Jay Monahan provides hint over Anthony Kim returning to PGA Tour from LIV Golf
Jay Monahan has confirmed that the PGA Tour did hold discussions with Anthony Kim before the returning golfer decided to join LIV Golf.
Kim, 38, is a wild card in the league after spending over a decade away from the sport due to injury. His last Tour start came at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship after undergoing Achilles surgery that summer and continuing to receive physical therapy over four years later.
But that is now finally behind Kim, and he has started the last two LIV Golf events in Hong Kong and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Alongside several other players from the league, he has also entered this week's Asian Tour International Series event in Macau.
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Monahan addressed Kim's return to the sport in a press conference at TPC Sawgrass before The Players Championship. The commissioner clarified what contact he and the Tour had with Kim while speaking to reporters for the first time since last summer.
"I did not have direct conversations with Anthony (Kim)," Monahan acknowledged. "Members of our team did. And they very clearly laid out what it would take for him to earn his way back to the PGA Tour.
"I'm glad that Anthony is healthy and well, and we wish him well." He added: "I would have liked to see him compete to make his way back to the Tour. But that's a decision he didn’t—obviously he made a different decision.
Kim chose between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour when returning to the sport earlier this year (Getty Images)“He’s not a member of the PGA Tour, so I don’t have anything further to add.” Kim could become one again once the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger eventually happens.
Monahan also addressed the progress of those negotiations with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). "As I have said on numerous occasions, you can't negotiate a deal like this in public, so I will be brief," he remarked.
"I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together. While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf's worldwide potential.
"It's going to take time, but I reiterate what I said at the Tour Championship in August. I see a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and the sport as a whole. Most importantly, I see a positive outcome for our great fans."
Becoming a Tour member again through the merger would undoubtedly be the path of least resistance for Kim. LIV Golf guarantees him starts this season and the potential for full-time status from next year.
Conversely, Kim would have to earn his Tour card back by relying on exemptions from tournament sponsors while leaning on his past champion status whenever possible. Making the most of enough of those opportunities anytime soon would be improbable after such a hiatus.
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