pga tour players committee

Inside the latest PGA Tour PAC meeting, where 'fan-first' was the message from a special guest speaker

H ILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – On Tuesday at the latest PGA Tour Player Advisory Council meeting, Theo Epstein talked and the players listened.

Epstein who guided both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs to their first World Series titles in forever as general manager of those baseball franchises, recently re-joined Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Red Sox, in a more far-reaching role. Fenway Sports Group owns Boston Common, a franchise in TGL, which is expected to debut in January with Rory McIlroy as the captain of the Ball Frogs. FSG also is part owner of the private equity partnership known as Strategic Sports Group, which agreed to invest up to $3 billion into the PGA Tour’s new for-profit business.

Epstein presented at the PAC meeting about the challenges baseball faced to change the game on and off the field to connect with the next generation of fans. That included using fan feedback, experimentation and data to change a game steeped in tradition and culture. Before taking on his new role, Epstein headed up MLB’s effort to fundamentally alter the pace and action of the game through rules changes. Epstein explained how baseball got over the hump to introduce modernizations without destroying the traditions of the game.

MLB consultant Theo Epstein looks on during the 2022 MLB Winter Meetings at Manchester Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

“The connections to where we are in golf were loose and vague, but not irrelevant,” said one player who was part of the meeting. “He touched on lots of things and made some good points, but at the end of the day the message was simple: change is hard, it takes time, but you’ve got to show all constituents how the change is for the better and eventually you got to critical mass and you can make something happen.”

Another individual who was privy to the meeting but didn’t participate said that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and the FSG folks thought the players might gain from Epstein’s perspective.

“Very smart to start to show the players (and all golf constituents, especially fans) the chops SSG brings to the table,” a source said.

Max Homa, a member of the PAC, didn’t mention Epstein’s presentation but spoke about the fan-centric emphasis of the meeting.

“We had a really great PAC meeting yesterday,” he said during his Wednesday press conference ahead of the RBC Heritage, the fifth Signature event of the season. “I was really inspired by the hope and plan to make it better for the fans. I think we hit this year-and-a-half- or two-year rut as both golfers and golf leagues that was just about making the players happy, and unfortunately and quite obviously the fans were not benefitted by that.”

Of fan fatigue, he added, “They probably should have fatigue. I don't know why they'd want to care about how much money we're making and how much more money we want to make. It's quite nauseating.”

Of viewership numbers for the Masters and PGA Tour events this season being down considerably, he said, “I'm very hopeful that at some point here soon, we've been shown that we are nothing without those watching us, and they can stop watching us whenever they'd like. Hopefully more innovation will go into making their viewing process a lot more engaging and fun because that's why we get to do this.”

Asked for his biggest takeaway from the PAC meeting, Homa declared, “There's light at the end of this tunnel for the golf fan. There's innovation, possibilities. It's not nearly that this is just what golf looks like and we need to hope people like it. There's ways we can manipulate it a little bit in a good way to gain fan engagement, make it more fun for them to watch. It was truly all about just what we need to do better as a Tour for golf fans to be more inclined to watched. I think at times it's easy to say this is just what golf looks like, and I think it was nice to see that people have other out looks on that that are a lot more optimistic.”

Said another player who attended the meeting: “Theo’s point (about baseball) was very much that the genesis of the changes was fan-centered and that effective fan-centered changes mean the game wins which means the players win, too. So Max’s takeaway is accurate.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Inside the latest PGA Tour PAC meeting, where 'fan-first' was the message from a special guest speaker

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What is the role of the PGA Tour’s Tournament Players Committee?

The PGA Tour's Tournament Players Committee plays a crucial role in the world of professional golf. Comprising of 16 elected members who are active PGA Tour players, the committee is responsible for making decisions and recommendations on various matters that affect the tour and its players. Their role is centered around ensuring the fairness, integrity, and growth of the PGA Tour.

Rules and Competition: One of the primary responsibilities of the Tournament Players Committee is to oversee the rules and competition regulations of the PGA Tour. They work closely with the PGA Tour Rules Committee to establish and enforce rules that govern the tour's events. They take into consideration the players' perspectives and opinions to ensure fair play and maintain the spirit of competition.
Player Representation: As elected representatives of the PGA Tour players, the committee acts as a platform for players to voice their concerns, opinions, and suggestions. They provide input and advocate for changes or improvements in various aspects of the tour, such as tournament formats, schedule adjustments, and player privileges. Through regular meetings, the committee ensures the players' interests are considered in decision-making processes.
Player Conduct: The Tournament Players Committee also plays a role in overseeing the conduct and behavior of the players on the tour. They work alongside the PGA Tour Officials and Commissioner's Office to address disciplinary matters and ensure that players adhere to the PGA Tour's Code of Conduct. They have the authority to review and recommend penalties or suspensions for any player violating tour regulations.
Tour Policies: The committee helps in establishing and revising various tour policies. This includes policies related to sponsorship, marketing, drug testing, and anti-doping measures. They aim to keep the tour and its players aligned with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity, both on and off the course.
Player Benefits: The committee also works towards ensuring that players receive fair compensation and benefits for their participation in tournaments. They negotiate and monitor player prize funds, endorsement deals, and other financial aspects related to player compensation. They strive to create an environment where top players can compete for substantial rewards.
Tour Development: In addition to overseeing the current tour operations, the committee also plays a role in the development and advancement of the PGA Tour. They provide input and recommendations on strategic initiatives, tour expansion, and international ventures. Their focus is on maintaining the tour's status as the pinnacle of professional golf.

The PGA Tour's Tournament Players Committee serves as a vital link between the players and the tour administration. Their involvement in decision-making processes ensures an inclusive and player-centric approach to the growth and development of professional golf. Through their dedication and contributions, the committee continues to shape the landscape of the PGA Tour for the betterment of both the players and the sport itself.

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Committee Descriptions

THE PLAYERS Championship volunteer force is made up of over 2,100 volunteers that make the event possible each year.

Quick Links:

Volunteer Home

Tournament Chairman

Lee Nimnicht

First Vice Chair

Tyler Oldenburg

Vice Chair Player Services

Marc Hassan

Vice Chair Spectator Services

Kevin Copeland

Vice Chair Facilities

Laura Renstrom

Vice Chair Volunteer Services

Luke Pritchett

First Vice Chair: Tyler Oldenburg

The Evacuation Committee will transport participants off the course to a safe location in the event of inclement weather or an emergency.

GALLERY MANAGEMENT (previously Marshals)

Members of Gallery Management will be located outside of the ropes at tees and greens to assist with managing crowds and crowd noise. These volunteers will also assist with operating crosswalks and managing ropes. PLEASE NOTE: Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements and may require standing for long periods of time.

GALLERY MANAGEMENT - CROSSROADS

Members of Gallery Management - Crossroads will be located outside of the ropes to assist with operating crosswalks, managing ropes, and managing crowds at the crosswalk from 18 green to scoring. PLEASE NOTE: Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements and may require standing for long periods of time.

GALLERY MANAGEMENT - ESCORTS

Members of Gallery Management – Escorts will be assigned a group and will walk the entire course (outside of the ropes) with the assigned group to assist Gallery Management on each hole. PLEASE NOTE: All volunteers on this committee must be able to walk the entire course and keep pace with a players group.

GALLERY MANAGEMENT - HEADQUARTERS

Members of Gallery Management – Headquarters will be located in Volunteer Headquarters. Volunteers on this committee will assist gallery management leadership with checking-in volunteers and coordinating different aspects of the Gallery Management Committee on-site.

TOURNAMENT SUPPORT

The Tournament Support Committee will assist in many different capacities throughout the week including, but not limited to: managing ropes in the practice area to allow players to move freely, providing support to the equipment representatives and hospitality venues including our Proud Partners, assisting with situations that require special attention such as escorting players, providing services to guests including those with disabilities, and other items that arise throughout the week. PLEASE NOTE: Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

Player Services: Marc Hassan

This committee will introduce players to the crowd as they begin play at either #1 tee or #10 tee (Thursday/Friday). PLEASE NOTE: Strong public speaking skills and appropriate voice/inflection are required. Announcers should have knowledge of current PGA TOUR and international players and should be able to identify most players as they approach the tee boxes.

CADDIE SERVICES

Caddie Services volunteers will assist with professional caddie registration and caddie services, such as caddie bib distribution and collection, throughout tournament week.

HONORARY OBSERVERS

Honorary Observers volunteers will assist with the implementation and operation of VIP guests participating in the Honorary Observer Program. Responsibilities will include assisting with logistics, distributing uniforms, implementing guidelines, and escorting guests to #1 tee.

MEDIA CENTER

The Media Center Committee will assist PGA TOUR Media Officials with registration and Media Center operations, welcoming local, national, and international journalists to promote the image of THE PLAYERS Championship and providing the best possible experience to media personnel.

PLAYER SERVICES

The Player Services Committee will assist with player registration and various other player services throughout tournament week. This committee is among the first group to interact with the players upon their arrival.

PLAYER TRANSPORTATION

Player Transportation volunteers will transport players and VIP guests in official tournament vehicles before, during and after the tournament. This committee will also assist with inventory and control the distribution and retrieval of official tournament vehicles.

* Player Transportation volunteers must be at least 25 years old and are subject to a background check.

PRACTICE GROUNDS

The Practice Grounds Committee will provide gallery control of the practice areas and regulate access to and from all practice facilities for players, tournament officials and other properly credentialed guests. PLEASE NOTE: Practice Grounds volunteers must be able to stand, walk and move around for extended periods of time. Golf cart training is mandatory. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

Runners will assist at Practice Grounds by running player name placards to and from designated practice locations. PLEASE NOTE: This is a youth only committee. Runners must be no younger than 10 years of age and no older than 13 years of age on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.

*Youth volunteers are not eligible for "Volunteer Perks.”

