PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will return to work next week, and some top pro golfers believe he has work to do before he regains his confidence.
Xander Schauffele said that he lost a significant amount of trust in Monahan.
Meanwhile, Jordan Speith noted that «based on conversations» he’s had with other players, Monahan will need to rebuild trust.
«I would say he has a lot of difficult questions to answer on his return,» Schauffele said at the Scottish Open. «And yes, I don’t trust people easily. He had my trust, and now he has a lot less.»
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Xander Schauffele of the USA shakes hands with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan after the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club on January 6, 2019 in Lahaina, HI . (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Schauffele added that he wasn’t the only player who believed Monahan needed to rebuild his confidence.
«So I’m not alone when I say that,» Schauffele said.
Asked if Monahan would have trust issues with the players, Spieth replied: «Quite a bit, just based on the conversations I’ve had with the players. And I think he realizes that. I’m sure he’s setting himself up for a plan to try to rebuild it.
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A week after Monahan announced a business partnership with the Public Investment Fund, the tour said a «medical situation» led Monahan to hand over day-to-day operations of the tour to two executives.
Last week, Monahan sent a memo to players letting them know he would resume his role as PGA Tour commissioner on July 17.
Monahan did not participate in the Senate hearing on Tuesday, where the documents described some of the talks that led to the framework agreement.
Jordan Spieth walks to the ninth hole during the final round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on August 28, 2022 in Atlanta. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
The players were sent a 275-page file of documents obtained by Congress before the three-hour hearing. Some saw part of it or read some extracts from the documents. Spieth chose to play golf at North Berwick.
Monahan and two board members, Jimmy Dunne and board chairman Ed Herlihy, brokered the deal announced June 6 with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Rory McIlroy has been among the loudest voices in the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf battle. He said he felt like a «sacrificial lamb» when he spoke to the media a day after the deal was announced at the Canadian Open.
Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA Tour, speaks with winner Scottie Scheffler of the USA during a trophy ceremony following the final round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2023 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
McIlroy gave two television interviews ahead of the Scottish Open, which begins on Thursday. And then he walked past a dozen reporters. When asked if he had time to speak, his manager chimed in to say that McIlroy would not speak about the hearing.
Schauffele said he looked at some of the documents and began to see a link to the hearing until he finally decided to sleep.
He called this «one of the toughest times» on the PGA Tour, but said it would be less unsettling if the players stuck together. But his biggest problem seemed to revolve around a lack of transparency at the management level.
Xander Schauffele of the USA plays a bunker shot on the sixth hole during the first round of the 123rd US Open Championship at Los Angeles Country Club on June 15, 2023 in Los Angeles. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
«There’s not a lot of communication right now, and things are a bit unsettling. And there’s a bit of a divide between management and the players, if you want to call it that,» Schauffele said. «And my hope is that something positive that comes out of that is more communication, more transparency and kind of an understanding of what direction the tour is going to go in, us kind of being ambassadors for it.»
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The British Open, the last major of the year, begins next week.
Associated Press contributed to this report.