PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monaghan has attempted to explain why he did not consult leading stars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy on the agreed merger of world golf's major tours. The shock announcement was made in a joint statement on Tuesday, confirming that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf have agreed to merge into one yet-to-be-named world tour.
Former world No 1s Woods and McIlroy have been two of the most outspoken critics of the breakaway LIV Golf Tour and turned down lucrative offers to stay loyal to the PGA Tour. But now it appears they will be forced to join a merged version of the controversial Saudi breakaway series without having had any say in the matter.
After the stunning announcement was issued unilaterally by all three tours on Tuesday, PGA Tour boss Monaghan was quizzed on his failure to consult his tour's leading players. As relaid by Sky Sports, he said: "What we've agreed to here is a framework agreement and the binding elements are tied to the litigation and a lot of these details, we've got to work through.
"Obviously Tiger and Rory's perspective is one that I understand very well and it was part of my thinking throughout these conversations and it will be a part of my thinking going forward. And now that we're in a framework agreement, I look forward to talking to all of our players including the two of them, to make certain that this comes off the right way."
The landmark agreement came exactly 12 months since Monaghan himself had questioned the ethics of the LIV Golf Tour being funded by Saudi Arabian money.
Explaining his change in position, Monaghan said: "I recognise everything that I've said in the past and my prior positions. I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite and any time I've said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment and I said it based on someone that's trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players. I accept those criticisms."
Tensions within the PGA Tour ranks reached boiling point on Tuesday evening when a hastily arranged players' meeting was held in the clubhouse of the Canadian Open in Toronto, with the tournament set to get underway on Thursday.
According to the Telegraph, Monaghan's attempts to justify the merger with LIV Golf turned ugly when world No 227 Grayson Murray called for the PGA chief to resign saying: "We don't trust you Jay, you lied to our face."
McIlroy is reported to have yelled back "just play better Grayson!" but amid a hostile atmosphere, the Northern Irishman's defence of Monaghan did not receive unanimous approval. A furious Grayson reportedly told McIlroy to "f*** off".
Monaghan later described the meeting at the Oakdale Country Club as "intense" and "heated" but with not a single tour player reportedly aware of the controversial agreement in advance of its announcement on Tuesday, Monaghan's description can be taken as an understatement.