PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan's eye-watering bonus despite LIV Golf merger chaos
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan earned a whopping £14.6million in 2022, more than both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy received from the tour's Player Impact Program.
The commissioner, who is currently in heated negotiations with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund over a ground-breaking merger with LIV Golf, saw his earnings increase by £3.9m from 2021. Monahan faced heavy scrutiny from PGA players after announcing the framework agreement with the PIF before consulting members of the Tour.
The agreement is yet to be finalised, and the two parties have a deadline of December 31 to iron out the details and get a merger sorted to end golf's civil war. The conflict within the sport took a turn for the worse earlier this month when Jon Rahm, the reigning Masters champion, left the PGA Tour for LIV in a deal worth a reported £450m.
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The Rahm deal left even the harshest of LIV critics calling for a deal to be made between the two sides, though the PGA Tour responded by confirming it would accelerate negotiations with the PIF while still discussing investment from a group of US-based investors, including Fenway Sports Group.
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The magnitude of the legal battle between LIV and the PGA Tour, prior to the framework agreement announcement, is best illustrated by the fact the PGA Tour set a whopping £15.6m on legal fees in 2022, an increase of more than £14 from 2021. In that time, according to IRS filings, Monahan's compensation also increased significantly from £10.8m in 2021 to £14.6m in 2022.
That compensation is made up of £1.4m in base salary, with £7.2m in bonuses and the remaining £5.7m in non-cash benefits that he will only receive once he retires, according to Sportico.
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Jay Monahan's 2022 compensation was £14m (Getty Images)Monahan's compensation was greater than the Player Impact Program amount paid to both Woods and McIlroy in 2022. The PIP, which was brought in during the 2020 season, is a fund that rewards players who have the biggest impact on the tour, through sponsorships and ticket sales rather than on-course performance.
The fund jumped from £31m in 2021 to £78.3m in 2022 and 2023, and is shared among the ten players who bring the most business to the tour. In 2022, Woods led the way and was rewarded with £11.7m, while McIlroy received £9.3m.
Rahm's move to LIV wasn't just an immediate blow to the PGA Tour, but reports suggest a new wave of players will follow the Spaniard in defecting to the Saudi breakaway. The player himself, however, has insisted he wants the two sides of golf's civil war to unite and have all players competing under the same banner.
Rahm said: "The landscape of golf has changed so much in the last two years, hasn’t it? There’s so much going on. I just hope, whether it’s me or not, I just hope in those discussions going on behind closed doors, I really hope the game of golf, which is ultimately the team I’m on, ends up in a better state.
"We all want to see the best players playing against the best players and have the best competition and the best product forward. If I’m a reason why that’s expedited, great, I certainly [didn't set out] to be that guy, but it’d be a true honour to represent that as well. Even though I’m not alone as there are many other people that have abdicated for this and have made choices to push this forward."
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