STANDARD BEARERS

Standard Bearers will accompany each group of players during tournament rounds and display their scores in relation to par on a cumulative basis on a standard (small scoreboard). PLEASE NOTE: Standard Bearer volunteers must be no younger than 14 and no older than 18 on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Standard Bearers must be able to carry the standard (weight approximately 5 to 7 pounds) for all 18 holes with their group and must understand basic stroke counting. Volunteers must select only one shift each day during tournament rounds, Thursday - Sunday. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

*Youth volunteers are not eligible for "Volunteer Perks"

COMPETITION SUPPORT - SHOTLINK MOBILE SPOTTERS (SMS)

Under Competition Support, The LBO and Spotter Committee will now merge and become one committee – ShotLink Mobile Spotters (SMS). This new committee is essential to ShotLink being able to collect and distribute real time scoring and statistical data. ShotLink will now feature a PGA Tour On-Course Scoring Tech on each hole. Under the leadership of the Scoring Tech, the Mobile Spotters will help locate and flag shots that miss the fairway/green, assist with ball flight from the tee, and relay pertinent information to the Scoring Tech such as penalty situations, obstructed shots, and detailed from locations. This new role will help deliver real-time distance data and statistics to be immediately computed and distributed to Scoreboards, TV, Internet, Gaming, and Mobile Applications. Volunteers should have a basic knowledge of the game of golf and a commitment to timeliness, accuracy, and attention to detail. Effective teamwork and communication are essential in this role. All Mobile Spotters should be physically able to walk around their assigned hole for the duration of their shift in potentially varied weather conditions. Quickly locating shots not in view for the Scoring Tech or Camera System is a key function of this role as it is vital to be able to gain accurate insight into the location of each shot. PLEASE NOTE: Volunteers must work all day Thursday - Sunday. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements

COMPETITION SUPPORT - WALKING SCORER (PRACTICE ROUNDS)

Practice Round Walking Scorers will accompany each group of players during practice rounds and will record the scores and statistics of play on a handheld device. PLEASE NOTE: Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements. Volunteers must select another committee to meet the 3-shift minimum with one being during tournament rounds, Thursday - Sunday.

COMPETITION SUPPORT - WALKING SCORER (TOURNAMENT ROUNDS)

Tournament Round Walking Scorers will accompany each group of players during tournament rounds and will record the scores and statistics of play on a handheld scoring device. PLEASE NOTE: Walking Scorer volunteers must be able to walk all 18 holes with their group and must understand basic stroke counting. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

VEHICLE PROCUREMENT

The Vehicle Procurement Committee will procure all official tournament vehicles before tournament week and ensure they are ready for players, officials and VIP guests. This committee will also assist in the return of vehicles after the tournament. PLEASE NOTE: Drivers must be at least 25 years old.

Spectator Services: Kevin Copeland

12/13 HOSPITALITY

12/13 Hospitality volunteers will greet guests and check credentials at entrances to the hospitality venue located between 12 and 13 Green as well as assist corporate clients as necessary to ensure the best possible experience.

16TH HOSPITALITY

16th Hospitality volunteers will greet guests and check credentials at entrances to sponsored hospitality locations on the 16th green and 16th fairway. This committee will also assist corporate clients as necessary to ensure the best possible experience.

17TH HOSPITALITY

17th Hospitality volunteers will greet guests and check credentials at entrances to sponsored hospitality locations on the 17th tee and 17th fairway. This committee will also assist corporate clients as necessary to ensure the best possible experience.

ADMISSIONS - COUPLES ENTRY

Couples Entry Admissions volunteers will assist with checking for proper admission credentials, scanning tickets and providing general information to spectators at the Couples Entry located behind 15 tee.

ADMISSIONS - DAVIS LOVE III ENTRY

Davis Love III Entry Admissions volunteers will assist with checking for proper admission credentials, scanning tickets and providing general information to spectators at the Davis Love III Entry located at the front of the course, adjacent to 10 tee.

ADMISSIONS - ELKINGTON ENTRY

Elkington Entry Admissions volunteers will assist with checking for proper admission credentials, scanning tickets and providing general information to spectators at the Elkington Gate, located by the practice putting greens at the Dye's Valley Course.

ADMISSIONS - MARRIOTT ENTRY

Marriott Entry Admissions volunteers will assist with checking for proper admission credentials, scanning tickets and providing general information to spectators at the Marriott Entry, located behind the Sawgrass Marriott.

ADMISSIONS - NICKLAUS ENTRY

Nicklaus Entry Admissions volunteers will assist with checking for proper admission credentials, scanning tickets and providing general information to spectators at the Nicklaus Entry located behind 17 tee.

ADMISSIONS - WILL CALL

The Will Call Committee will assist with distribution of credentials that have been ordered in advance or left for pickup for future rounds. The exact Will Call location will be finalized closer to the tournament.

CORPORATE HOSPITALITY

The Corporate Hospitality Committee will provide information and assistance to corporate clients to ensure the best possible experience. Volunteers on this committee will help to ensure that only properly credentialed clients are allowed in private hospitality areas and will assist with delivering and collecting client boxes to hospitality venues on course. Some client interaction is necessary. PLEASE NOTE: Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required. Some shifts will be scheduled prior to tournament week.

The First Aid Committee will provide emergency medical care service and medical assistance on tournament grounds during Tournament Week. Professionally trained medical personnel (doctors, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, etc.) only need apply.

* Active medical license required.

GREENSIDE SEATS

Greenside Seats volunteers will greet guests and check credentials at entrances to the hospitality venue located at 17 Green as well as assist corporate clients as necessary to ensure the best possible experience.

PAST CHAIRMAN

Volunteers on this committee will greet guests and check credentials at entrances to the Past Chairman Hospitality tent. This area is designated for Past Chairmen of THE PLAYERS and their family and guests.

PATRIOTS' OUTPOST

Patriots’ Outpost volunteers will greet military guests and check credentials at the entrance to the Patriots' Outpost as well as assist with on-site military activations throughout the week.

The Safety Committee will identify and, in some situations, correct safety hazards around the golf course. Volunteers on this committee will be assigned to a specific area of the golf course to look for safety hazards and will assist in reporting accidents in their assigned area. This committee will also distribute safety signage and equipment as needed. PLEASE NOTE: Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Special Events volunteers will help to plan, coordinate and assist with all special events for THE PLAYERS Championship. PLEASE NOTE: Some events are scheduled prior to tournament week.

SPECTATOR INFORMATION

Spectator Information volunteers will greet, interact, and provide tournament assistance to spectators requesting guidance when entering the course and around the course. Information booths and mobile teams are positioned to interact with the largest number of fans to improve the tournament experience.

The Deck volunteers will greet guests and check credentials at the entrance to The Deck located on 16/18 Hill. This committee will also assist corporate clients as necessary to ensure the best possible experience

Facilities: Laura Renstrom

CONSTRUCTION

The Construction Committee will assist with player fencing, set-up of venues, tournament set up and other various projects as necessary. Volunteers on this committee will need to be available prior to tournament week to assist with pre-tournament projects. PLEASE NOTE: Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

COURSE PREP

Course Prep volunteers will rope and stake the course and all auxiliary areas as required with the objective of maximizing spectator viewing. This committee will work with PGA TOUR Director of Security and PGA TOUR Rules Officials as necessary to ensure player safety and will complete miscellaneous projects as necessary. PLEASE NOTE: Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

The Commissary Committee will distribute non-alcoholic beverages and coolers on course and to appropriate committees, players and venues. PLEASE NOTE: Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required, as this committee requires lifting of items such as ice, beverages, and coolers. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications volunteers will receive radios and associated equipment from the licensed vendor and will assist the vendor in the placement of transmitting equipment in appropriate areas on site. All equipment will be inventoried and accounted for prior to, during and after the tournament ensuring accountability of equipment received. Equipment shall be distributed to appropriate departments based upon a predetermined needs schedule.

GENERAL PARKING

The General Parking Committee will operate and control proper access and flow to all parking areas located in THE PLAYERS on-site parking lots. PLEASE NOTE: This committee requires the ability to work on your feet for 2-3 hours at a time in the sun. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

DISABLED GUEST SERVICES

Disabled Guest Services volunteers will provide cart transportation for disabled spectators to and from the bus drop at the main entrance and disabled parking to designated areas located on the golf course. PLEASE NOTE: Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

The Golf Carts Committee will control inventory and distribution of tournament golf carts pre-tournament, during and post tournament. This committee will also help manage maintenance of carts, inclusive of charging and upkeep. PLEASE NOTE: Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

Green Team volunteers will be stationed at high-traffic fan areas with food & beverage experiences on-site. Volunteers on this committee will assist spectators with making the best decision on how to dispose of their waste at our on-course receptacles and help to encourage sustainable choices. Volunteers may also assist in educating vendors on proper disposal. PLEASE NOTE: Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

SIGN DESIGN

The Sign Design Committee will produce and maintain various signage used during the tournament, including but not limited to player parking and cart signage.

VIP PARKING

VIP Parking volunteers will operate and control proper access and flow to all parking areas located in THE PLAYERS VIP parking lots. PLEASE NOTE: This committee requires the ability to work on your feet for 2-3 hours at a time in direct sunlight. Shifts will be outside in direct sunlight and the elements.

Volunteer Services: Luke Pritchett

APPAREL DISTRIBUION

The Apparel Distribution Committee will inventory and distribute volunteer apparel. In addition they will be responsible for creating credential packages and provide office assistance as needed. This committee will manage the uniform/credential distribution area, apparel exchanges, sales and returns, and credential replacement when necessary. PLEASE NOTE: Volunteers on this committee will need to be available prior to tournament week (various dates in early March and late February) to assist with Uniform Distribution and Credential packaging. Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required.

DARLENE'S DINER

Darlene’s Diner is located in Volunteer Village and is exclusively for credentialed volunteers. Volunteers on this committee will assist with full food and beverage operations within the volunteer dining area. PLEASE NOTE: Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography volunteers will coordinate volunteer photo opportunities throughout the tournament week as well as during other volunteer functions throughout the year.

PLAYERS PRIDE

The PLAYERS Pride Committee will assist in the daily implementation of the PLAYERS Pride initiative to continue to make THE PLAYERS Championship the best fan experience in golf. Volunteers on this committee will observe fans, vendors, and fellow volunteers to assure that all show respect for each other, the players and the tournament. Awards are granted each day of the tournament to volunteers who show ownership and an "above and beyond" attitude. Nominations are submitted daily by all committees for volunteers who have demonstrated PLAYERS Pride.

Supply Committee volunteers will inventory, distribute and maintain tournament supplies such as equipment, televisions, tools, and construction materials. PLEASE NOTE: Some lifting/strenuous activity may be required. All shifts will occur prior to tournament week.

VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

The Volunteer Information Committee will be available during tournament week to answer questions from volunteers regarding all aspects of the volunteer experience from credentials, to parking, to directions. Volunteers will provide directions to locations on course, committee locations and sign-in, hours of operation, and will assist outside volunteers for on-site vendors.

VOLUNTEER PERSONNEL

The Volunteer Personnel Committee will coordinate volunteer registration and other information necessary to communicate with volunteers, leadership, and staff.

VOLUNTEER SHUTTLE

The Volunteer Shuttle Committee will coordinate volunteer shuttle vans and buses, which shuttle volunteers to TPC Sawgrass from Davis Park. PLEASE NOTE: This committee requires the ability to work on your feet for 2-3 hours at a time in the elements.

