LIV deal details AND a slow play solution? PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan is finally walking the walk

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan addressing the media at the 2025 Players Championship.

After years of talking the talk, the Commish is finally saying things we want to hear. Here are five things we learned (and liked) from his Players press conference.

It feels like it’s been a while since PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had anything interesting to say.

That’s not (entirely) a criticism. It’s just that every time he’s in front of the media, he waffles on about how he isn’t allowed to offer any kind of update on the framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

So perhaps it was with that in mind that he came out all guns blazing in his traditional Tuesday press conference ahead of The Players.

New slow play rules to come into play next month

Forget players leaving for LIV, slow play is the biggest threat to people’s interest in top level golf right now. Previous suggestions from Rory McIlroy and the PGA Tour have proven unpopular, while Collin Morikawa took a more level-headed approach to it all – and it seems that is the way Monahan is leaning.

“We’ve committed to addressing the speed of play. To that end, I’m excited to formally announce these recommendations from our player-led speed-of-play working group: We will begin publishing speed-of-play-related statistics later this season.

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“We will also begin testing a new speed-of-play policy on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas, beginning next month on April 14th specifically, which will include assessing penalty strokes for slow play.

“We will be testing range finders at the six Tour events between the Masters and PGA Championship. We’re excited to learn more about the impact of increased transparency and accountability through these efforts.”

New Tour Championship format under consideration

Some people love it. Some people hate it. Everyone is talking about it. So will the Tour Championship format – which sees the last 30 standing handicapped for the final four rounds of the season at East Lake in a bid to find a true champion – be changing?

“We’re taking a hard look at the Tour Championship format, and with the support of our Player Advisory Council, we’re considering new approaches, and we look forward to sharing more details in the weeks ahead.”

President Trump has ‘significantly bolstered’ PGA Tour-PIF negotiations

Say what you want about Donald Trump, but the President does have a track record for getting stuff done. Last month he met with LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and the PGA Tour’s Player Directors in an attempt to resolve the schism that exists between the two professional golf bodies. And Monahan is happy with the way things are going.

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“The talks are real, they’re substantial, and they’re being driven at the top levels of both organizations. Those talks have been significantly bolstered by President Trump’s willingness to serve as a facilitator.

“President Trump is a lifelong golf fan. He believes strongly in the game’s power and potential, and he has been exceedingly generous with his time and influence to help bring a deal together. He wants to see the game reunified. We want to see the game reunified. His involvement has made the prospect of reunification very real.”

Elements of LIV Golf could be added into the PGA Tour’s structure

This is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of a merger between golf’s top tours. Might we see some country music blaring out of the speakers on every hole at the Texas Open? How about a team championship? Or maybe even a few 54-hole events to aid Tiger’s next comeback?

OK, so that last part seems unlikely to happen, but the point stands: There are a lot of options being discussed at golf’s top table and crucially, Monahan has revealed that he is now open to adding a few elements of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour’s product.

“As part of our negotiations, we believe there’s room to integrate important aspects of LIV Golf into the PGA Tour platform,” said Monahan as part of a lengthy opening statement. “We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together.

“That said, we will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners. So while we’ve removed some hurdles, others remain.”

As for the hurdles, Monahan didn’t want to get into that. But we know from speaking to Guy Kinnings that the DP World Tour is in favour of incorporating team elements and creating an international schedule similar to Formula One. The PGA Tour perhaps less so.

If that is indeed the case, it is still two against one in favour of LIV and the DP World Tour, though you probably don’t need reminding how stubborn Monahan is. The fact he’s still in the hot seat, despite so many big-name players wanting him out, is testament to that!

The DP World Tour are playing an “important” role in negotiations

Given so much of the focus is on the PGA Tour and LIV and whether they can actually co-exist together, it’s easy to forget that the DP World Tour are very much part of the negotiations as well. Asked about their involvement in the deal, Jay Monahan revealed that he is on the phone with his European counterpart Guy Kinnings “virtually every single day”.

Of course, it does make you wonder what they’re actually talking about, especially as the framework agreement was signed 21 months ago. But Monahan did say that he “can’t understate the importance of the role that they’re playing” in discussions with all parties. What exactly that is, we still don’t know for sure. Kinnings had hoped that things might be sorted in time for a unified global schedule in 2026, but Monahan is less inclined to put a timeframe on it.

“I think it’s just not that simple,” Monahan said when asked if there was a deadline everyone was working towards. “When you’re in the middle of these negotiations and they’re as complex as they are, there isn’t a concrete deadline that’s been established. [But] I’m going to do everything I can, within our control, to be able to make the progress that we need to make.”

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