWE already has some stakes in the PGA Tour, it was baffling that Jay Monahan pulled the plug on the deal. Now Phil Mickelson’s staggering revelations on ‘X’ put the matter into a different perspective. 

As per Lefty, there were multiple opportunities for deals on Jay Monahan’s table earlier. But, it was because of his megalomania that he refused to entertain a single one. But the six-time-Major-winner didn’t just stop there, rather going on to spew venom at the PGAT commissioner for his “obnoxious greed.“

Phil Mickelson drops multiple truth bombs 

Mickelson wrote on his ‘X’ profile that this was not the first time the PGA Tour rejected lucrative deals. According to Lefty, in 2021, Silver Lake made a similar proposal that was rejected by the PGA Tour commissioner. Notably, Silver Lake currently owns 71% of voting rights on Endeavor.

“Ari and Endeavor were to run 8 elevated events and the players and SilverLake would own the new elevated events 50/50 in a separate entity.” Interestingly, this was before LIV Golf came crashing into the scene and lured away a chunk of PGA Tour heavyweights. As per the 2021 PGA Championship winner, a framework agreement for the elevated events might have prevented the rift. 

Apparently, the PGAT commissioner was warned about the potential breakaway too. But this is what he had to say in response, “The players won’t go, they know what we will do to them.” Notably, PGAT was swift in slapping players who joined the breakaway league with staggering amounts of fines, which forced the players to rescind their PGAT cards.

As per the 53-year-old golfer, it was nothing but Jay Monahan’s greed that prevented him from making a sound judgment. “Jay and Ed had 3 opportunities to have elevated events that would be fully funded and could prevent division but their need to control everything(obnoxious greed) blinded their judgement (sic).”

Read More: PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan Kept a Strategic $3B Silence Over LIV Golf’s Future, Sending Waves of Worry Amidst Defectors

Currently, LIV Golf, DP World Tour, and PGA Tour are working on a framework agreement that would see the long-drawn feud between the warring parties come to an end. It is not immediately clear what prevented the PGAT commissioner from agreeing to a potential deal with Endeavor after saying in a memo that various entities have shown interest in the PGA Tour.

Endeavor’s revelation has shocked many

“They’ve officially turned it down,” Sportico quoted Endeavor president and COO Mark Shapiro as saying. Endeavor was working on a multiyear deal that would pay PGAT $25 million per year, in lieu of a 10% stake on the PGA Tour.

Notably, Endeavor currently works with the PGA Tour in different areas. The group’s IMG unit manages the Honda Classic and PNC Championship events. Aside from Endeavor, Fenway Group has also shown interest in investing in PGAT as per Bloomberg. 

At this point, it is still unclear whether it’s Monahan’s ‘greed’ that prevented the agreement this time as well or there were some other factors that came into play. Regardless, Mickelson’s revelations are sure to cause a spark in the ongoing debate between LIV Golf and PGA Tour.

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