PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is returning to work just over a month after he stepped away for a “medical situation” during a tumultuous time of working out a surprise commercial agreement with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf.
Monahan informed the PGA Tour’s policy board, players and staff that he will be return to his role on July 17, the week of the British Open.
“Thank you for your support and leadership these last few weeks,” Monahan wrote. “With the support of my family and thanks to world class medical care, my health has improved dramatically.”
The tour never disclosed what the medical situation involved.
Monahan had battled LIV Golf for some two years while the league funded by Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund poached top players from the PGA Tour. And then came the shocking announcement June 6 in which Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund, revealed they would be working together.
The five-page framework agreement sparked concern of a merger. Monahan had said details were still to be worked out even as Congress and the Justice Department got involved.
A week later, during the U.S. Open, he announced he was stepping away and two of his top executives — Ron Price, the chief operating officer, and Tyler Dennis, the PGA Tour president — would handle the day-to-day duties.
Price and board member Jimmy Dunne have agreed to appear before a Senate panel reviewing the agreement on Tuesday in Washington.