VV2 TRANSPORT

VV2 Transport volunteers will assist in transporting volunteers from Volunteer Village to a designated drop off point on opposite side of the course.

The 'Redcoats': Players Championship past chairs have made lasting contributions

Players Championship fans have often taken notice over the years of the men and women wearing bright red sportscoats at The Players and other golf- and charity-related functions on the First Coast during the rest of the year.

It's simple: they're "The Redcoats."

But their contribution to The Players is lasting.

The Redcoats, or the Honourable Company of Past Chairmen, have served one-year terms as the head of the volunteer force that in recent years has numbered 2,000 or more.

Without the volunteers, The Players and the PGA Tour would have to pay outside contractors to do jobs such as monitoring the parking lots, pounding the stakes and stringing miles of rope on the golf course, handling small construction jobs, manning the practice facilities, checking players in, scorekeeping, standard-bearing and any number of tasks.

The money saved is then plowed into charity — more than $100 million on the First Coast since the Players came here in 1977.

A committee of past chairman also reviews charity request applications, decides on the final list and then, usually in the fall, delivers the checks personally to a handful of recipients.

Chairmen have already served for years

Becoming a Players chairman is a lengthy process.

Chairs have served for years as volunteers, sometimes beginning with the most menial or tedious jobs, such as parking lot detail. They then become committee chairmen.

Eventually, they are elevated to one of four major committees: Volunteer Services, Facilities, Player Services and Spectator Services. A first vice-chairman is selected from those four, who then succeeds the chairman the following year.

One and done? Not quite

The concept of chairing The Players volunteer committee goes back to the days of the Greater Jacksonville Open (1965-1976).

The first five GJO chairs, John Tucker, Wes Paxson Sr., John Montgomery, Lester Varn Jr., Eugene Cowan and Karl Ambrose were among the area business leaders who convinced the PGA Tour to return to the First Coast.

Their efforts in selling tickets and corporate hospitality, resulting in huge crowds at the GJO, eventually convinced Tour commissioner Deane Beman that the area would be an ideal landing spot for the PGA Tour headquarters, construction of its signature golf course (the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course) and the home of its marquee tournament, The Players.

Tucker, who was the first GJO chairman in 1965 and later hired by the PGA Tour to manage The Players, had the idea for chairs to serve one-year terms. He said each new chairman, almost always drawn from the First Coast business community, brought a whole new list of clients, customers, employees, contacts and family members who may buy tickets or corporate hospitality. Yea

Year after year, chairman after chairman, the constituencies grew to the point where The Players has grown to its status today.

For a time, the GJO also had a volunteer chairman and a president, which also was an unpaid position. But whether they were a chairman or president of the GJO or a chairman of The Players, they are all considered Redcoats.

Hardly any of them stop serving after their one year as chairman. In addition to assisting with The Players charitable efforts, many Redcoats still pitch in during the run-up to The Players and during the week.

Family and football ties

The Nimnicht family has produced three Players chairmen: Ed Nimnicht (1978), his sister-in-law Anne Nimnicht (1997) and his nephew and Anne's son Lee Nimnicht this year.

Rufus Dowell (1991) is Tucker's son-in-law.

Father-son GJO/Players chairmen are Fred Robbins (1976) and Kevin Robbins (2004); and Fuller Tresca Jr. (1983) and Tim Tresca (2007).

Nine past GJO or Players chairmen have also served as the volunteer chairs for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Tucker, Paxson, L.C. Ringhaver, Dick Stratton, Gordon Thompson, Peter Kirill, Tommy Gay, Don Davis and Mike Hartley. In addition, Brian Goin, who was The Players executive director, was a Gator Bowl chairman.

Here are the men and women who have served as volunteer chairs for the Greater Jacksonville Open and The Players Championship:

Greater Jacksonville Open

Past chairmen

1965: John Tucker

1966: Wes Paxson Sr.

1967: John Montgomery

1968: Lester Varn Jr.

1969: Eugene Cowan

1970: Karl Ambrose III

1971: Richard Martin

1972: George Utsey Jr.

1973: Henry Tuten Jr.

1974: J.D. Beckwith

1975: Fred Robbins

1976: Hamp Walker

Past GJO Presidents

Peter Kirill

L.C. Ringhaver

Dick Stratton

Bob Feagin

Gordon Thompson Jr.

William Drennon

The Players Championship

1977: Tommy Gay

1978: Ed Nimnicht

1979: Donald Zell

1980: James Addington Jr.

1981: Campbell Smith

1982: Charles Renfroe

1983: Fuller Tresca Jr.

1984: James Wilkerson Jr.

1985: Donald Rose

1986: Bob Martin

1987: Bob Olson

1988: Don Davis

1989: Buster Browning

1990: Lad Daniels

1991: Rufus Dowell

1992: Tom Perry

1993: Hank Haynes

1994: Hugh Dunn

1995: Tom Healy

1996: Gerry Hurst

1997: Anne Nimnicht

1998: Mike Hartley

1999: Therese Greene Hazel

2000: Murray Beard

2001: Lynn Stoner

2002: Jack Garnett

2003: Marc Smith

2004: Kevin Robbins

2005: Tommy Lee

2006: Rusty Pritchett

2007: Tim Tresca

2008: Ron Natherson

2009: Tommy Douglas

2010: Harold Tool

2011: Jim Fuller

2012: Curtis Hazel

2013: Robert Davis

2014: Andy Baggs

2015: Brian Franco

2016: Michele McManamon

2017: Kevin English

2018: Damon Olinto

2019: Adam Campbell

2020: Andy Carroll

2021: Troy Smith

2022: Matt Welch

2023: Houston Bowles

2024: Lee Nimnicht

Who Owns the PGA Tour? The +$1 Billion Dollar Non-Profit

The PGA Tour is the foremost professional golf tour in the world. Even with recent shake-ups, the PGA Tour remains the premiere tour for those that make a living playing the game.

Who owns the PGA Tour? The PGA Tour is a non-profit organization run by its board of directors, executive leadership team, and player advisory council. The current commissioner is Jay Monahan who took office in 2017. The PGA is based in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida, and earns +$1 billion in annual revenue.

The PGA Tour was established in late 1968 after it broke off from the PGA of America. While “the Tour” was run as part of the PGA of America, it was known as the “Tournament Players Division.”

In this article, you will learn:

Who “owns” the PGA Tour
The business structure of the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour Board of Directors

The role of the commissioner and other key figures
The future of the PGA Tour

Who Owns the PGA Tour?

The pga tour executive team, current pga tour player advisory council directors, 2023 pga tour players advisory council, pga champions player advisory council directors, additional pga tour directors, ed herlihy (chairman), jimmy dunne, mark flaherty, mary meeker, randall stephenson, the role of jay monahan, current pga tour commissioner, the future of the pga tour, is the pga tour a private entity, how much does the ceo of the pga get paid, is the pga tour an employer, what is the pga tour's revenue, who is the current commissioner of the pga tour, in conclusion.

The PGA Tour is a nonprofit corporation, therefore, it has no owners . Instead, the PGA Tour is run by its board of directors, executive leadership team, and player advisory council.

The PGA Tour is the world’s premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, co-sanctioning tournaments on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and PGA Tour Canada.

The PGA Tour was established in late 1968 after it broke off from the PGA of America’s “Tournament Players Division.”

The current commissioner, Jay Monahan, took office in January 2017. We will take a look further at his impacts a little later in this article.

Member professionals of the PGA Tour come from all corners of the globe. In the season of 2022-2023, the Tour has 82 active international members from 25 countries and territories outside the United States.

The PGA Tour’s headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. In its early years, the Tour was headquartered in Washington, DC.

Check This Out: How Many Golfers Are on the PGA Tour?

The pga tour’s board of directors.

Let’s take a look at the PGA Tour Board of Directors . Who are the members of the board currently?

Edward is co-chairman of the executive committee and a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Law Firm. He has been with the group since 1984. In his role at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Edward has worked on some of the country’s largest and most complex financial institution mergers and acquisitions.

Jimmy is vice chairman and senior managing principal of Piper Sandler. He was one of the founders of Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., which Piper Jaffray acquired in January 2020. Under his leadership, Sandler O’Neill became the largest independent full-service investment banking firm focused on the financial services sector.

Mark is an independent director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Mr. Flaherty is retired from Wellington Management Company, an investment management company. He served as vice chairman from 2011 to 2012, director of global investment services from 2002 to 2012, and partner and senior vice president from 2001 to 2012.

Prior to joining Wellington, from 1991 to 1999, Mr. Flaherty worked at Standish, Ayer, and Wood, an investment management company. He assumed multiple positions throughout his tenure. This included the director of equity trading and partner and executive committee member. Earlier in his professional career, from 1987 to 1991, Mr. Flaherty served as director of equity trading at Aetna, a diversified healthcare benefits company.

Mary is a general partner at BOND Capital and focuses on investments in high-growth technology companies. She serves on the boards of Block/Square, Genies, Nextdoor, and Plaid. Mary co-founded Kleiner Perkins Digital Growth Fund, which became BOND Capital in 2019. At Kleiner Perkins, she invested in many major companies, including Peloton, Ring, Airbnb, Instacart, DocuSign, Waze, Spotify, LegalZoom, and Facebook.

Randall retired in January of 2021 as executive chairman of the board of AT&T Inc after serving for 6 months. Before he held this position, he was a chairman and the chief executive officer of AT&T, serving in that capacity from 2007 until July 2020. He also acted as president from 2007 through September 2019. Throughout his tenure, Stephenson held various high-level finance, operational, and marketing positions with AT&T, including serving as chief operating officer from 2004 until he was appointed chief executive officer in 2007. He began his career with AT&T in 1982.

The PGA Tour Board of Directors works closely with the PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, his executive team, and the players on the PGA Tour. The bodies representing the players are the Player Advisory Council Directors and the council members.

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Much has happened since Monahan took charge of the PGA Tour in 2017. In terms of the competitions led by the Tour, a great deal of expansion has continued to happen under Jay’s leadership.

More events, both domestically and internationally
The FedExCup will celebrate its 17th anniversary this year
Golf returned to the Olympic Games in 2016 after a hiatus going back to 1904
Playing opportunities on secondary circuits have continued to expand, including:
PGA Tour Champions
Korn Ferry Tour
PGA Tour Latinoamérica
Mackenzie Tour — PGA Tour Canada
PGA Tour Series-China
In 2020, the PGA Tour University program launched, creating new pathways for the top NCAA golfers into the professional ranks.

