Scheffler and Spieth Among Those Who Didn’t Learn a Lot From The PGA Tour-PIF Hearings

We didn’t hear from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, or LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman in hearings on Capitol Hill yesterday, and as a result, the hearings didn’t shed much new light on the framework deal among the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF—at least in the minds of some of the PGA Tour’s top players.

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, said Wednesday at the Genesis Scottish Open:

“I just think that yesterday, we didn’t really learn a whole lot. As a player on Tour, we still don’t really have a lot of clarity as to what’s going on and that’s a bit worrisome. They keep saying it’s a player-run organization, and we don’t really have the information that we need. I watched part of [the hearing] yesterday and didn’t learn anything. So, I really don’t know what to say.”

One thing that the hearings—along with a detailed account of the negotiations that were published in The Athletic over the weekend—revealed was that players were not consulted at any point before the framework agreement was made.

Jordan Spieth said in Scotland:

“It’s a member-run organization with a voluntary board that’s supposed to look out for the interests of the PGA Tour players on the board. I don’t believe that these decisions had to be made without involving, call it players on the board and other board members.”

Senators said that they were still interested in hearing from Monahan, who is returning to work on July 17 after missing nearly a month due to a “medical situation.” It turns out that players still want to hear more from the commissioner as well.

🚨#BROKEN TRUST — Jordan Spieth was asked if Jay Monahan will have to rebuild players trust upon his return to work on Monday: “Yeah, quite a bit, just based on conversations I’ve had with players, and I think he realises that. I’m sure he’s preparing for a plan to try and build… pic.twitter.com/GWeDWBfhr0

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 12, 2023

Xander Schauffele said:

“If you want to call it one of the rockier times on Tour, the guy who was supposed to be there for us, wasn’t. Obviously, he had some health issues. I’m glad that he said he’s feeling much better. But yeah, I’d say he has a lot of tough questions to answer in his return, and yeah, I don’t trust people easily. He had my trust and he has a lot less of it now. I don’t stand alone when I say that.”

While those in Congress didn’t appear satisfied with the testimony by PGA Tour COO Ron Price and Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne, it appears that the players still remain unsatisfied.

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