PGA Tour boss reveals 'excruciating' regret over LIV deal: "Hurt me to my core"
PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan has made a series of admissions about his mental and physical health as the deadline for the LIV Golf peace agreement approaches.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan says it hurt him 'to his core' to take a medical leave of absence after shocking the sporting world.
Monahan appeared on national television on 6 June alongside LIV Golf mastermind Yasir Al-Rumayyan to announce a surprise alliance with the rival league's backers - the PIF of Saudi Arabia.
The agreement was negotiated in a series of secret meetings across the globe and marked a stunning, about-face Tour management policy decision.
Seven days after the vague framework agreement was announced, Monahan stepped away from his role.
When he returned to his role a month later, he cited anxiety caused him to step away.
In a rare interview with The New York Times before Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge, Monahan said it was 'excruciating' people would have viewed him as 'running away from the fight'.
"I knew I'm the first person to run into a fight," he said.
"Anybody that knows me will tell you that. And I knew the perception was that I was running away from a fight.
"And that was excruciating. That hurt me to my core."
Other notable claims from Monahan included:
- He will be meeting with Al-Rummayan again in person soon
- He believes the PGA Tour-PIF deal will be finalised
- But it will likely include another co-investor to 'make the PGA Tour more competitive in the sports landscape'.
Asked about the latest in the PGA Tour-PIF deal, Monahan said: "The deadline for our conversations with PIF, as you know, is a firm target. I'll be with Yasir next week. And we continue to advance our conversations.
"And I think it's pretty well known that there's a large number of other interested parties that we're also pushing to think about.”
"When this gets finalized, the PGA Tour is going to be in a position that I talked about earlier, where again, the athletes are owners in their sport, and you've got not only the PIF, but you've likely got another co-investor, with significant experience in business, in sport and brand that's going to help take the PGA Tour to another level and help us take share from other sports and even be more competitive."
Handling mental and physical health
Monahan told the paper the time the deal was announced he was barely sleeping and couldn't go more than 10 minutes without thinking about work.
Now, he said, he is committing more time to his faith, going to the gym regularly, eating and using breathing techniques.
He said: "I think what's happening to me in my head around that timeframe was not too dissimilar to what was happening to me in my head in the months prior to it.
"This had been an extended conflict. It had affected me, my mental and my physical health."
"You have to be willing to take all the criticism"
Monahan has his critics. Phil Mickelson has called on him to quit, suggesting 'none' of the events in men's pro golf would have transpired had Monahan taken a different route.
But Monahan appeared resolute: "You'll hear people talk a lot about 'I focus on the things I can control.' I wasn't doing a good job of that.
"I was confusing that. I am fully focused on the things I control. And so, you have to realize that it's part of life, it's part of who I am, it's my truth.
"And I am a work in progress. And I'm just every single day trying to improve.
"People have made far more consequential decisions than the one that I've made and ultimately, the one that we're going to make.
"You have to look out over the horizon, you have to believe in your heart of hearts that what you're committing to is the right decision.
"And you have to be willing to take all the criticism, and there has been a lot of it, and it will continue to be more."
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