In June 2020, following a 12-week hiatus due to COVID-19, the PGA Tour, led by Monahan, helped launch a return to golf. As a result, the PGA Tour became one of the first sports leagues to return to competition during the early stages of the pandemic and set a safe and effective precedent to bring professional sports back.

One of the most significant accomplishments coming from Monahan’s tenure was creating a “super season.” This helped to regain what was lost in golf due to COVID-19 and continue with the professional game.

Working with leading golf organizations, such as the PGA of America, USGA, R&A, Augusta National, and the Olympics, as well as with its title sponsors, host organizations, and media partners, the PGA Tour announced a reimagined schedule. This saw the completion of the 2019-20 FedExCup Season and set up the 2020-21 campaign, which included two playings of the U.S. Open and Masters Tournament, as well as the Olympic Games.

There is no question that professional golf is in a very unique place as of late. With the PGA Tour and LIV Golf tensions, the world of professional golf has definitely changed. However, the story is still being written on how these changes will play out, good, bad, or a combination of both.

Some changes have already been made to the PGA Tour in response to the current state of the professional game… namely, LIV Golf’s influence on it.

The video below was, in short, Jay Monahan’s “State of the PGA Tour” address at this year’s Tour

An expanded schedule.
Elevated events.
Compensation for the vast majority of players on the Tour.
The Players Impact Program.
Netflix’s renewal for season 2 of the wildly popular docu-series Full Swing.

Another significant change occurred starting this year; for the 2022-23 season, all exempt players on the PGA Tour are guaranteed $500,000 against earnings. This is not a salary but a guarantee that exempt PGA Tour players will receive $500,000, which first-year players can claim upfront. They will start earning any prize money won after they hit the $500,000 base number.

Additionally, in a partnership with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy-led TMRW Sports, the PGA Tour will expand efforts to grow viewership of the game. Through the creation of TGL, a virtual golf league that will be played in prime time and includes teams made up of PGA Tour stars, the hope is to grow the game in an entirely new and unique way. The events will take place in custom-built, tech-infused indoor arenas.

Frequently Asked Questions

The PGA Tour is a private nonprofit organization situated in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. As a result, you cannot buy shares in the company. What’s more, no single person or party has PGA ownership. It is run by the board of directors, executive leadership team, and player advisory council.

Jay Monahan holds the highest position in the PGA Tour as the commissioner. According to the latest available tax filing for the financial year ending in 2020, Monahan was paid almost $5 million for that year.

The PGA Tour employs many personnel to ensure their functions run smoothly. Besides the executive team, salaries amount to a little under 10% of their total expenses. In 2020, this totaled over $95 million.

For the 2020 fiscal year, the PGA Tour had: * Total Revenue: $1,161,283,176 * Total Functional Expenses: $1,103,973,353 * Net income: $57,309,823 * Total Assets: $3,930,764,108 * Total Liabilities: $2,739,593,850 * Net Assets: $1,191,170,258

Since January 2017, Jay Monahan has been at the helm of the PGA Tour as its commissioner.

Who owns the PGA Tour? Nobody. Like all nonprofit organizations, the PGA Tour has no owners. Nonprofit corporations do not declare shares of stock when established, so there are no shareholders.

The PGA Tour is run by its board of directors, executive leadership team, and player advisory council. The PGA Tour is a profitable, fiscally responsible, and highly charitable professional sports organization. Charitable giving is at the heart of the PGA Tour, with more than $3.64 billion in donations to date .

Brendon Elliott

Brendon is Class A PGA Professional and founded Little Linksters, LLC, and its nonprofit arm, the Little Linksters Association for Junior Golf Development. He won 25+ prestigious industry honors, including the 2017 PGA National Youth Player Development Award. He graduated from the PGA of America Management Program and has a handicap index of 7.8.

He has played golf for over 40 years and currently plays twice a month at the Eagle Dunes Golf Club near Sorrento, Florida. He loves Srixon clubs and plays a ZX5 driver with Z 585 irons. He's written over 60 articles on GolfSpan and specializes in sharing tips to improve your golf game. You can connect with Brendon at LinkedIn , X , IG , FB , his website , or [email protected] .

Best score : 69
Favorite driver : Srixon ZX5
Favorite ball : Srixon Z Star
Favorite food at the turn : Turkey and cheese on white
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Masters Ticket Prices in 2024: What I Pay as a PGA Pro
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott What is a Breakfast Ball & When Should You Use it?
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Masters 2024 Highlights: Scheffler Wins Again
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Driver vs. Iron Grip: Adjust By Club for Better Performance?

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Highlights: Senate probes PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger in key hearing

Highlights from tuesday's hearing on the liv golf-pga tour merger:.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a three-hour hearing on PGA Tour's planned merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf.
The committee heard testimony from PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and the Saudi investment fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, did not appear because of scheduling conflicts.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who chaired the panel, was most critical of the deal, repeatedly urging PGA Tour officials not to go through with it. Republicans, led by Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, were more supportive.
The merger was announced last month. Experts say it is the latest move by Saudi Arabia to flex its influence in the U.S. and jump on economic opportunities, following accusations of human rights abuses and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi .

Details of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger are ‘very murky,’ Sally Jenkins says

Blumenthal's closing remarks: 'we need to learn more'.

In his closing remarks, Blumenthal expressed mild dissatisfaction with how incomplete the hearing proved, especially given the absence of the two key players in the proposed agreement, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Saudi investment fund’s governor.

"We need to learn more," Blumenthal said. "We're going to ask the other potential witnesses who we invited to actually come to share their perspective and information. … The more we know, the more we can support the values and freedoms that we have espoused here today."

Blumenthal told the Tour officials present that America is "on your side" and urged them to set aside the immediate financial concerns.

"It shouldn’t be about the money, the disruption, the uneconomic offers," Blumenthal said.

"I recognize you can’t say you're going to walk away, but I hope you bargain hard," Blumenthal said. "We will continue this inquiry. Uncovering more of the facts is in the national interest and part of our obligation."

Johnson calls for 'time and space' to let LIV and PGA Tour make deal

Diana Paulsen

Johnson's closing remarks were largely uncritical of the merger, noting that deal would allow "the game of golf" to "bridge divides" between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

He also expressed some skepticism around concerns about the deal based on allegations of the Saudi government's involvement in 9/11, citing Dunne's testimony and saying that he "trust[s] his judgment."

Johnson seemed to support the deal moving forward, calling for LIV and PGA Tour to be given "time and space and privacy" to "conclude the deal."

Dunne commits to meeting with 9/11 families attending hearing

Michael Mitsanas

Frank Thorp V producer and off-air reporter

Asked by Blumenthal if he would commit to meeting with the families of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks present at the hearing, Dunne responded: "Yes."

As Dunne answered Blumenthal's question, a spokesperson for the 9/11 families, Brett Eagleson, approached the witness desk and dropped off what appeared to be a few papers.

NBC News viewed one of the documents after the hearing: It was a redacted document on Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attack.

The hearing has ended

Sarah Mimms

Sen. Blumenthal gaveled out the hearing just before 1 p.m. ET, after about three hours of testimony.

The golf world's (non) reaction so far

Two hours into today's Senate hearing, there's been a notable silence from leading voices in golf about what has transpired.

For example, Phil Mickelson, the highest-profile current LIV and former PGA Tour member who is usually active on social media, has not tweeted.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlory, the two highest-profile Tour members who rejected LIV's overtures and who usually post on Instagram, have also not posted.

But there's a general sense among what's become known as "golf Twitter" — mostly golf writers — that Democrats, who control the Senate, are not in favor of the deal.

The deal's failure would likely be fatal to the Tour — and possibly allow the Saudis and LIV to win anyway, as Andy Johnson, who writes for The Fried Egg, a golf blog, tweeted .

Price: We would not allow censorship of our players on gay rights

Blumenthal pushed Price on whether he would allow players to be censored on LGBTQ issues, bringing up the example of Qatar restrict ing the ability of attendees, players and teams to have rainbow flags and other items when the nation hosted the FIFA World Cup last year. Blumenthal pushed Price on whether he would allow a host country such as Saudi Arabia, which criminalizes homosexuality, to do the same.

Price said that the PGA Tour would "never impose" those rules and that tour officials "determine where events are played."

Meanwhile, another Senate committee has launched its own investigation

Summer Concepcion

Liz Brown-Kaiser

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced last month that he has opened an investigation into the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger.

Wyden has been critical of the agreement and is seeking information from the PGA Tour, from details about the framework of the deal to an assessment of the merger’s implications for national security.

In a letter to the organization’s leadership , Wyden wrote that the merger “raises significant questions about whether organizations that tie themselves to an authoritarian regime that has continually undermined the rule of law should continue to enjoy tax-exempt status” in the U.S.

Read the full story here.

Ex-Sen. Mark Pryor, lobbying for Saudi fund, spotted in hearing room

Former Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who now works for the firm that helped Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund prepare for today's hearing, is here in the room.

Last month, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) hired Pryor's employer, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, ahead of today's high-stakes hearing, according to the Politico Influence newsletter.

Politico reported that the firms' team — including former Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, former diplomat Samantha Carl-Yoder and "a crew of former Hill aides," like Nadeam Elshami, who worked for then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi — would "provide PIF with 'education and advocacy'" before the U.S. government, including the PGA Tour agreement.

Sens. Johnson and Blumenthal call for release of more 9/11 documents

In an exchange in the opening of the hearing, Johnson and Blumenthal agreed on the need to release more documents relating to 9/11, hoping that a bipartisan effort could come out of the LIV merger hearings.

The families of 9/11 victims, some of whom are at the hearing today, have long campaigned for the release of more information about the attacks, specifically related to Saudi involvement. President Biden released some documents in 2021, but families are calling for the release of more.

Hawley presses PGA Tour on China, and Tour pushes back

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, accused the PGA Tour of maintaining ties to Chinese companies and its government, citing PGA Tour China.

Price pushed back, saying the organization severed its ties to China after the PGA China Tour ceased operations in 2020, and added that the PGA Tour currently has "no plans" to stage any events in China.

Hawley also pushed Price to condemn China’s systematic detention of its Uyghur minority, which the U.S. says amounts to genocide.

"Senator, we certainly do not condone or support that type of activity," Price responded.

Saudi PIF governor sought membership to Augusta National, home of The Masters

Documents shared by the committee during the hearing reveal that one proposal was to grant Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Saudi PIF governor, a membership to Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters.

Under a presentation slide titled "Proposals For Consideration," Al-Rumayyan was also to receive membership with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which hosts the British Open.

