Monahan on Mickelson: “My Phone Is On” …“ Ball Is in His Court”
At his press conference for The Players, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was asked repeatedly about Phil Mickelson, his status with the PGA Tour, and what Mickelson’s situation might or might not be in the future.
“I think that as it relates to Phil,” Monahan began,” the ball is in his court. He has said that he’s stepping away and he wants time for reflection.”
Monahan was polite and said he had not talked to Mickelson but that his phone has been on should Mickelson want to call.
“When he’s ready to come back to the Tour, we’re going to have that conversation,” Monahan added.
If there’s a phrase that describes the Tour’s approach to the Greg Norman-led, Saudi-backed tour at this moment, Monahan said they are moving on to other things, other topics, other opportunities. He also said the Tour focuses on legacy, not leverage, which is a bit of a dig into Mickelson’s side after his comments that he was using the Saudi offers to try to leverage changes at the PGA Tour.
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“We have too much momentum and too much to accomplish to be consistently distracted by rumors of other golf leagues…” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan
“I’d like to emphatically reiterate what I told our players at our mandatory player meeting two weeks ago at the Honda Classic,” Monahan began. “We have too much momentum and too much to accomplish to be consistently distracted by rumors of other golf leagues and their attempts to disrupt our players, our partners, and most importantly our fans from enjoying the Tour and the game we all love so much.”
When asked about Norman’s recent threats regarding legal challenges, Monahan replied, “PGA TOUR rules and regulations were written by the players, for the players. They’ve been in existence for over 50 years. I’m confident in our rules and regulations, my ability to administer them, and that’s my position on the matter.”
The PGA Tour is, as Monahan said, “real.” Reading between the lines, this would be as opposed to promises from the Norman and the Saudi tour that have not yet materialized.
“We’re here to grow this Tour to their benefit. We do it every single year, and we’re going to continue to do it,” he added.
He noted that the Tour just started their new media rights deals through 2030. For the first time, a commissioner mentioned where the percentage of payout to players originates. According to Monahan, 85 percent of their revenue comes from media rights and sponsorships.
Monahan then turned to the business at hand, the 40th anniversary of TPC Sawgrass as the site for The Players. Monahan doesn’t think that Pete and Alice Dye had any idea what kind of impact their design would have on golf. He recounted the early comments from those who criticized the design.
“Ben Crenshaw called it Star Wars golf, designed by Darth Vader,” Monahan said. “Jack Nicklaus said, ‘I’ve never been very good at stopping a 5-iron on the hood of a car.’”
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The commissioner said the course was a real test that several top-level players have aced in the last decade, including former No. 1s Tiger Woods, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas.
When asked about the PGA Tour’s reserves or money on hand, Monahan said the PGA Tour reserves are currently $225 million. At their height, it was approximately $300 million. That, however, was before COVID. For the future, they will strive to keep the reserves in that range, between $225-300 million.
“We think that’s a reasonable range to keep our reserves in, in the event of any event like we’ve experienced the last couple years,” he added.