PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It’s not straightforward being the “man” in any sport. Simply ask MLB commissioner Rob Manfred (lockout) or the NFL’s Roger Goodell (gambling-related suspensions). It’s not all ball video games and sunshine on the prime.
By comparability, Jay Monahan’s Tuesday might have been worse. On a day when a few of his contemporaries had been enjoying protection on a macro scale, the PGA Tour’s entrance man was taking a predictably subdued victory lap.
“He received’t try this [brag]. That’s not his type. He would by no means brag about something,” stated one Tour participant, moments earlier than the commissioner’s 11 a.m. ET press convention.
Maybe the closest Monahan acquired to a brag, humble or in any other case, was when he opened his media session by launching headfirst into the Saudi-backed tremendous league elephant within the room.
“The PGA Tour is transferring on,” a considerably defiant Monahan began. “We’ve an excessive amount of momentum and an excessive amount of to perform to be constantly distracted by rumors of different golf leagues and their makes an attempt to disrupt our gamers, our companions, and most significantly our followers, from having fun with the Tour and the sport all of us love a lot.”
Monahan addresses ‘distractions’ surrounding PGA Tour
Full-field tee instances from The Gamers Championship
It was a great begin. Manfred and Goodell might solely hope for a mysterious and broadly discredited rival league as a main concern on Tuesday.
There was, nevertheless, one line from Monahan’s opening assertion that appeared well-rehearsed and weighty: “We all the time shall be centered on legacy, not leverage,” he stated.
“Leverage” has turn out to be one thing of a set off for the Tour and Monahan because it was weaponized by those that is likely to be eyeing a possible soar to the tremendous league. In Phil Mickelson’s explosive interview on firepitcollective.com, which basically burned down the tremendous league idea and maybe Lefty’s personal profession, he used the phrase “leverage” twice in a single take.
“[The Tour has] been in a position to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm techniques as a result of we, the gamers, had no recourse. As good a man as [Monahan] comes throughout as, except you may have leverage, he received’t do what’s proper. And the Saudi cash has lastly given us that leverage,” stated Mickelson, who later claimed the feedback had been off the document and out of context.
Mickelson, who introduced final month he was taking an undisclosed period of time off from skilled golf, wasn’t within the room Tuesday when Monahan delivered the “leverage” line, however there was little doubt as to whom it was directed.
The commissioner stated he’s not spoken to Mickelson since Phil’s feedback towards the Tour had been revealed. He additionally danced across the notion that Lefty has been suspended by the Tour for his phrases.
Monahan addresses Tremendous Golf League, Mickelson
“We do not touch upon disciplinary issues, potential issues or precise issues. However each participant is accountable for his or her actions out right here,” Monahan stated.
It’s the Tour’s long-held coverage to not disclose suspensions or self-discipline – one of many few points coverage board member Rory McIlroy stated he has with Monahan – but when ever the commissioner was going to say one thing with out saying one thing, it was Tuesday.
Monahan’s message to Mickelson was clear: there is only one method again.
“I believe the ball is in his court docket. I might welcome a cellphone name from him,” Monahan stated. “It is exhausting for me to speak in regards to the completely different situations that might play out.”
On this, the commissioner doesn’t have a selection. Though he’s been more and more cautious to not use phrases like “expelled” and “banned” when requested how he would reply to any participant committing to the tremendous league, two years in the past at TPC Sawgrass he appeared to attract a tough line.
“Our governance system has been pushed by our gamers and our board, and we now have laws in place that permit us to guard the pursuits of our media companions, our sponsors and all of our constituents, and if we acquired to that cut-off date, we’d take measures to vigilantly shield this enterprise mannequin,” he stated.
Privately, the commissioner has been even more durable on potential mutineers, based on a number of gamers, which makes this Mickelson second so compelling. Even when Lefty – who additionally accused the Tour of “obnoxious greed” in a Golf Digest interview earlier this yr – embraces full contrition, which he has not, there’s nonetheless the query of priority.
If Monahan doesn’t observe by way of along with his risk – his promise – in a public sufficient technique to go away a mark, the subsequent time an excellent league-like idea surfaces the commissioner might not have the posh of a victory lap.
Even Tuesday’s subdued flex got here with a reminder from Monahan that this risk is likely to be over, however there’ll all the time be extra threats.
“I get up daily assuming somebody is attempting to take my lunch. That is the best way I function. That is the best way we function as a staff,” Monahan stated.
It’s a harsh and a few would possibly say unhealthy technique to embrace every day, however it does present a glimpse into how these storm clouds have altered actuality on the PGA Tour. Weak spot in any type is unacceptable.
The commissioner would by no means take a victory lap, that’s not his type, simply as he would by no means speak about a particular suspension, that’s not the Tour’s type. But it surely was what he didn’t say Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass that spoke volumes.