Jay Monahan on the state of the PGA Tour: The focus should be on the fan

Commissioner Jay Monahan used the 50th Players Championship, the flagship tournament of the PGA Tour, to provide an overview of the current state of the Tour. The ongoing negotiations with the PIF as well as the partnership with the Strategic Sports Group announced at the beginning of the year took centre stage. The overarching message, however, was that fans should be taken into account in all decisions.

Negotiations with PIF are “accelerating”

Monahan was unable to go into detail about the negotiations with the PIF, but stated that the negotiations are progressing and that he continues to believe that a deal will be the best outcome.

“I do know everyone is curious about the status of our negotiations with the PIF. As I’ve said on a number of occasions, you can’t negotiate a deal like this in public, so I will be brief. I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together. While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf’s worldwide potential.”

The deal with SSG is by no means an obstacle; on the contrary, it has improved the chances of a successful negotiation, as the expertise behind it is also attractive for the PIF.

“There are a finite number of athletes, and this is a point in time, a unique point in time where unification ultimately puts the sport in the best possible position to take advantage of this growth on a go-forward basis.”

What the fans want

The cooperation with the Strategic Sports Group is also intended to guarantee future growth, but it is imperative that the cooperation between SSG, players and the PGA Tour focuses on the fan.

“Our business thrives when together we’re all laser focused on delivering for our fans. If we fail on that front, we fail on every front. Three weeks ago we had our first Policy Board meeting since SSG became an investor. The substance of that meeting focused primarily on how we can place our current and future fans at the center of our decision making.

We’ve done extensive research with our fans, and what they’re telling us today is simple: They love golf, and they’re loyal to the PGA TOUR. They’re tired of hearing about conflict, money and who is getting what. They want to watch the world’s best golfers compete in tournaments with history, meaning, and legacies on the line at venues they recognize and love. They also want to know how we’re planning to make the sport more entertaining and easier for them to watch and follow.”

Together with the SSG, they want to focus on these fan priorities. That’s why Monahan addressed the fans directly in his press conference:

“We remain committed to this mission-driven formula, and as I close, I want to speak directly to our fans, our most important constituent, and ones that maybe haven’t felt their voices heard lately. All of this talk about investment and growth, I want you to know that we’re focusing that energy on bringing forth the most competitive and entertaining TOUR possible for you. It’s my commitment and it’s our players’ commitment.”

The PGA Tour ethos: Pure competition

Despite concerns that the PGA Tour has been weakened too much by the departing stars, with the unknown faces at the top of the game as supposed proof, Jay Monahan defends the Tour’s current course, especially with regard to the Signature Events and their effect. The Signature Events are a product of the PGA Tour’s balancing act of creating better earning opportunities for the PGA Tour’s top players while bringing them together more often in one place in the interests of both sponsors and fans, but it is still too early in the season to really judge the newly introduced model.

“Early returns for 2024 show that field strength, player participation, and access for full-field and signature events are strong and delivering on our expectations based on the modeled projections. Year-to-date data includes the following: We’ve had 49 unique players outside the top 50 who have competed in signature events with help of the AON Swing 5 and AON Next 10.”

“We are currently tracking at a 60 percent retention rate among the top 50. Using data comparing participation from the top 50 and top 125 in the FedExCup standings in 2023, or versus 2023, the strength of field at full-field events has improved by nearly 30 percent. Better yet, the reimagined schedule is delivering the essence of the PGA TOUR’s ethos: Pure competition which shows just how hard winning is.”

“Three rookies who took distinctly different paths to the PGA TOUR have already entered the winner’s circle in 2024. Nick Dunlap, the first amateur to win on the PGA TOUR since 1992; Mathew Pavon, a new arrival via the DP World Tour top 10, who sits third in the FedExCup standings; and Korn Ferry Tour graduate Jake Knapp. We’ve also witnessed the game’s elite excelling on the biggest stages: Hideki Matsuyama’s Sunday 62 at the Genesis Invitational, to become the most accomplished Asian-born player in PGA TOUR history; Wyndham Clark winning his second Signature Event at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on the strength of a course record 60 at Pebble Beach; and last week, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler pulled away from a stacked leaderboard with a master class performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard to take over the lead in the FedExCup standings.”

“While it’s still early in the season, there are also a number of stars and fan favorites who haven’t hoisted a trophy yet in 2024. They know it, and in talking to them, they’re looking to put an end to that narrative as early as this week.”

Between legacy and new talent

The PGA Tour is in such a good position precisely because it offers the opportunity to “consistantly regenerate talent and create stars.”

“Jason Gore talks about the fact that a star on the PGA TOUR can be born in three weeks, and that’s what we do, and that’s the strength of our product, and that’s the durability of our products.”

Ultimately, it is not just the players, but the history and tradition of the tour and the individual tournaments that make the tour so strong.

“When you have tournaments that have been in place for decades with history, legacy, tradition, great list of champions, familiarity with your fans, on a global basis, there’s a recognition that winning out here is an incredible accomplishment. That emotion that you see on Sunday after a player wins, that emotion that you see from fans, you know, as players are coming down the stretch and they’re seeing our athletes and their exceptionalism, to me that is something that the PGA TOUR has and always will uniquely provide.”

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But you can never discount, and in fact, it’s a great strength to have that established history and legacy at each one of these tournaments, including this great tournament this week that’s 50 years since its debut, and you look at that list of champions, and the person, the player that drives away here Sunday night winning this championship will have their career and their life changed in very meaningful ways. That’s what we do; we change players’ lives and we change people’s lives, and no organization does that better than the PGA TOUR.”