Johnson Wagner estimated that the negative/positive split of the room was “90/10”, with Monahan coming under siege.
“There’s a lot of disappointment today,” Ryan Armour, a member of the Player Advisory Council, said. “What I have been told by my peers is that they feel betrayed right now. There must have been 20-25 guys who used that word. They feel backstabbed. And they feel slighted… For a year and a half now, we have been told how evil certain golf leagues are, how evil their funding is and where it’s coming from. No finances have changed hands yet, but the mood in the room is that guys feel used.”
Geoff Ogilvy concurred. “I’m glad I wasn’t Jay today,” said the 2006 US Open champion. “There’s some grumpy players in there. I feel a little bit sort of, not lied to, but just that the tour has sort of changed its position quickly and dropped it on us really fast. So maybe there’s a feeling of a lack of trust a little bit in the leadership.
“It just feels like nobody really knows what’s happening and the players are out of the loop. But no one really ever likes being out of a loop. You know, everyone likes a bit of information, and especially when it’s your livelihood and your job and the sport that you love.”
Monahan explained the merger was necessary to put an end to the lawsuits. He described the agreement as a “framework” and acknowledged that it still needed to be approved by the Tour’s policy board. Yet the room knew it would be waved through. It was not only Murray calling for his head and the ‘hypocrite’ accusation was being liberally hurled around, a fact Monahan later acknowledged.
“I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” he said. “But anytime I said anything, I said it based on the information I had at the moment, and based on someone trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players. I accept those criticisms.”
The players left the meeting still in the dark. Details are scant on the amount of the PIF investment, on anything resembling a schedule and if and when the rebels who did take the money will be allowed back on Tour.
“We didn’t learn that much other than there’s going to be an alliance and the business structure is going to change, and I don’t know if it’s all going to be happy families,” Ogilvy said. “But I think all these powerbrokers and check writers in golf are going to try and come together for the common good… but I’m sure there’s going to be a little bit of carnage.”
The mood was in obvious contrast to that on the LIV side, with Bryson DeChambeau joining Phil Mickelson in celebrating the news. “It’s the best thing that could ever happen for the game of golf,” DeChambeau told CNN. “The fans are going to get what they want. I want the fans, the players and the game of golf to win. In the end, the game of golf wins in this scenario. We are better together and not apart.”
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