PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan reveals past 2 years affected health

Jay Monahan is returning to work, about a month after the PGA Tour announced its commissioner was recovering from a “medical situation.”

In a four-paragraph note to the PGA Tour policy board that was widely circulated late Friday, Monahan said he would resume his role on July 17. The Tour had announced Monahan’s leave on June 13, which came one week after the organization, the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced that they had come to an agreement to operate a new, for-profit enterprise and end pending litigation among the sides.

In the memo on Friday, Monahan wrote that the past two years have been “grueling for us all,” presumably a nod to the Tour’s fight with LIV Golf, which is funded by the PIF.

“I experienced that toll personally in the days following the announcement of our framework agreement and encountered adverse impacts on my health,” Monahan wrote. “With the support of my family and thanks to world-class medical care, my health has improved dramatically. 

“Over the last several years, as we’ve confronted challenges that called the PGA Tour’s future into question, we have devoted every ounce of energy to securing a stable path forward for our organization. With the framework agreement with DP World Tour and PIF, we are on a path to accomplish this goal. Should we be able to reach a definitive agreement, we can rest assured that the PGA Tour will continue to lead and shape the game for the future. Beyond that, we will have the ability to invest in our players and communities like never before.”

Friday’s note did not give an exact reason behind Monahan’s absence, and it said he looked forward to answering questions from the board.

Monahan last appeared publicly hours after the Saudi agreement, when he fielded questions at what he described as an “intense” and “heated” players-only meeting at the Canadian Open. His charge: Explain to his membership why after months of bitter fighting with LIV, the time was right to partner with the league’s investors.  

“I’m glad I wasn’t Jay today,” former U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy told reporters after the meeting. “There’s some grumpy players in there.” 

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Monahan has also fielded pointed criticism from 9/11 support groups for backpeddling on the hard moral stance he took against the Saudi-funded operation.

“I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Monahan told the media ahead of the Canadian Open. “Anytime I 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.”

Monahan became commissioner of the Tour in 2017. Before that, he served, among other roles in the organization, as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer.