Answering unrest from players, the PGA Tour granted membership veto power over potential changes and active talks with LIV Golf.
Tiger Woods joined what now constitutes a six-player board that will help steer the direction of the Tour, which agreed to player demands that include not making changes in the future without player director approval.
“I am honored to represent the players of the PGA Tour. This is a critical point for the Tour, and the players will do their best to make certain that any changes that are made in Tour operations are in the best interest of all Tour stakeholders — including fans, sponsors and players,” Woods said in a statement Tuesday. “The players thank Commissioner (Jay) Monahan for agreeing to address our concerns, and we look forward to being at the table with him to make the right decisions for the future of the game that we all love. He has my confidence moving forward.”
In a statement, Monahan said Tuesday the Tour and its membership agreed to the following to ensure the Tour “lives up to its mission” as a player-first organization:
–Woods named as a PGA Tour player director.
–Amend governing documents to “make it clear that no major decision can be made in the future without the prior involvement or approval of the player directors.”
–Player directors special advisor Colin Neville will have full transparency into the “state of negotiations contemplated by the Framework Agreement” between LIV and the PGA Tour with “full access to any documents or information he requests.”
–Player directors, by proxy, will have the same full transparency and the power to “approve or decline to approve” any potential changes to the Tour as part of Framework Agreement discussions.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele were among the most vocal players to cite mounting trust issues between the PGA Tour and its commissioner in the aftermath of the shocking announcement of an agreement to merge with LIV Golf.
Monahan was on leave within days of the announced framework of the PGA Tour-LIV deal. Spieth said Monahan would be returning to trust issues and more.
“Just based on conversations I’ve had with players (trust issues exist), and I think he realizes that,” Spieth said. “I’m sure he’s preparing for a plan to try and build it back.”
Monahan is back, and he held a meeting in July with Tour members where many of those talking points were aired in a group setting.
Schauffele said prior to the Scottish Open in July, “I don’t trust people easily. He had my trust. And he has a lot less of it now.”
LIV CEO Greg Norman recently trumpeted that the upstart circuit wasn’t planning to make major changes and would be around into the future. His role could be eliminated based on information in the Framework Agreement.
The current PGA Tour Policy Board includes player directors Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson, McIlroy and Woods; Independent Directors Chairman Ed Herlihy (Chairman), Jimmy Dunne, Mark Flaherty, Mary Meeker and a to-be-announced replacement for Randall Stephenson, who resigned over the pending pact with LIV Golf; and the PGA of America Director John Lindert.
–Field Level Media
