HOYLAKE, England — In the midst of turbulent times on the PGA Tour, one of the game’s biggest and most important players threw embattled commissioner Jay Monahan a lifeline on Tuesday.
Jon Rahm spoke with a level head and compassion when asked about Monahan, who has been sidelined since last month because of an undisclosed health issue.
Monahan has been criticized heavily for his mishandling of the LIV Golf insurgency and keeping PGA Tour players in the dark about the ground-breaking decision to join forces with the Saudi-backed tour.
When asked Tuesday at The British Open whether his opinion of Monahan has changed since the controversial “framework agreement’’ with the PGA Tour and LIV was announced without the players knowing about it, Rahm said, “I wouldn’t say it’s changed. Jay has behaved so professionally and so well with me and my family. I’ve seen him stop to talk to my dad and my mom at a few tournaments now, and he’s been really good to my family. In that sense, he’s a really good man.
“Now, as it comes to what he’s been doing for us and the PGA Tour, I think he’s done a fantastic job. I would say it was unexpected what happened. The turn they took without us knowing was very unexpected, but I still think he’s been doing a great job. And right now after that happened, I only think it’s fair to give them the right time to work things out.
PGA Tour and LIV Golf are ending a war — by joining forces.
The two golf leagues, along with the European DP World Tour, are merging into one company after a period of fierce rivalry, one where LIV Golf defectors were banned from competing on the Tour.
LIV, financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and led by legendary golfer Greg Norman, lured some of the top names in golf last year with reported nine-figure contracts, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
Other huge golf names, however, like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, stayed loyal to the Tour, despite being offered a massive amount of money.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger
Norman said last year Woods turned down a payday in the range of $700 million-$800 million to stick with the PGA Tour.
With the merger, the Saudi-backed LIV and the Tour are ending an antitrust battle and agreed to end all litigation between the two sides.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model.”
READ MORE
“I still think they have the best interest of the players at heart. All we have right now, it’s a framework agreement. It’s an agreement to have an agreement. We really don’t have anything right now to be able to say or judge what they’ve done.’’
Asked if he’s lost “trust’’ in Monahan, Rahm said, “My trust? No. Again, he still has all this time to work this agreement to basically prove that this was the right decision. No, as of right now, no.’’