CROMWELL, CT – Earlier this week, the PGA Tour announced that Commissioner Jay Monahan will step down at the end of 2026, concluding a decade-long tenure marked by unprecedented challenges, bold financial maneuvers, and a polarizing approach to golf’s fractured landscape.
As Monahan prepares to transition day-to-day responsibilities to incoming CEO Brian Rolapp, a former NFL executive, the golf world is left to reflect on a legacy that is as complex as the sport itself.
Monahan, a Massachusetts native with a background in business development, took the reins in January 2017, and inherited a PGA Tour riding high under his predecessor, Tim Finchem.
Monahan joined the Tour in 2008 as executive director of The Players Championship, rising through roles in marketing and operations before becoming commissioner. His early years were defined by steady growth, with a landmark media rights deal and a strategic alliance with the DP World Tour cementing the PGA Tour’s global influence.
“You look at what Jay has done since he took over,” Rory McIlroy, a vocal supporter, said in 2024. “The media rights deal, navigating us through COVID, the strategic alliance with the DP World Tour. I think the PGA Tour is in a far stronger position than when Jay took over.”
Navigating the Storm: COVID-19 and LIV Golf
Monahan’s leadership faced its first major test during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, with sports globally halted, he spearheaded a rapid return to play, implementing strict health protocols to resume competition. The Tour’s ability to stage events without fans drew widespread praise. Monahan’s resolve kept the organization afloat.
“The quick return to play required courage and leadership,” noted a recent analysis by The Fried Egg blog. “Monahan and the Tour’s leadership deserve credit for sticking to their game plan.”
Yet, it was the emergence of LIV Golf, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), that defined Monahan’s tenure.
In 2022, LIV’s aggressive poaching of PGA Tour superstars Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson – later adding Cam Smith and Jon Rahm, with contracts exceeding $100 million, shook the sport.
Monahan’s initial response was defiant, suspending defecting players and invoking the moral weight of 9/11 families to criticize Saudi involvement, a move that later haunted him.
In a late 2022 article, Pro Golf Weekly reported on some early rumors that Monahan was on “shaky ground.”
Jeff Smith wrote, “In 2017, Jay Monahan was named the PGA Tour’s fourth commissioner. At 46, it was expected the golf monopoly would be headed by the Boston native for the next several decades. Yet, amid the current LIV Golf crisis, Monahan is said to be on shaky ground, having lost the confidence of key players and several board members, according to a PGA Tour agent, who represents several marquee names.”
In the article, a longtime player agent told Pro Golf Weekly that Monahan lacked gravitas and leadership skills.
“Monahan was the perfect captain to steer the tour’s cruise ship amid smooth waters,” said the longtime agent by phone. “But the tour now needs someone navigating a battleship in its war with LIV. And he is not it.”
The agent added, “No presence, no leadership skills.”
The real bombshell, though, came several months later, in June 2023, when Monahan, after secret negotiations, announced a framework agreement with the PIF and DP World Tour to form a new entity. The deal blindsided players, sparking outrage from those who had remained loyal to the PGA Tour.
The agreement, still pending as of Monahan’s exit announcement, remains a flashpoint, with negotiations stalled over reintegrating LIV players and aligning schedules.
Financial Wins and Structural Shifts
Despite the LIV saga, Monahan’s financial acumen bolstered the PGA Tour’s coffers. He is, after all, a world-class salesman.
Monahan’s ability to retain sponsors like AT&T, Valspar, and 3M during turbulent times further underscored his commercial prowess.
In January 2024, he secured a $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of American sports owners, with potential to reach $3 billion. This deal birthed PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit entity granting nearly 200 players over $1.5 billion in equity.
“Whether current purse sizes and sponsorship levels are sustainable is a separate question, but Monahan did keep the lights on at PGA Tour HQ,” The Fried Egg report acknowledged.
In another reactionary move, Monahan introduced the Player Impact Program, a $100 million slush fund to “reward” (some say bribe) its big-name players who’d remained.
In another 2022 PGW article, Smith wrote about the PIP program this way: “Tiger Woods won the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program (PIP) for 2022 despite teeing it up in just three tournaments, two of which he didn’t even finish: withdrew from the PGA Championship after round three and missed the cut at The Open. He finished T47 at the Masters, his only result in the money.
“PIP debuted in 2021 as a way to funnel money to the tour’s marquee names. The secretive algorithm supposedly measures the popularity of players through metrics such as web searches, news article mentions, TV time, and social media engagement.
