New Tour Commish Jay Monahan's Four Most Pressing Issues

Tim Finchem leaves Jay Monahan a robust PGA Tour, maybe even a bloated one that presents too many management issues. Still, Finchem's now-official retirement on December 31st comes a few months sooner faster than some expected based on his comments, and while there is time for Finchem to wrap up whatever projects he has been telegraphing as priorities, the schedule would seem to indicate time is running out for him to accomplish much.

Jeff Babineau at Golfweek.com outlined his thoughts on what Monahan faces, and here are the priorities in my view:

--Television future. Expect the PGA Tour to exercise an early opt-out of its CBS and NBC deals soon, with a renegotiation of terms that would kick in for the start of next fall's 2017-18 start. The current Golf Channel cable deal is locked in until 2021, but some changes in weekend coverage of PGA Tour events may be possible in this renegotiation. Such an opt-out would be risky considering that the sports rights fee bubble has burst, golf is expensive and cumbersome to cover (ask Fox), and golf's largely older demographic is not ready to log onto Twitter, YouTube or even PGA Tour Live to watch a live feed of the Shriner's final round. Monahan can use the opportunity to consider another partner besides the two he has and ask for telecast upgrades in technology, but he also risks upsetting two very powerful media companies. Maybe Monahan has been ushered into the Commissionership to play good cop to Finchem's final-move, bad cop opt-out cop? Big bonuses are at stake, but with Finchem having stocked the Policy Board with cronies and PGA Tour employee/PGA of America President Derek Sprague, his exit will be a well-compensated one and Finchem won't need to be signing up for Obamacare anytime soon.

--Schedule. PGA Tour players are asked to compete all summer, then show up in the playoffs before "enjoying" maybe a week or two off before returning to a full schedule (or risk falling way behind in Cup points, ranking points, or re-shuffle status). In 2017, the late season schedule may have only one week off up to Thanksgiving. So while the Commissioner's job is to provide playing opportunities, the long term pacing of the schedule makes little sense for players, fans, sponsors or TV partners.

--FedExCup. There still has been no renewal with the playoff sponsor. This was assumed to be (one of) Finchem's final pet projects. Perhaps the FedEx deal is done and terms will be delivered to the networks on opt-out day. Or maybe a FedEx renewal is not done and this will dictate a more-comprehensive-than-expected re-thinking of items one (TV deal) and two (schedule).

--European Tour. As partners in the PGA Tour's WGC events, will Monahan let them have their moments or turn up the heat with an eye to squelching Europe's tour? Chief Exec Keith Pelley and Finchem have very different views of the game, with Pelley thinking about things like night golf, while Finchem still thinks the PGA Tour's greatest charm is the sight of players taking off hats to shake hands. Monahan seems like he falls somewhere in between the two extremes. Will he take his eye off the core, most highly-rated product--domestic PGA Tour golf in the winter and spring--to expand internationally, all just to squelch European Tour power? Will it lead to him not dealing with a different rival few saw coming, say, a Formula One-style team concept?

Who Is Jay Monahan And Why His Appointment Is Promising

The only negative on Jay Monahan’s resume? Why of course, he is Tim Finchem’s hand-picked successor.

Nothing against Commissioner Coterminous. Really. He navigated the PGA Tour through some swampy times and leaves a fine legacy on many fronts, but especially in providing his membership playing opportunities. But times are changing, threats loom and openings exist to re-imagine elements of the mostly-healthy PGA Tour "product".

As with Adam Silver moving into David Stern’s NBA Commissionership and Major League Baseball's Rob Manfred taking over for Bud Selig, Monahan has been positioned to enjoy similar success possibilities of those two recently-appointed leaders. Thanks to his ascension through a myriad of jobs and the core model of the tour in good shape thanks to Finchem, Monahan enters at a good time to refine what pro golf looks like and to enhance the tour's stewardship role in the game.

For a young guy (46) he’s got a lengthy résumé. That could be interpreted as the sign of someone who either (A) can’t sit still, or (B) was building an experienced pathway to a complex job like PGA Tour Commissioner.  I side with option B and give Monahan benefit of the doubt because he’s imminently likable, making him a personality that allows him to receive job offers with regularity.


Highlights of Monahan’s career to date, with commentary:

—Division III Academic All-American golfer at Trinity College: He could play the game at one time, which never hurts with players who respect such ability.

—Masters of Science in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1995: He knows how to use B-speak.

—Account Supervisor at Arnold Advertising, handling Titleist and FootJoy Worldwide's advertising business: Okay, so rolling back the ball might be a tougher sell.

