12 July 2023 , 21:54
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PGA Tour star Hunter Mahan has revealed he and his fellow players are "done" with commissioner Jay Monahan, o n the back of the shock deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
The PGA Tour confirmed it had formed an agreement with PIF last month that will see it work alongside its LIV Golf rivals and the DP World Tour. The deal came as a shock to the world of golf, including the Tour's players, with many claiming to have been left in the dark by Monahan and co.
The commissioner was the man who orchestrated the proposed merger alongside PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, but this has not sat well with many in the sport. Monahan had spent over a year criticising the LIV Golf setup and its Saudi Arabian funding, before opting to work with their former rivals
This change in opinion has unsettled the Tour's playing membership, and the commissioner saw this first-hand at a player meeting last month. Monahan himself described the meeting as "heated", with reports suggesting players called for the 53-year-old to be replaced from his post.
The latest to take aim at the commissioner was six-time PGA Tour winner Mahan, in an explosive social media post on Wednesday. The 41-year-old wrote: "Players are done with him [Monahan], except I’m not [sure] what the process is for removing him. Great time for players to find real representation."
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Mahan's comments come after three-time major champion Jordan Spieth admitted he and his fellow stars had lost faith in their commissioner. Asked at this week's Scottish Open whether he now had trust issues with Monahan, Spieth responded: "Yeah, quite a bit, just based on conversations I've had with players, and I think he realises that. "I'm sure he's preparing for a plan to try and build it back."
This was a point also echoed by Xander Schauffele too, and the American star had a warning for Monahan too, who has been absent from his role on medical grounds in recent weeks. "We got a memo that he'll be back on the 17th," Schauffele said. "If you want to call it one of the rockier times on Tour, the guy was supposed to be there for us, wasn't. Obviously he had some health issues.
"I'm glad that he said he's feeling much better. But yeah, I'd say he has a lot of tough questions to answer in his return, and yeah, I don't trust people easily. He had my trust and he has a lot less of it now. So I don't stand alone when I say that.Yeah, he'll just have to answer our questions when he comes back."