“Rory McIlroy came in second to Woods. The Northern Irishman was awarded a check for $12 million. Jordan Spieth, whose father invented the system, not surprisingly came in third, and made $9 million. Justin Thomas ($7.5M) and Jon Rahm ($6M) rounded out the top-5 PIP earners.”
The PIP program was quietly shelved amid loud criticism. In its place was another brainchild of Monahan’s to funnel money primarily to the tour’s elite: Signature Events, where purses are larger and fields are limited (e.g. bigger dividend/smaller divisor).
Innovations like the Fan Forward Initiative, incorporating drone technology and AI-driven TOURCAST, aimed to modernize the fan experience. Yet, critics argue these moves were also reactive, spurred by LIV’s competition rather than visionary leadership.
A Tarnished Legacy: The FedEx Cup Playoff Debacle
Among Monahan’s most criticized decisions was the overhaul of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, particularly the much-maligned format introduced in 2019 and refined under his watch. The system, which awarded the FedEx Cup champion based on a single-event finale at East Lake with starting strokes (the leader beginning at 10-under par) and eliminated a separate TOUR Championship title, drew widespread scorn.
Fans and players alike decried it as gimmicky, arguing it diminished the season-long race’s integrity and confused casual viewers.
In 2021, PGW’s Paul Daly wrote, “Because it’s so gimmicky, the winner of the PGA Tour’s season-ending flagship event is not credited with a win in the OWGR database. Instead, the win is awarded to the player who shot the lowest gross score – even though that player received no first-place check, trophy, or even a post-round interview. It’s flat-out nuts.”
Critics, including former players, called it a betrayal of golf’s meritocratic ethos, with the staggered scoring overshadowing actual performance.
Monahan defended the format as a way to simplify the playoffs and boost drama, but its unpopularity persisted, and in 2025 it’s beginning to be unwound.
The format’s failure to resonate became a lasting stain on his tenure, symbolizing a disconnect between leadership and the sport’s traditional values.
A Polarizing Figure
Monahan’s tenure wasn’t without personal cost. In 2023, he briefly stepped away citing “mental and physical health challenges” from the LIV fallout, with COO Ron Price and EVP Tyler Dennis serving as interim co-commissioners. His public persona — reportedly polished in private but often nervous under the spotlight — drew mixed reviews.
“He’s actually great in person, but really struggles in front of cameras,” a PGA Tour player told No Laying Up in 2024, citing Monahan’s patience with players like Grayson Murray.
In a 2022 post, Pro Golf Weekly published this writer’s profile of Monahan, suggesting the former college hockey player was never qualified to lead a multi-billion-dollar sports behemoth.
In the article: “It’s obvious that he’s in way over his head and never really had the qualifications to be a major-league CEO. Being a good schmoozer and kibitzer, classifying as Mr. Nice Guy, is far different than being the leader of a multi-billion-dollar business.”
His handling of the PIF negotiations, particularly after invoking 9/11, left a permanent blemish.
The PGW profile continued, “Since that fateful Sunday, June 12, during the final round of the 2022 RBC Canadian Open when Monahan joined CBS’ Jim Nantz in the broadcast booth on national TV and proceeded to whiff at every softball question lobbed his way, the state of the PGA Tour has never been more confusing.
“That date is noteworthy since the PGA Tour and its reputation has never been the same. What was supposed to be damage-control propaganda turned into a shipwreck series of events over a period of seven weeks.”
The Fried Egg report noted, “He invoked 9/11 families when denouncing the Saudis only to turn around and negotiate with the PIF a year later,” calling him “at worst, an aimless, divisive leader.”
Conversely, supporters like McIlroy argue that Monahan’s deal-making preserved the Tour’s relevance amid existential threats. His 2023 compensation of $23 million, including bonuses, reflected the Tour’s financial scale but also fueled perceptions of disconnect with rank-and-file players.
The Road Ahead
As Monahan transitions to a board role through 2026, his legacy remains a paradox: a commissioner who secured billions in investment and navigated a global crisis, yet whose missteps deepened golf’s divide.
Brian Rolapp, lauded for his NFL media innovations, inherits a Tour at a crossroads, with unification talks ongoing and fan engagement a priority.
“If Rolapp restores confidence in the competence of PGA Tour leadership, he will represent a massive upgrade,” The Fried Egg predicted.
For Monahan, the final 18 months will be a farewell tour of sorts, a chance to shape the narrative of a tenure that, for better or worse, reshaped professional golf.
As golf’s future unfolds, Monahan’s impact — flawed, resilient, and undeniably transformative — will be debated for years to come.