—Director, Global Sponsorships and Branding Programs at EMC Corporation: When they had the Skills Challenge, which, I think many of us kind of miss and might be the kind of alternative format idea the tour needs to be open to going forward.

—Executive Director of the Deutsche Bank Championship: has experience on the ground running a tournament, never a bad thing in a climate where tournament directors are not exactly unanimous members of The Tim Finchem Marching And Chowder Society.

—EVP at Fenway Sports Group. Knows sports, loves sports and has worked in sports besides golf. This has always felt like a blind spot for Finchem, who never seemed like a serious sports fan.

— Co-founded Golf Fights Cancer, with fellow Fenway executive Brian Oates. Has a heart!

—Tournament Director of The Players Championship. More tournament operations experience, which will help him justify the event's move back to March, opening up the PGA Championship to some day be played in May. Or something like that.

—Deputy Commissioner of the PGA Tour starting in 2014: reportedly never once dropped Tim Finchem’s garment bag in that time, always picked out the best ties for his boss and never ran out of hand sanitizer.

—COO of the PGA Tour. Already has essentially started the job and has begun moving in his preferred lieutenants.

I’m sure there are other elements to his career missing here, but you get the idea.

Jay Monahan has worked in golf and sports from the ground up.

He does not hold a law degree. These are good things.

PGA Tour Policy Board Appoints Jay Monahan Commissioner Effective January 1, 2017

I'll share a few thoughts and insights over the next few hours and days, but for now the official press release regarding the long-expected appointment of COO Jay Monahan as Tim Finchem's PGA Tour successor.

For now, the press release...with all caps reluctantly left in place.

Policy Board Appoints Jay Monahan as PGA TOUR’s Next Commissioner

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (November 7, 2016) – The PGA TOUR Policy Board has announced the appointment of Jay Monahan as the PGA TOUR’s next Commissioner.

Monahan, currently the TOUR’s Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, will take office on January 1, 2017, upon the retirement of Tim Finchem.

The action was unanimously approved today during the Policy Board’s meeting at PGA TOUR Headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach. Finchem is stepping down after serving more than 22 years as the TOUR’s third Commissioner. He succeeded Deane Beman on June 1, 1994.

Monahan, who joined the TOUR in 2008, has served as Deputy Commissioner since April 1, 2014. He assumed the additional title of COO earlier this year.

“Jay has proven himself to be an outstanding leader who has developed an intimate knowledge and understanding of the PGA TOUR and a clear vision for the future of the organization,” said Victor F. Ganzi, Chairman of the Policy Board. “He is highly respected among our members, staff, business partners and the golf industry as a whole. We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Jay’s caliber fully prepared to assume the role of Commissioner and lead the PGA TOUR’s exceptional executive team as it continues to
build upon the remarkable success achieved under Tim’s leadership.”

“I am greatly honored by the trust the Policy Board has shown in me to succeed Tim Finchem as Commissioner,” Monahan said. “Under Tim’s leadership, the PGA TOUR has made remarkable progress, even in the most difficult economic times. We are now entering a very important time in our organization’s history, and I know our executive team and I will draw upon and be inspired by the invaluable experience of working with Tim as we take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities, as well as face the challenges, that are ahead for the TOUR.”

Monahan follows a similar path to the position as did Finchem, who also served as the TOUR’s Deputy Commissioner and COO before being named Commissioner.

“I have the highest regard for Jay and have total confidence in his ability to lead the PGA TOUR well into the future,” Finchem said. “He has been a key member of the executive team since joining the TOUR and has worked closely with me on all business matters since becoming Deputy Commissioner. Jay is well respected throughout the PGA TOUR family and the golf industry. I know he will do a tremendous job for the players and all constituents of the PGA TOUR.”

Finchem has left his own major imprint upon the organization in a multitude of areas. Under his leadership, the PGA TOUR has continued its tremendous growth, from record purses, revenue and charitable contributions, to leading a number of major global golf initiatives.

Finchem’s tenure has included the creation of the FedExCup and Presidents Cup; formation of the International Federation of PGA Tours, World Golf Championships and World Golf Foundation; introduction of The First Tee youth initiative; creation of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR China; and taking a leadership role in golf’s return to the Olympic Games.

Monahan came to the PGA TOUR from Fenway Sports Group (FSG) in June 2008 as Executive Director of THE PLAYERS Championship. He had been FSG’s executive vice president, leading the sales and business development team for the property ownership and representation divisions. Additionally, he directed FSG’s sponsorship sales operations for the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, NASCAR’s Roush Fenway Racing and Boston College Athletics.

