Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele have both admitted that players on the PGA Tour now have trust issues with commissioner Jay Monahan on the back of the Public Investment of Saudi Arabia (PIF) agreement.
The PGA Tour shocked the world of golf on June 6 after confirming they had agreed a groundbreaking deal with PIF, which would see them work alongside their rivals LIV Golf. The announcement came as a surprise to many, including those who compete on the PGA Tour.
Most notably due to the fact that the Tour's commissioner Monahan had repeatedly slammed the LIV setup and its Saudi funding in a 12-month dispute with the breakaway circuit.
The feeling amongst players in the aftermath is that nearly all were left in the dark when it came to the agreement. A player meeting on the back of the deal was held at the RBC Canadian Open, which Monahan described as 'heated', having been labelled a 'hypocrite' according to Tour pro Geoff Ogilvy.
Following the announcement last month, the commissioner temporarily stepped back from his duties one week later on medical grounds. On Tuesday Tour officials appeared in front of the U.S. Senate to discuss their Saudi partnership, with Monahan not in attendance due to his time off.
Upon his return later this month, the commissioner is set to have a big job on his hands with both Spieth and Schauffele claiming they had lost trust in their boss. Asked at the Scottish Open if he had trust issues with Monahan on the back of the PIF alliance, he responded: "Yeah, quite a bit, just based on conversations I've had with players, and I think he realises that.
"I'm sure he's preparing for a plan to try and build it back." A similar question was asked to Schauffele, who was quizzed on if his feelings of trust towards Monahan had changed. He responded: "Yes. Yes, they have." Defending Scottish Open champion Schauffele also warned the commissioner he had plenty of questions to answer when he returned on July 17.
"We got a memo that he'll be back on the 17th," he added.If you want to call it one of the rockier times on TOUR, the guy was supposed to be there for us, wasn't. Obviously he had some health issues. I'm glad that he said he's feeling much better.
"But yeah, I'd say he has a lot of tough questions to answer in his return, and yeah, I don't trust people easily. He had my trust and he has a lot less of it now. So I don't stand alone when I say that.Yeah, he'll just have to answer our questions when he comes back."
