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Guy Monahan is back in action, about a month after the PGA Tour announced its commissioner was recovering from a “medical condition”.
in four paragraphs Note to the PGA Tour Policy Board which was widely circulated late Friday, Monahan said he will resume his role on July 17. The tour had announced Monahan’s departure on June 13, which came one week after the organisation, the DP World tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund said they had reached an agreement to operate a new for-profit venture and end pending litigation between the parties.
In a note on Friday, Monahan wrote that the past two years have been “stressful for all of us,” presumably a reference to the Tour’s battle with LIV Golf, which is funded by the Public Investment Fund.
“I personally experienced this number in the days following the announcement of our framework agreement and experienced negative effects on my health,” Monahan wrote. “With the support of my family and world-class medical care, my health has improved dramatically.
“Over the past several years, while we have faced challenges that have called the future of the PGA Tour into question, we have devoted every ounce of energy into securing a stable path forward for our organization. Through the Framework Agreement with the DP World Tour and PIF, we are on the path to achieving this goal. If we can “From a final agreement reached, we can be assured that the PGA Tour will continue to lead and shape the game for the future. Furthermore, we will have the ability to invest in our players and communities like never before.”
Friday’s memo gave no specific reason for Monahan’s absence and said he looked forward to answering board questions.
Monahan made his last public appearance hours after the Saudi deal, when he answered questions in what he described as an “intense” and “heated” players-only meeting at the Canadian Open. His Responsibility: Explain to his membership why, after months of bitter fighting with LIV, it’s time to partner with the league’s investors.
“I’m glad I wasn’t coming today,” former US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy told reporters after the meeting. “There are some angry players out there.”
Monahan also drew harsh criticism from 9/11 support groups for his support for the tough moral stance he took against the Saudi-funded operation.
“I know 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 I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone trying to compete on the PGA Tour and the players.”
Monahan became commissioner for the tour in 2017. Prior to that, he served, among other roles in the organization, as deputy commissioner and chief of operations.