PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has delivered an end-of-year message to golf fans, where he announced the organization is launching a search for a CEO.
In the message, published on the PGA Tour’s social media accounts, Monahan updated fans on initiatives including the PGA Tour Studio and the fan forward survey, but the biggest news came towards the end of the three-minute address, where he confirmed the new CEO role is being created.
He said: “We’re bringing new perspectives onto our team to help us realize the incredible opportunities ahead for our sport including launching a search for a CEO of the PGA Tour. We can learn so much from across the world of sport and entertainment and I’m excited to meet candidates for this important new role.”
The news comes amid ongoing talks between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) behind LIV Golf. The announcement the rivals were engaged in discussions over the future of the men’s elite game came in June last year but, despite an initial deadline for the talks to conclude at the end of 2023, an agreement failed to transpire.
As the year draws to a close, Commissioner Jay Monahan has a message for our fans. pic.twitter.com/yQzrlM6ut2December 17, 2024
Nevertheless, Monahan has remained upbeat about the possibility of a deal, while he was paired together with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at October’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, providing further optimism that a deal may not be too far away. Last week, Bloomberg reported the PIF was close to taking a 6% interest in the PGA Tour’s for-profit arm, PGA Tour Enterprises.
Monahan will reportedly remain in his current role as well as serving on the board of PGA Tour Enterprises, with another of its board members, Arthur Blank, leading the search.
The announcement comes on the same day Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter reported that long-standing Chief Operating Officer of the PGA Tour, Ron Price, is retiring ahead of the 2025 season, which begins with The Sentry on 2 January.
The news of the changes at the top of the PGA Tour comes almost a year after it confirmed an investment from US-based consortium the Strategic Sports Group.
Earlier in his message, Monahan also promised: “We have major innovations coming online. PGA Tour Studios goes live in just a few short weeks giving us the ability to produce golf content like never before delivering our fans around the world more of what you want to see.”
He added: “We are committed to evolving PGA Tour golf and everything is on the table. Over 50,000 fans have responded to a Fan Forward survey and your voice in shaping the future of the Tour."
“We’ve also recently announced a Creative Council which is starting a dialogue with some of the most influential social media voices in golf about how we can more effectively engage with our next generation of fans and we’re collaborating with our media partners to incorporate all that feedback into their telecasts and looking hard at new formats that make a game even more engaging.”
The PGA Tour’s imminent appointment of a CEO comes soon after Greg Norman confirmed he will soon be replaced in the equivalent role at LIV Golf.