The PGA Tour does not have jurisdiction over either of those major events, so it is not clear how this was going to be accomplished. Membership in those clubs is extremely rare and highly coveted. Augusta National famously didn’t admit its first Black member until 1990 and didn’t offer membership to women until 2012.

“As part of” those proposed membership agreements, the slide showed, LIV would “review its senior management structure and Board composition.”

Blumenthal: 'There is something that stinks' about deal with LIV

Blumenthal made an impassioned plea to Price and Dunn to decline the deal, saying that they "still have the choice to stand up against 'sportswashing,' against the Saudi monarch" and to "stand up for America."

“There is something that stinks about this path that you’re on right now because it’s a surrender,” he said.

The comments came after Blumenthal pressed the pair about alternative financial options for keeping the PGA Tour afloat.

Dunne said that it was "possible we will not come to an agreement" with LIV.

Senate Democrats asked DOJ to open an antitrust probe

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the Justice Department to “closely scrutinize” the merger, saying in a June letter that the deal raises antitrust concerns and would help Saudi Arabia “‘sportswash’ its egregious human rights record.”

The letter, addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Jonathan Kanter, the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, argues that the deal violates U.S. antitrust law and says it “appears to have a substantial adverse impact on competition” and “would result in a monopoly” on golf operations in the U.S. “regardless of whether the deal is structured as a merger or some sort of joint venture.”

The deal would also make the PGA Tour complicit “in the Saudi regime’s latest attempt to sanitize” its human rights abuses and deserves “serious and urgent attention” from regulators, wrote Warren and Wyden.

Dunne: 'The rollout was very misleading'

In a candid moment, Dunne reflected on the stunning announcement of the PGA Tour's agreement with LIV Golf last month.

“The rollout was very misleading and inaccurate, which is everyone’s fault," he said.

"There is no merger; there is no deal. There is simply an agreement to try to get to an agreement," he continued.

Rand Paul says probe of golf deal is government overreach

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, said that although there are "valid questions" surrounding Saudi Arabia, Congress has no authority to probe the PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal.

“I find no grounds for government to be involved in the game of golf,” Paul said.

Blumenthal pushed back, noting that there is a "long history of oversight of sports" and said the committee could review the PGA Tour's tax exempt status.

Congress has "not only a legitimate role but an imperative role" to probe the deal, Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal presses PGA not to sign a nondisparagement clause

Blumenthal asked the PGA Tour to state publicly that the two sides would not sign a nondisparagement clause as part of the deal with LIV Golf.

Price said the existing agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf does not have such a clause. He added that he does "not anticipate it having that" and "wouldn't recommend it to the policy board for approval."

Dunne reiterated Price's point, saying he "wouldn’t recommend" a nondisparagement clause to the policy board. Dunne said Blumenthal made an "excellent point," adding, "We hear you, we understand and I’ll advocate for it.”

Committee releases 276-page memo on documents obtained so far

At the top of the hearing, the committee released a 276-page memo to the public that includes new documents and correspondences between PGA Tour officials and LIV Golf leading up to the deal, laying out how they would navigate allegations of hypocrisy.

The memo says that the documents obtained by the panel so far "illustrate the need for further inquiry."

PGA Tour requested 'side agreement' that sought to fire Greg Norman from LIV

One person who was likely not going to be involved in the future of the PGA Tour was legendary golfer and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, new documents show.

As part of the initial discussions between representatives of the PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF, PGA Tour officials "requested a side agreement" specifying that Norman "not be retained" by LIV Golf following the execution of the agreement, according to Senate subcommittee documents.

In an interview with CNBC announcing the initial agreement, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Saudi PIF governor, said Norman was informed of the merger just a few minutes before it broke.

“I made a call just before this, and of course he is a partner with us, and all the stakeholders that we have with us, they had the call right before this interview,” Al-Rumayyan said.

In the months leading up to the agreement, Norman's leadership of LIV had begun to come under question as the league struggled to find TV deals. Sports Illustrated has reported that Norman’s role had become more “figurehead.”

Dunne: Saudi investment would be 'north of $1 billion'

Asked by Blumenthal about how much Saudi investment would be contributed to the deal, PGA Tour board member Jimmy Dunne said it would be a "significant amount."

Pressed to get more specific, Dunne said the investment would be "north of $1 billion."

The possibility that additional investments could be made is "in the complete control of the PGA Tour," whose board of directors has "absolute control over how much funding now and in the future."

PGA's Dunne defends deal against critics who cite 9/11

In his testimony, Dunne responded to critics of the deal who have pointed to Saudi Arabian links to the 9/11 attacks , saying that no involvement of Saudi government officials has been proven. "If any person had the remotest connection to an attack on our country or the murder of my friends, I am the last guy who would be sitting at a table with them," he said.

Dunne worked at an investment firm in the Twin Towers and said he lost 66 of his colleagues. He credits his survival of the 9/11 attacks to the game of golf, as he was away from work playing in a tournament that day.

Several family members of people killed in the 9/11 attacks are in the audience today.

Johnson: Money can't erase the 'stain' of Khashoggi murder

Money cannot erase the "stain" of the "brutal" murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and other human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, Johnson said in his opening statement, adding that "legitimate questions" surrounding the merger are merely one tenet of a broader effort to hold Saudi Arabia to account.

"After all, anyone who drives a car or uses oil-based products has helped fill the coffers of the Saudi public investment fund," Johnson said.

"Congress does have legitimate role to play in settling the confusion in the law governing professional sports," he said, but noted that he did not sign the Democratic majority's "request for information" because "the parties are in the midst of what should be a private negotiation, and there is no deal to review."

PGA Tour COO Price says 'goal is to protect an American institution'

In his opening testimony, PGA Tour COO Ron Price emphasized that in moving ahead with the deal, the "goal is to protect an American institution that generates approximately $200 million for 3,000 charities through tournaments across 34 states in a single year, brings the highest level of sports and entertainment to millions of fans around the globe, and provides the most pro-competitive, legacy-driven platform for the world’s best players. That goal— our core mission — has been under threat for the better part of two years. When the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Tour launched its inaugural series in 2022, the Tour faced an unprecedented attack."

He added that it became clear that litigation with LIV Golf "was undermining growth of our sport and threatening the very survival of the PGA Tour and it was unsustainable. While we had significant wins in the litigation, our players, fans, partners, employees, charities, and communities would lose in the long run."

"Instead of losing control of the PGA Tour, an American institution and tradition, we pursued a peace that would not only end the divisive litigation battles, but would also maintain the PGA Tour’s structure, mission, and longstanding support for charity," he said.

PGA Tour's Dunne Seeks To Clarify Saudi PIF's Role In Proposed Entity

Jimmy Dunne, an independent director with the PGA Tour and a key architect of the tour's agreement with the Saudi PIF, sought to clarify the kingdom's role in the proposed entity after what he describes as mischaracterizations by the public following the June announcement.

In prepared remarks, Dunne, an investment banking titan who joined the Tour board in January and quickly became part of Commissioner Jay Monahan's inner circle, said the PIF would hold only “a noncontrolling voting interest, notwithstanding any incremental investment by PIF,” in the proposed entity.

While Dunne acknowledged that the head of the PIF would be the chairman of the new entity, he would only have one vote on its proposed board, and the PGA Tour would appoint a majority of the board members.

9/11 families are in attendance at the hearing

Members of 9/11 Families United, whose family members were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, are attending today's hearing. The group's national chair, Terry Strada, is among them and submitted a statement for the official record.

The group has long criticized U.S. ties to the Saudi-backed golf tournament, citing Saudi links to 9/11 .

"It has been nearly 8,000 days since my husband Tom Strada was brutally murdered by Saudi-funded terrorists when they attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, murdering thousands and injuring scores more," Strada wrote in her statement.

"Today we are watching a truly bizarre spectacle," she continued, "as the PGA Tour is effectively turning over the game of golf to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We know why the PGA Tour is doing it — it’s for the money. But that isn’t why the Saudis are doing it. They’re doing it as a public relations strategy to distract from their authoritarian past and present, and especially their unacknowledged culpability for supporting al Qaeda and the hijackers of September 11."

Blumenthal tears into 'repressive' Saudi regime in opening statement

Blumenthal opened the hearing with a harsh criticism of Saudi Arabia: "Today's hearing is about much more than the game of golf," he said. "It's about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence, indeed even take over a cherished American institution to cleanse it's public image. It's a regime that has reportedly killed journalist, jailed and tortured dissidents, fostered the war in Yemen, and supported other terrorist activities including the 9/11 attack on our nation."

The hearing room is at full capacity

It's now standing room only. Twenty more people are standing in the back room. But many appear to be congressional interns.

Hearing witnesses arrive for testimony

The hearing has begun.

The hearing on the PGA’s planned merger with Saudi backed LIV Golf has begun.

Led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hear testimony from PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne.

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and the Saudi investment fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, will not appear because of scheduling conflicts.

PGA Tour COO Ron Price has arrived

Price has arrived in the hearing room. He did not respond to questions.

Notable absences today: LIV Golf and the Saudi Public Investment Fund

Ryan Nobles

LIV Golf will not be represented at today's hearing because the committee wanted to hear from CEO Greg Norman, the star former player who was once the face of the LIV Golf operation. Norman’s future is in doubt. He was not part of the announcement of the partnership between the two organizations and the PGA Tour has stated repeatedly that their CEO, Jay Monahan, will be the head of the joint venture going forward.

According to Doug Mayer, a spokesperson for LIV Golf, Norman is traveling out of the country and was not available to appear before the Senate panel. LIV Golf offered acting COO Gary Davidson in his place and the committee turned them down.

A spokesperson for Blumenthal said the committee is planning on hearing testimony from Norman, and only Norman, sometime in the near future.

“We have requested testimony from Greg Norman, and unless there is a reasonable explanation for his absence — which we have not been provided — Greg Norman is who we expect to appear,” the spokesperson said.

Yesterday, Blumenthal said this will be the first in a series of hearings and the committee will use all tools available, and did not rule out subpoenas, to get the testimony they want.

Blumenthal added they are hoping to hear from players as well. “I wouldn’t rule out anyone as a potential witness in our hearings," he said.

Khashoggi’s widow says he wouldn’t want Saudi Arabia penalized amid golf deal

Eamon Javers, CNBC

The widow of Jamal Khashoggi , the Washington Post columnist whose 2018 murder fueled international outrage and embroiled Saudi Arabia’s crown prince in scandal, says her husband’s killing should not prevent the country from cutting major deals in the United States or turn it into a pariah state.

In an interview with NBC News, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi said that her late husband would agree that the people of Saudi Arabia — the country of his birth — shouldn’t be penalized because of the actions of a few.

