Major champion pens open letter to PGA Tour commissioner demanding clarity

Tom Watson isn't alone in being in the dark on the details of the prospective PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger and penned an open letter to Tour commissioner Jay Monahan expressing a wish for clarity from the game's top executives.

The eight-time majors champion began his letter wishing Monahan a speedy recovery after he suffered an unspecified medical condition and stepped away from day-to-day operations last Tuesday.

"There are many questions ... which I hope will be addressed with the players by Tour management at this week's Travelers tour event. What does the acceptance of this partnership mean for the Tour? What do we get? What do we give up? What was this deal done in such secrecy and why wasn't even one of the players who sits on the Tour's Policy Board included?"

His last question was answered in an ESPN report last week that detailed what occurred behind the scenes to make the deal possible. In Mark Schlabach's article, James Dunne III said the merger was agreed upon in a backdoor deal because "I didn't want to be in a situation where we told some players and not others... People had their own particular interests, could do what they want to do, [and] some might try to derail the deal."

Watson noted the details of the merger and the new entity formed by it remain murky, with comments from Dunne providing minimal transparency.

"Policy board independent director Jimmy Dunne ... has said the PIF is not investing money into the PGA Tour, Inc. but rather into a newly formed for-profit commercial entity under the banner, PGA Tour Enterprises. Will PIF funds be invested only in PGA Tour Enterprises, not PGA Tour, Inc? What does that mean?"

Per Schlabach, "Dunne said the entity will consider future 'strategic opportunities and evaluate if they'd be useful for the PGA Tour.' It might be the purchase of a golf course, another tour or a media network."

Dunne went on to add, "It could be very possible that we could go a long period of time before there's any investment of any type."

Watson acknowledged the PGA Tour joins a list of U.S. businesses doing business with Saudi Arabia but he wonders how the agreement compares to other sports leagues.

The NBA altered its rules in December 2022 to allow sovereign wealth funds to invest, "but not control teams," per commissioner Adam Silver. The NFL bans contributions from those wealth funds.

"Does the PGA Tour have guidelines? Have we, as a body, defined an acceptable percentage of PIF funding in this proposed partnership," Watson asked.

He saved his sharpest criticism when calling out Monahan's cheap tactic of using the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to sway public opinion on LIV Golf but then doing business with Saudi Arabia anyway.

"I still await Saudi acknowledgment of their role in the attacks of 9/11 ... That day, forever among the darkest in our nation's history, is sadly not alone among the human rights violations we have seen employed by Saudi Arabia. I ask the Tour, how is a non-negotiable point for us one day one we negotiate around the next?"

For Watson, the deal signals "a more desperate financial situation than has been previously revealed by the Tour." In that regard, Watson asks, "Have funds depleted to the point where the Tour needs an unprecedented capital injection to remain solvent now or for the future?"

Tour members and U.S. legislators have questions but leadership has been hesitant to provide many details. The answers will provide a glimpse into the past, present and future of the PGA, from what led to the Tour having to make a shady deal with a rival league to what its future looks like because of it.