PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan handed over Tour Championship's FedEx Cup trophy Sunday night and received boos for his controversial deal with LIV Golf.
The booing comes as Monahan, having returned from a "medical situation" over the stress of working the deal, tries to finalize a deal with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf. Monahan did not address the deal Sunday night.
Monahan stepped away for five weeks this summer, saying it was anxiety that had built up for two years, and there were no guarantees when he stepped away June 14 that he would make it back.
The agreement for a new commercial venture with Saudi Arabia's national wealth fund and the European tour is to be finalized by Dec. 31 — that includes the future of LIV Golf — all the while Monahan is faced with regaining trust from players who felt betrayed about the PGA Tour's about-face deal with the Saudis.
He said his only regret about the deal was keeping players in the dark.
"I put players on their back foot," he said earlier this summer. "That's something I regret and will not do again."
Asked if he was the right person for the job, Monahan said, "I understand the position I'm in in the short term. But I think the real answer to that question is where are we at the end of this year? And I think where we're going to be ... is going to be a very positive place."
Monahan has been bullish a deal would get done by the end of the year, and the PGA Tour is not considering any outside investors.
"Our focus is on conversations with PIF," he said, adding he was "determined to get this right." He has said a definitive agreement by the end of the year "is the target and that is realistic."
"There is the short term and there is the long term. Looking out over the horizon, we feel like this is the right move for the PGA Tour to create a new commercial model that allows PIF to invest ... and to be able to grow the PGA Tour that will reward players and fans.
"That's what we think is the right path forward."
The commercial venture has been referred to as "NewCo" in documents — typical in business transactions. The actual working title is PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit company that operates separately from PGA Tour Inc., which has 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status.
Monahan said the Saudi deal contributed to his anxiety, though it had been building up over time and reached a point that he had to step away to continue.
"The reality for me was that I was dealing with anxiety, which created physical and mental health issues and challenges for me," Monahan said. "I needed to step away and deal with that."
The agreement was announced June 6, and Monahan met with players at the Canadian Open later that afternoon. He described the meeting as "intense," with some players wanting him to resign.
A week later he announced he was taking a leave.
"My nature is to always ... run into a fight or a conflict, not run away from it," he said. "To step away at that point in time was very difficult for me, but I needed to take care of myself for my family, for myself, and ultimately to come back here stronger than I've ever been to lead the PGA Tour forward."
Viktor Hovland won the Tour Championship, FedEx Cup, and the $18 million bonus.
"The game plan was to try to play as boring as possible — play it like Tiger back in the day when he would post a 69 or 70 in a major championship and walk away with the victory," Hovland said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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