“I would like Saudi Arabia not to be abandoned, not to be a pariah country because Jamal Khashoggi never asked this to be done to his country,” said Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, who filed a lawsuit this week related to his death.

“Generally speaking, the golf thing is [a] sport deal, economic deal, political deal, with any country in the world,” she said. “I don’t want Saudi Arabia to suffer ... and the public, we will suffer, because of the act of 20 individuals — I say mentally sick, they are criminal.”

Hearing moved to bigger room due to large interest

The hearing was originally scheduled to be held in a smaller hearing room on the fifth floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, but the hearing was moved to Hart 216, the same room where Supreme Court confirmation hearings are held, to accommodate interest in the hearing.

It is expected to run two to three hours.

PGA Tour COO previews testimony in op-ed: 'This is not a merger'

Ron Price, the chief operating officer of the PGA Tour, previewed elements of his planned testimony in an op-ed in which he argued the new business arrangement would not a “merger,” but instead an investment by the Saudi Public Investment Fund that will make them minority partners.

“This is not a merger. The PGA Tour remains intact. The subsidiary — PGA Tour Enterprises — will include PIF as a non-controlling, minority investor, as they are in many other American businesses. PGA Tour Enterprises will be led by a board of directors. The majority of that board will be appointed by the PGA Tour and that entity will be run by a CEO. That CEO will be PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan," Price wrote in an opinion piece published in The Athletic .

Monahan recently took a leave of absence to deal with a health issue, but informed Tour players that he would be returning to the job July 17.

"The PGA Tour’s controlling interest on that board of directors will remain constant going forward, regardless of the size of the PIF’s initial or any future incremental investments. The board of directors will also have the ability to decline any unwanted investment,” Price added.

He also expressed "regret" for not effectively explaining the parameters of the agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund earlier, but argued that working with the investment group will avert costly legal battles and ultimately strengthen the game of golf.

“We have moved beyond costly and destructive litigation (which the framework agreement resolved) and are now exploring whether we can reach a definitive agreement, we are committed to answering those questions and showing how this deal will benefit professional golf — particularly our players, fans, and partners,” Price wrote.

Golf’s PGA Tour and LIV merger is the latest power play by Saudi Arabia

A blockbuster sports deal set to merge two rivals — the PGA Tour , an organizer of top-level professional golf tournaments mostly in the U.S., with LIV Golf, an upstart league funded by Saudi Arabia — stunned players and fans alike. But the tentative plan to combine forces and position Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to invest billions of dollars in the joint venture goes beyond a lucrative power play by the oil-rich kingdom.

Observers say it’s the Saudis’ latest attempt to flex their influence across a breadth of American institutions, from Hollywood to Silicon Valley, and mine economic opportunities in spite of tense relations with the West in recent years brought on by accusations of human rights abuses and the 2018 killing of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi .

Top Republican does not think golf hearing should be held

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, the top Republican on the committee, said that he doesn’t think today’s hearing should be held and that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf should be allowed to negotiate “without interference from Congress.”

“I’m looking forward to the hearing, but I don’t think we should be having it. I know that’s somewhat of a contradiction,” Johnson said in an interview Monday night. “And the reason we shouldn’t be having this is you don’t negotiate things in public. This is going to be a difficult enough negotiation. We ought to let the parties do it for the good of the game of golf.

“Golf is a sport that kind of can bring the world together. It can do some healing. I mean, if golf helps Saudi Arabia modernize, wouldn’t that be a good thing in general?” he continued. “So, I’d much rather let the parties negotiate the deal without interference from Congress.”

Johnson argued that Saudi Arabia’s investment in American golf would not improve its public image.

“There’s not enough billions of dollars to wash away the stain of the Khashoggi murder. ... Any of us that drive a car, use oil-based products, we’re the ones filling the coffers of the public investment fund," the senator said. "So I mean, as long as we keep buying the oil, we’re certainly complicit in that as well.”

Blumenthal says there will be more hearings

Asked about LIV executives not appearing at today's hearing , Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Monday that he hoped to hear their testimony soon and that “there will be more hearings.”

“They declined only because of scheduling conflicts," he said. "There will be more hearings and we will work to arrive at a mutually acceptable date."

Blumenthal also warned not to “rule out anyone as a potential witness" after being asked if LIV CEO Greg Norman or LIV players might appear before his panel.

“We’ve been in touch with agents for some of the players, we’ve been in touch with other executives,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule out anyone, especially, but most importantly, if they have information.”

Here are excerpts from Blumenthal's opening statement

“Today’s hearing is about much more than the game of golf … It is about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence — indeed even take over — a cherished American institution simply to cleanse its public image, a regime that has killed journalists, jailed and tortured dissidents, fostered the war in Yemen, and supported other terrorist activities, including 9/11. It’s called sportswashing,” Sen. Blumenthal will say in his opening statement for today’s hearing, according to his prepared remarks.

“It is also about hypocrisy, and how vast sums of money can induce individuals and institutions to betray their own values and supporters, or perhaps reveal lack of values from the beginning. It’s about other sports and institutions that could fall prey — if their leaders let it be all about the money,” Blumenthal will say in his remarks.

“Perhaps to state the obvious, sports are central to our culture and society, with huge implications for our way of life, our local economies and communities close to home, and our image abroad.”

“We hope that today’s hearing will help us uncover not only the reasons for the PGA Tour’s sudden reversal and what it means for golf, but to understand what similar investments by authoritarian governments with deep pockets could mean for our country, for our national security, and for the world,” he will say.

Blumenthal: Saudi Arabia engaging in 'sportswashing' to cleanse its image

On the eve of the hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the proposed PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger amounted to “sportswashing” by Saudi Arabia to cleanse its image.

“We’re seeking to uncover the facts that ought to deeply concern the American people about this iconic, cherished American institution being taken over by one of the most repressive regimes, Saudi Arabia, for the clear purpose of cleansing its image,” Blumenthal told reporters Monday evening.

“It’s called sportswashing, and sports are central to our culture and society, to local economies that depend on the PGA Tour, and our athletes are ambassadors of values.

Blumenthal, who is chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, also questioned whether the PGA Tour, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, should continue to be exempt from paying income tax.

“So I think we need to know how this deal came together, who was behind it, who profits from it, and whether, for example, the PGA Tour should continue with its tax exempt status when it’s a subsidiary of a for-profit-making institution?"

Justice Department investigating PGA Tour’s merger with LIV Golf

Here’s why the pga tour merged with liv golf.

David K. Li

The PGA Tour announced last month it would merge with LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed men’s golf organization that formed last year to compete with the PGA Tour.

News of the merger sent shock waves through the sports world and even reached the highest echelons of the U.S. government, after a reporter sought comment from the Biden administration about the Saudi government’s taking such a large stake in men’s golf.

Here’s what it all means.

Hearing to kick off at 10 a.m. with two officials from PGA Tour

Today's bipartisan hearing , entitled "The PGA-LIV Deal: Implications for the Future of Golf and Saudi Arabia's Influence in the United States," will be led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

The panel will hear this morning from two PGA Tour officials: Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET.

Blumenthal had previously demanded records from PGA Tour outlining work that ended in the tour’s merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf. The plan, Blumenthal wrote to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan last month, “raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution."

As PGA Tour tries to soothe players, Congress is waiting

Facing lingering skepticism over its controversial deal with a Saudi wealth fund, the PGA Tour has started addressing the mounting questions from its disgruntled members — and soon will have to answer to Congress as well.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a July 11 hearing on the agreement between the tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which owns and operates LIV Golf. The chair of the powerful subcommittee, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), sent letters Wednesday inviting PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman to testify.

The growing pressure from Congress is just one of several potential impediments the surprising partnership faces, and tour officials this week tried to address concerns voiced by golfers in hopes of quelling player discontent.

Tour members attended a players’ meeting Tuesday evening in Cromwell, Conn., the site of this week’s Travelers Championship, and were given a presentation that sought to better clarify the partnership, with details that hadn’t previously been publicized or fully explained, according to a person familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the meeting’s privacy.

Tour officials stressed to players that, under terms of the arrangement , the PGA Tour will remain in charge of its operations and will continue to have a controlling interest on its existing policy board and on the board of the new for-profit joint venture that will oversee commercial activities of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the Europe-based DP World Tour.

The players heard from Tyler Dennis, the tour’s senior vice president, and Ron Price, its chief operating officer, and were told the deal will ensure the tour will be financially viable for years. Monahan, who drew the ire of many golfers by keeping them in the dark about the agreement, was not present, according to the person. He has been on leave since June 13 as he recovers from an unspecified medical condition.

Australian Adam Scott, once the world’s top-ranked golfer, said the tone of the meeting was different than when Monahan met with players two weeks earlier and that “some of the emotions have cooled.”

“There are still lots of questions to be answered because we really only have this framework that was announced,” Scott told reporters in Connecticut. “So although that seems fairly simple, I think the deal sounds quite complex and this could take a long time. I think hopefully everyone is cooling down and, as things go along, there is transparency to the players and those questions get answered.”

Still, Scott said players “can’t help but feel left in the dark” and they must now come to terms with the about-face from tour leaders and the prospect that some golfers who left for lucrative LIV contracts might soon be welcomed back.

“I’m caught up emotionally because I stayed on the PGA Tour,” Scott said, “ … and it was put to us that if we left, we were never coming back. And it seems there [are] going to be pathways back.”

While it is believed the Saudis are willing to pump billions into the operation, the players were told that, under terms of the agreement, the PGA Tour can refuse any investment and will have sway over how any money is directed.

For two weeks, the tour has found itself playing defense with angry players — upset about the lack of information and transparency surrounding the agreement — confused fans and lawmakers on Capitol Hill pushing legislation targeting the tour’s tax-exempt status. In addition to the subcommittee’s probe, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, announced a separate “wide-ranging” investigation into the partnership last week.

Wyndham Clark dreamed big and played big to prevail at the U.S. Open

Blumenthal already had sent letters requesting documents from the tour and the PIF. The letters sent Wednesday to Monahan, Al-Rumayyan and Norman were also signed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)

“Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Major actors in the deal are best positioned to provide this information, and they owe Congress — and the American people — answers in a public setting.”

According to the letter to the PGA Tour, if Monahan is unable to attend, the subcommittee expects another tour representative to testify in his place.

The PGA Tour and the PIF dismissed their federal lawsuits against each other last week, but their agreement is still likely to be months away from completion. Even after the terms are sorted, the deal will need approval from the PGA Tour’s 11-member policy board and probably will need to pass muster with the Justice Department, which started probing the PGA Tour last year over antitrust concerns.

