Tiger Woods’ former coach has blasted PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan amid reports the boss of the North American circuit is trying shut down LIV Golf.
Tiger Woods’ ex-coach Hank Haney says the PGA Tour should ‘do the opposite’ of what Jay Monahan wants to do amid reports the circuit’s $3bn deal with Strategic Sports Group was the first step in attempts to ‘shut down’ LIV Golf.
Since June 2022, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour have been competitors as the Saudi Arabia-backed league started and still does selectively select the biggest names in the game.
In December of last year, Jon Rahm joined the rival league for an alleged $300 million (£238 million). It seemed the Saudis were warning their rival not to back out of the peace agreement that was announced in June of last year.
The established Tour announced a $3 billion private equity deal with SSG instead of meeting the deadline to ratify the previously mentioned framework agreement.
Recently it was confirmed how the PGA Tour would divvy $930m worth of equity to the top players as part of that deal.
Moreover, leading players such as World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay appeared to indicate the road back to the Tour for LIV players would be difficult given what has transpired over the last two years.
Their position – in stark contrast to Rory McIlroy – has led many to believe the divide in men’s professional golf will remain in place for the foreseeable future given the Tour now has some financial muscle to ‘go it alone’ so to speak.
It’s a dangerous game to play and, despite PGA Tour officials stating a deal with LIV’s financiers could still be on the horizon, the accepted position is the North American circuit does not necessarily want to strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund given the scrutiny it would receive from the U.S. government.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest PGA Tour boss Monahan wants LIV Golf to fail.
When the 6 June framework agreement was announced, the 53-year-old stated he didn’t expect LIV to continue ‘in its current form’ beyond 2024.
At least, he couldn’t foresee a scenario whereby LIV events run concurrently with Tour events
“I am unable to observe that,” he stated, going on, “but I haven’t finished the full assessment, full empirical assessment of LIV that I will do in order to be able to comment on that. However, I don’t see that happening.
“It seems like any scenarios you are considering that would create a link between the PGA Tour and LIV would be more long-term in nature.”
Haney, the former coach of Woods, expressed disapproval of the most recent reports on X, writing: “Whatever he wants, they should probably consider doing the opposite.”