In 2010, Monahan was named the TOUR’s Senior Vice President for Business Development and in March of 2013, was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing business development, corporate marketing and partnerships, title sponsor relations, retail licensing and media sales.

Prior to joining FSG, Monahan spent three years as executive director at IMG Worldwide, where he played an integral role in the development of what is now the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., and served as the tournament’s first director.

Monahan began his sports sponsorship career as director of global sponsorships and
branding programs at EMC Corporation. Previously, he worked at Arnold Advertising
and Bob Woolf Associates.

Monahan graduated from Trinity College in 1993, where he was a four-year member of the golf team and a Division II Academic All-American his senior year. He earned a masters degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
in 1995.

Monahan and his wife, Susan, have two daughters, Sophie and Phoebe.

The HSBC-WGC, 72-Hole Stroke Play Oversaturation & An East Lake Cup-Inspired Alernative

The World Golf Championship concept brings an international together four times a year, including the PGA Tour's lone match play event, so it's hard to criticize a concept forcing the best players in the world to show up.

HSBC pours a lot of money in golf, generates discussion about the industry of golf with its business forum, and wants to see the game expanded beyond its current borders, so it seems unfair to blame a company going above and beyond the normal sponsors.

And top players did show up in Shanghai at the end of a year when they've been asked to play even more weeks than normal, so there is no way they can be criticized.

Yet in trying to watch the WGC-HSBC Champions, won in resounding fashion by Hideki Matsuyama for his third PGA Tour win, there may be no finer example of the oversaturated product that is elite professional golf. A limited field, no-cut rankings and cash extravaganza watched by few people in person or on television is the product of...too much "product."

The recent analysis suggesting oversaturation and over-extension of the NFL and Premier League should serve as a reminder that unless a pro golf tournament this time of year has something fresh and entertaining to offer the fan base, it should not be played. Too many events are serving the needs of players, executives and sponsors, and needlessly denying the fans a chance to be entertained.

Consider this week's 72-hole, no-cut WGC-HSBC. To say it was lifeless would be an insult to life. The competing Sanderson Farms PGA Tour stop in Mississippi offered a more compelling event because the players, who genuinely need these dollars and points to retain their tour status before the next re-shuffle, appeared more engaged. The event exuded a certain small-town charm lacking in Shanghai. (Left-hander Cody Gribble won and added his name to the list of emerging young players.)

And it's not as if alternatives are unavailable.

This week's collegiate East Lake Cup, while obviously a made-for-TV event highlighting top Division I teams, at least promises to entertain thanks to the team match play format. What if the WGC-HSBC did something similar, offering two or three days of stroke play to determine an individual winner and to make some seedings. But instead of binding players as a team by their country, allowing them to play for a corporate alliance?

Might we stand a better chance of watching and being entertained by seeing Team Nike featuring Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey and Jhonattan Vegas, taking on Team Srixon with Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Knox and J.B. Holmes.

Team Callaway's Henrik Stenson, Patrick Reed and Thomas Pieters could take on Team Taylor Made's Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Daniel Berger in another early tournament match? And why relegate it to manufacturers? If the RBC-endorsees are going to get appearance fees elsewhere on the schedule, let them field a team based on having enough players high enough in the world ranking.

Some sort of twist on existing formats are presumably squelched in the name of FedExCup points and world ranking points prioritization, which reminds us once again: too often professional golf tournaments are played at the pleasure of the golfers, executives and sponsors, and not for the fans.

Is it any wonder so few were paying attention this week, even with a leaderboard like this?

Trinity Forest To Host Nelson Year Earlier Than Planned

The Coore-Crenshaw design, opening this weekend and reportedly considered a potential future major venue, will host the 2018 AT&T Byron Nelson. That is a year earlier than expected, ending the PGA Tour's run at Las Colinas (since 1983) this upcoming season.

Art Stricklin reports the announcement will be made Wednesday with Jordan Spieth, PGA Tour EVP Andy Pazder.

Salesmanship Club officials said the early move came about for two reasons: The club and the Tour came to an agreement with the Four Seasons Resorts owner, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, to get out of the contract early and the Tour's agronomy staff has signed off on when the course could host its first professional event.

Translation: they couldn't get away from TPC Las Colinas fast enough.

You can see a few Trinity Forest images at their official site.

More Stroke Play! PGA Tour Adds "The CJ Cup" In South Korea

I held out hope that the PGA Tour adding an event in Korea with "cup" in the title might give us something to get excited about. Instead it's following the same old script beyond the massively unsustainable ($9.25 million) purse: limited 78-player field, 72-holes of stroke play.