But getting the golfers to back the deal is a priority for tour officials, and they know the task won’t be easy.

Tom Watson, the Hall of Fame golfer, penned a letter to Monahan and the tour’s policy board Monday, criticizing the secrecy of the deal and saying “the communication has been mishandled and the process by which the Tour agreed on a proposed partnership with PIF was executed without due process.”

“The Commissioner and the PGA Tour Board, on which five Tour players sit, are going to have to do a lot of firsthand explaining to comfortably coax acceptance with our membership on this partnership with the PIF,” he wrote, citing the many “unanswered questions.”

The rise of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the potential new king of golf

Vague descriptions and a lack of details have heightened skepticism, and the tour’s own communications muddled the public’s understanding. The initial news release said the three golf outlets would “merge commercial operations under common ownership.” The sides opted to break the news on CNBC, which reported the agreement as a merger.

The PGA Tour later altered the language on its website, removing the word “merge” and telling USA Today it was an editorial decision. And tour officials have since said the groups are forming a new for-profit entity, which they do not feel constitutes a merger.

Tour officials have been sensitive to reports that it is ceding control to the PIF and the narrative that its new business partners would call the shots. The agreement makes clear that the tour will hold a controlling voting interest in the new venture, regardless of the PIF’s level of investment, according to a person familiar with the deal. The agreement also notes that the tour will retain its level of oversight over operations, including event management and competition rules, even though Al-Rumayyan would be added to the tour’s policy board.

According to a person familiar with the terms, the agreement gives the tour decision-making authority over golf-related operations, effectively giving Monahan oversight over LIV Golf and the future of team-based competition. The new company — simply called NewCo. in the agreement — will house all existing and future golf-related commercial assets “under one roof,” according to the person familiar with the deal.

The agreement notes that the tour will “at all times maintain a controlling voting interest” in the new venture, the person said, although skeptics such as Watson have wondered whether the tour is in a “more desperate financial situation” than it has revealed.

“Everyone wants transparency,” Xander Schauffele told reporters Wednesday, “and I’m sure in their eyes they are being as transparent as they possibly can be. And all of us players would like to think they are taking care of us, but if they’re not able to give us any answers, that means there aren’t any.”

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PGA of America Executive Leadership and Board of Directors

Officers and executives.

John Lindert, PGA

Don Rea, PGA

Nathan Charnes, PGA

Craig Kessler

Kerry Haigh

John Connelly

Sandy Cross

John Easterbrook, PGA

Henry Smokler

Kevin Scott

The PGA Board of Directors includes representatives from each of the PGA's 14 districts, one At-Large Director, three Independent Directors, and a Player Director from the PGA Tour. Each District is comprised of the PGA Sections listed under the District Director.

Larry Kelley, PGA

Connecticut New England Northeastern New York

David Reasoner, PGA

Metropolitan New Jersey Philadelphia

Eric Eshleman, PGA

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Tim Fries, PGA

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Steve Parker, PGA

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Rob Elliott, PGA

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Phil Anderson, PGA

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Cathy Matthews-Kane, PGA

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Paige Cribb, PGA

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John McNair, PGA

Aloha Northern California Southern California

Derek Gutierrez, PGA

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Russ Libby, PGA

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RBC Canadian Open

Heated PGA Tour players' meeting includes reported call for Jay Monahan's resignation

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan arrives at a players meeting at the RBC Canadian Open to discuss the PGA Tour's collaboration with the Saudi PIF.

PGA Tour players offered a standing ovation when one of their peers called for new leadership during a meeting with commissioner Jay Monahan Tuesday at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Ontario, Canada, site of this week’s RBC Canadian Open.

That speaks volumes about how players received the news that Monahan had struck a deal, announced earlier in the day, whereby the tour had reached an agreement in principle that creates a collectively owned for-profit entity under which the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the LIV Golf League will operate. Details remain to be finalized, but Monahan gave a broad outline to the membership in a meeting that lasted slightly more than an hour.

Reporting on Golf Channel, veteran Johnson Wagner, who listened into the meeting via a cell phone speaker, said players were largely unhappy with the news and that, in general, they felt betrayed by Monahan and tour leadership. At one point Monahan was asked if he had been transparent with the players, and he admitted that he had not. Wagner said his impression was that players were 90-10 against the proposed merger, which includes an agreement that ends all pending litigation between the parties.

“Look, I think Jay does a good job for us. I do,” said Ryan Armour, a member of the 16-member Player Advisory Council, which met via conference call after the player meeting attended by about 80 players. “I think he is a very smart man. The way he handled the challenges with Covid, got us through the crisis, he showed great leadership. But there’s a lot of disappointment today. 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.

“The PAC call was a little less aggressive,” Armour added. “We’re taking a step back to see how this develops. But like I said, 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. And now, no financials have changed hands yet, but the mood in the room is that guys feel used.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t Jay today,” Geoff Ogilvy said after the meeting. “There's some grumpy players in there. I feel a little bit sort of, I'm not lied to, but just that the, the tour has sort of changed its position quickly like, and dropped it on us really fast. So maybe there's a feeling of a lack of trust a little bit in the leadership. ... That's not everyone in the room. It's not me. 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. Everyone likes bit of information and especially when it's your livelihood and your job and the sport that you love. So, it was an interesting meeting and sometimes meetings can get a little bit spicy.”

Spicy and then some, apparently. Some players called Monahan a hypocrite. “It was mentioned, yeah,” Ogilvy said. “He took it really well. I mean, that's what the leader has to do though. The leader has to stand up and deliver good news sometimes and bad news sometimes.

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“It was a tough meeting for both sides of things. I guess for Jay and all the players because nobody really knows what this is gonna look like in the end. And I guess one of the feelings is the players here just want the loyal players rewarded and not almost punished for staying.”

“I don’t like the word hypocrite. Jay put himself into a corner with some of the things he said over the last year,” Armour said. “The way some of the younger guys went at him, they brought up some of his quotes. There were some strong emotions in there.”

Now the question becomes, at least as it relates to what is in the minds of some players, is whether Monahan should be staying. He’s in the midst of brokering a deal that by all appearances will make the tour membership quite a bit richer. “He’s helping to make golf a major sport,” one player supportive of the commissioner said. “His sole job is to make money for the players. That’s his top goal.”

But others aren’t so sure that Monahan is the right leader beyond getting the merger with LIV Golf completed. Another player who listened by phone said that the subject of new leadership at the tour was brought up on four or five occasions.

“Sounds like our membership needs to start a search to find someone who is not in the PGA Tour, who better understands sports and marketing and who can make decisions that are best for the game and everyone in it and not just what’s best for today,” said one veteran player. “There are still a lot of details that we don’t know, but this is not the greatest look for the tour’s leadership to be so adamant in one direction and then just turn around and do something else.”

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What you need to know from the senate subcommittee hearing involving pga tour-pif agreement, share this article.

Tuesday is set to be another monumental day in the history of professional golf.

PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and board member Jimmy Dunne were sworn in at a Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington D.C. to discuss the proposed deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund , which is the main financial backer of LIV Golf.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is the chairman of the committee and has been publicly critical of the deal, which will unite the two once-warring factions in golf under the same commercial umbrella.

In excerpts of his opening remarks that were released on the eve of the hearing, Blumenthal says this isn’t simply about golf, but rather “how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence – indeed even take over – a cherished American institution simply to cleanse its public image.”

Here are some of the best nuggets we found out during the Senate subcommittee hearing.

New roles for Tiger, Rory

Documents released by a Senate subcommittee Tuesday contain new details about how the framework deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi-funded LIV Golf came together – as well as the roles that LIV hoped Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods would fill under the new combined entity.

At a meeting in London on April 24, representatives for LIV Golf gave a presentation to PGA Tour board members Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy titled “The Best of Both Worlds.” In the presentation, which was also later distributed via email, LIV listed several “proposals for consideration” – the first of which stated that Woods and McIlroy should own LIV teams and play “in at least … 10 LIV events.”

For more information, click here .

Other proposals

The creation of a “large-scale superstar LIV style team global event” with PGA, LIV and LPGA players to take place in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, with teams to be drafted live in a televised event.
Branding at least two of the PGA Tour’s “elevated events” under the flag of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and/or Aramco, its state-run oil company.
Membership for PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at two of the sport’s most prestigious institutions: Augusta National Golf Club and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

First contact

Dunne, a member of the PGA Tour’s policy board, told USA TODAY Sports last month that he first contacted Al-Rumayyan via WhatsApp in April to explore a possible truce between the golf entities.

But the documents released Tuesday indicate that Dunne was courted himself months earlier by an intermediary: British businessman Roger Devlin.

“I am writing to you in the strictest confidence,” Devlin wrote to Dunne on Dec. 8, before making his case.

Devlin, who is the chairman of British housebuilding company Persimmon plc, wrote that he had been invited by Al-Rumayyan and Amanda Staveley to “help find a solution” to the PGA-LIV conflict. Staveley, a British businesswoman, helped orchestrate PIF’s purchase of English soccer team Newcastle United and remains a director at the club.

Dunne wrote back a few days later that he would prefer to get to know Devlin over coffee before discussing anything specific or business-related. He suggested they try to meet in the new year.

When Devlin followed up on Jan. 3, he told Dunne the Saudis were increasingly confident they could outlast the PGA Tour due to their financial resources. Dunne replied that he didn’t want to meet with Devlin “at this time.” Devlin then circled back in mid-April.

“As a dealmaker you will appreciate timing is everything,” he told Dunne. “I believe we have a window of opportunity to unify the game over the next couple of months, otherwise I fear the Saudis will doubledown (sic) on their investment and golf will be split asunder in perpetuity.”

It appears from the documents that Dunne did not reply to Devlin’s email, though he messaged Al-Rumayyan directly on WhatsApp four days later.

What about Greg Norman?

LIV CEO Greg Norman during day one of LIV Golf – AndalucÌa at Real Club Valderrama on June 30, 2023 in Cadiz, Spain. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

LIV Golf chief executive officer Greg Norman was not involved in the formal rollout of the framework agreement with the PGA Tour and Europe-based DP Tour, and the Senate subcommittee’s documents help explain why.

The documents illustrate an attempt by PGA Tour officials to negotiate the ouster of Norman and Performance54, the consultancy group that has been heavily involved in LIV’s operations. They proposed a side agreement, outside the main deal, that would require Norman to be dismissed by a specific date.

“As of May 25, 2023, drafts of this side agreement were still being exchanged between the parties,” the subcommittee’s memo states. “But the Subcommittee’s inquiry has not yet revealed whether this side agreement was ever executed.”

Norman, the former Australian golfer and two-time major champion, has been the main public face of LIV Golf since its creation last year. The Senate memo also included the previously-known letter Norman sent to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in February 2022 under the subject line “You Can’t Ban Players From Playing Golf,” which hinted at the potential legal fight that would eventually follow.

Dunne, Herlihy eyeing LIV leadership

One of the other interesting finds in the Senate subcommittee memo is an email exchange between Dunne and Herlihy, the influential PGA Tour board members who helped put the deal together.

Herlihy told Dunne on May 15 that he had spoken with Monahan about the possibility of Dunne “overseeing LIV going forward” and “he really liked it.”

“You and me,” Dunne replied.

“Definitely,” Herlihy wrote. “Meant to say both of us.”

Dunne and Herlihy were the only two PGA Tour board members who were mentioned by name in the press release announcing the PGA-LIV deal. The release indicated that both would serve on the board of directors for the new entity that would encompass both golf tours.

“The Subcommitee’s inquiry has not yet revealed whether these PGA Tour officials pursued this idea any further or whether the parties reached any understanding about who may ‘oversee’ LIV Golf going forward,” the memo stated.

"North of $1 billion."

Price was asked about the expected financial contribution from the Public Investment Fund. While he didn’t give an exact number, the figure he did give was massive.

PGA Tour COO Ron Price said the expected Saudi contribution would be north of $1 billion in the agreement between the PGA Tour, PIF and DP World Tour — Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) July 11, 2023

Documents released

There were 276 pages of documents released Tuesday morning related to the subcommittee hearing. You can look through those here .

Why was the announcement rushed?

Here is the communication behind the decision to rush the announcement. pic.twitter.com/C7KYySV3K9 — No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) July 11, 2023

Questioning the hearing

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ken., said Congress has no business getting involved in PGA Tour-PIF deal: “I see a certain illegitimacy to the whole proceeding today.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) complains about how antitrust laws impact college sports at a hearing on the PGA Tour-LIV merger: “Now everybody that plays basketball in college is gonna be driving a Bentley or a Rolls. I mean, we’re gonna be seeing rap stars instead of basketball stars.” pic.twitter.com/raasfga8XC — The Recount (@therecount) July 11, 2023

Gary Woodland and PGA Tour China?

Yes, Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, was given a shoutout during the hearing.

Then Senator Josh Hawley started questioning Price and Dunn about PGA Tour China, which hasn’t been in existence since 2019. The questions lasted about 10 minutes. About an hour later in the hearing, Hawley again asked questions to Price about PGA Tour China.

This Kansas senator shouting out Gary Woodland and talking about investigating men making a "milk-like substance." Josh Hawley, not up to speed, bumbling through an attempted grilling of Ron Price about PGA Tour China, which hasn't operated in four years. — Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) July 11, 2023

Rory meeting with Yasir

Rory McIlroy took a meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan in November of 2022, according to the documents.

According to the first outreach from the PIF, via email to Jimmy Dunne, Rory took a meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan in Dubai in November, 2022. Among the takeaways, 26 is the number! Top players don't wanna play more than 26 times. pic.twitter.com/Fdb6xwkbI2 — Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) July 11, 2023

Must-call list

Here’s a look at the must-call list, who DP World Tour commissioner Keith Pelley and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan were scheduled to call and discuss the agreement between the tours and PIF.

The schedule for the morning of June 6, and the "must call" lists for Keith Pelley and Jay Monahan pic.twitter.com/l5NV8MEDjl — No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) July 11, 2023

Speaking freely

(L-R) Chief Operating Officer of the PGA Tour Ron Price and PGA Tour Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne are sworn in during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations hearing examining the business deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf on Capitol Hill July 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Numerous senators questioned whether PGA Tour players would be able to speak freely on their thoughts about Saudi Arabia and the Public Investment Fund and not be punished for speaking their minds.

Every time, Price and Dunne said Tour players wouldn’t be restricted on what they could say.

Clarifying Greg Norman's position

Blumenthal asked Price, “Just to be clear, [Norman] is out of a job.”

Price: “If we reach a definitive agreement, we would not have a requirement for that type of position.”

Why the secrecy?

Blumenthal continued to press Dunne on why there was so much secrecy behind the announcement and why it was rushed. Dunne never gave a fully and concise answer.

There still seems no clear public answer why all of this had to be done with such a small group of people. I personally don't think that facet of this is a big surprise, but the lack of an answer a month-plus after the announcement is interesting — Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) July 11, 2023

Framework agreement

(L-R) Chief Operating Officer of the PGA Tour Ron Price and PGA Tour Policy Board member Jimmy Dunne testify during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations hearing examining the business deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf on Capitol Hill July 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Price and Dunne have used the term framework agreement numerous times throughout the hearing. Dunne has drilled the point down that there is no deal, yet. It’s only a framework agreement.

“There’s not much here, it’s really just a litigation settlement.

“We have an agreement to possibly get to an agreement. We’re really trying to figure out the right thing to do for our players and the global game of golf.

“I’m hopeful that we will.”

"Vulnerability of the PGA Tour"

Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne now putting a lot on the record about the "vulnerability of the PGA Tour" and LIV putting them "on fire." Hollows out a lot of the attempted messaging from the past, and I assume what we'll hear in the near future, from the PGA Tour. https://t.co/NQgr9EvdrF — The Fried Egg (@the_fried_egg) July 11, 2023

Closing statements

Committee chairman Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations hearing examining the business deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf on Capitol Hill July 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. In early June, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced plans for a framework agreement to create a new global golf entity, which will be heavily funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Blumenthal said he would like to talk with more folks on the PGA Tour side as well as Al-Rumayyan and others involved with the Public Investment Fund to discuss the framework agreement and what’s to come. The hearing lasted about 3 hours.

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2022-2024 Committee Chairs & Co-Chairs

Ryan Evans, PGA Chairman Dick’s Sporting Goods

Michael Berger, PGA President Cazenovia Country Club

Danny Thomas, PGA Associate Vice-President Skaneateles CC

Sean Dadey, PGA Chairman Drumlins Country Club

Rich Chapman, PGA Chairman Thendara Golf Club

Alan Seamans, PGA Member

Chris Kulkinski, PGA Member

Rick Keding, PGA Member

Bill Galloway, PGA Member

Sean Dadey, PGA Chairman Drumlins CC

Current Board of Directors and Hall of Fame living members

Alan Seamans, PGA

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Mike Discenza, PGA Chairman Cortland State

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Mike Deuel, PGA Chairman En-Joie Golf Club

Jon Fowler, PGA Chairman

Rick Keding, PGA Member Binghamton Country Club

Joe Tesori, PGA Member Pompey Club

Previous year’s Special Awards Winners (excluding Assistant Professional of the Year, Merchandisers of the Year & Salesperson of the Year)

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NCAA approves 2-minute warning in college football games, helmet communications beginning in 2024 season

The ncaa approved sweeping technological changes friday that will take effect this season.

The NCAA on Friday approved several rule changes that will take effect during the 2024 season, including the implementation of coach-to-player helmet communications and a new two-minute rule that mirrors the current time system utilized by the NFL. These changes were proposed by the NCAA's Rules Committee in March amid support from some of the nation's most prominent conferences .

The helmet communication rule applies only to schools at the FBS level, but it is not a requirement. Additionally, one team may employ helmet technology even if its opponent elect otherwise.

Coaches will be allowed to communicate with one player, identified by a green dot on the back of their helmet, on the field. That line of communication will be turned off with 15 seconds left on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever occurs first.

On top of player-to-helmet communications, teams can now use tablets to review in-game video only. Schools will be allocated 18 tablets that can be utilized in the coaching booth, on the sideline and in locker rooms.

Other changes approved by the NCAA Friday include:

Penalizing horse collar tackles that occur within the tackle box as a 15-yard personal foul.
Allowing conferences the option to use a collaborative video replay review system.
Head coaches can now conduct interviews with broadcast partners after the first and third quarters conclude.

The NCAA used the 2023 postseason as a trial run for its technological changes with several teams utilizing helmet communications in their bowl games. Several schools have incorporated the technology in their spring games, as well, while teams acclimate to another wave of major change.

Last spring, the NCAA approved a running clock on first downs, except in the last two minutes in the second and fourth quarters. The new two-minute timeout rule falls in line with that change and also serves to alleviate potential back-to-back TV timeouts from broadcasters.

"The two-minute timeout will allow all end-of-half and end-of-game timing rules to be simplified and synch up with this timeout," Steve Shaw, secretary-rules editor said March when the changes were initially proposed. "This will also help broadcast partners to avoid back-to-back media timeouts."

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PGA TOUR Americas 69th ECP Brazil Open shortened to 54 holes due to weather

The 69th ECP Brazil Open has been shortened to 54 holes, the PGA TOUR Americas Rules Committee announced Friday.(Credit Gregory Villalobos)

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Due to weather delays that have impacted the competition schedule, the 69th ECP Brazil Open has been shortened to 54 holes, the PGA TOUR Americas Rules Committee announced Friday.

Thursday’s first round was delayed 6 hours, 20 minutes due to rain and unplayable course conditions at the Rio Olympic Course in Rio de Janeiro. The first 24 groups began their first rounds at 1 p.m. Thursday, and play was suspended due to darkness at 5:29 p.m. The 24 groups in the afternoon wave began their first rounds at 8 a.m. local time Friday.

The Rules Committee expects the second round to be complete by the end of Saturday. Considering the amount of daylight available, the Rules Committee determined it’s not possible to play 36 holes on Sunday, and therefore shortened the event to 54 holes.

“While the weather and course conditions have been challenging, I commend the golf course maintenance staff as we work towards a 54-hole event and crowning a worthy champion,” said John Slater, PGA TOUR Americas Chief Referee.

Per PGA TOUR Americas regulations, if event consists of at least 54 holes, the tournament will be considered official and Fortinet Cup points will be awarded.

Through 18 holes, David Pastore, Andrew Alligood and Brendon Doyle share the lead after first-round scores of 7-under 64.

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This committee will introduce players to the crowd as they begin play at either #1 tee or #10 tee (Thursday/Friday). PLEASE NOTE: Strong public speaking skills and appropriate voice/inflection are required. ... The Media Center Committee will assist PGA TOUR Media Officials with registration and Media Center operations, welcoming local ...
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The current commissioner is Jay Monahan who took office in 2017. The PGA is based in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida, and earns +$1 billion in annual revenue. The PGA Tour was established in late 1968 after it broke off from the PGA of America. While "the Tour" was run as part of the PGA of America, it was known as the "Tournament Players ...
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