The CJ Cup "@" Nine Bridges does bring us closer to our first tournament title including an Emoji in the title, and as far away as possible from a format that will inspire interest. It also just adds more clutter to the fall wraparound that isn't working well for players or fans, as we discussed on Morning Drive.

From the PGA Tour release on what we first learned about last week from Doug Ferguson, only with not as many CAPS.

THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES will feature a field of 78 players, with 60 coming from the PGA TOUR FedExCup points list. The remaining players, with many of the best Korean players represented, will come from a number of different exemptions to be named at a later date.

“This announcement is a historic landmark for the PGA TOUR as we add another tournament in Asia. We had such a phenomenal experience in Korea last year at The Presidents Cup, and we hoped an official, permanent event in this great country would be the result of that success,” said Monahan. “Partnering with a respected business leader like the CJ Corporation means this tournament will be on the Korean sports landscape for years to come. We have a tremendous population of Korean golfers on the PGA TOUR, and we anticipate that will continue as THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES inspires a new generation of players, not only in Korea, but also around the world.”

And...

The 72-hole tournament will feature competition Thursday through Sunday, with a pro-am on the Wednesday of tournament week. The host site of the tournament will be announced at a later date.

“The addition of  THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES to our schedule gives us three strong tournaments in consecutive weeks in Asia, and they will play a significant role in shaping the early part of the FedExCup season and the FedExCup chase overall,” Monahan continued. “The CJ Group is well-trusted and highly valued in the global marketplace. We couldn’t be happier to partner with such a strong, vibrant company that taps into the lives of consumers worldwide through food and food service, bio pharmaceuticals, homeshopping and logistics, entertainment and media, and now golf.

“South Korea is a beautiful country with a rich golf tradition,” Monahan added. “Many of our players who have been to the country already know that, and those who haven’t are in for a treat. The fact that valuable FedExCup points will be offered only enhances this tournament’s position on our schedule.”

As long as the Nine Bridges folks aren't hoping for big ratings, the event should succeed though prove utterly unremarkable beyond the purse.

Last week's CIMB Classic drew dismal ratings for the first three rounds (here, here, here) with the usual competition (baseball, football) and unusual (debate coverage) drawing viewers elsewhere.

Would a different tournament format boost audience sizes into six-figures? Probably not, but we'll never know apparently, either.

"Ultimate gesture players can make is living like Arnie"

The timing is bold but the topic has been on the minds of many who follow pro golf: too many of today's lavishly paid stars act in sharp contrast to Arnold Palmer in character, actions and passion for the game.

Ryan Lavner at GolfChannel.com says the passing of Mr. Palmer puts the onus "on the players to decide for themselves how to honor his legacy."

That’s why these days, weeks and months ahead are an important period of reflection for the current pros.

There is an ever-widening divide between fans and the stars of our game, the mega-millionaires who are safe in their cocoon, protected by managers and publicists and image specialists. The money has never been greater – Rory McIlroy deposited $11.44 million Sunday; Palmer made $1.86 million in his career – and the lifestyles never more different. Each year, it seems, they only drift further away, the connection becoming more tenuous.

And so, moving forward, will our stars use their fame, their fortune and their status to shield themselves from the public, from the fans that enriched their fabulous lives? Or will they stay grounded and humble and relatable – will they stay connected – the way Palmer did?

The Olympic Zika virus fiasco this summer opened the door to this discussion and while the debate is not something that should overshadow the remembrances of The King, but throwing the point out seems fair as we hear from the players over the next few days about how they view Palmer's legacy and their places in the game.

Bryson Earns Tour Card With New Driver, Plenty Of Energy

Noted in Adam Stanley's recap of the clubs in Bryson DeChambeau's winning bag, the 2016-17 DAP Chamiponship winner revealed that his tour-card clinching victory came thanks to advice from Phil Mickelson.

Stanley writes:

DeChambeau got a new driver this week – his previous one broke last week – and it clearly benefited him. He hit 16 fairways Sunday, counting the two playoff holes. He admitted Sunday that he could “go play again tomorrow” as he still had a lot of energy. Conserving that energy was part of some advice he received from Phil Mickelson earlier in the year about how to approach a tournament.

“The strategy is the strategy. Once I become comfortable with a golf course, that’s all I need. I learned I don’t need to be there Sunday before the tournament and play three or four practice rounds. That’s one thing I learned from Phil,” DeChambeau said.

Will Gray explains what DeChambeau's win means for his status in the Web.com Tour playoffs and 2016-17 PGA Tour.