Monahan Disputes He Ignored Saudi Call Before LIV Launched

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan pushed back on a long-running criticism that he could have averted golf's civil war by taking a phone call from Saudi-backed officials before LIV Golf launched, saying any outreach came after recruiting was already underway.

What did Monahan say about the Saudi outreach?

Speaking with Eamon Lynch for the new Golf Channel series Eamon Lynch Has Questions, Monahan said he was not aware of a specific call reaching him. He framed the broader claim differently: by the time any approach could have happened, Saudi-backed representatives with lawyers were already attending Tour events, recruiting players and meeting with agents to build a rival league.

Why didn't the Tour engage on those terms?

Monahan said the Saudi group believed a franchise-based, team structure could succeed where decades of individual stroke-play Tour golf had, and viewed the PGA Tour as a "feeder tour" beneath their venture. Engaging under that premise, he suggested, would have meant accepting a diminished role for the Tour rather than defending the model it had built for players and fans.

Monahan's defense is a timeline argument: the recruiting came before any phone call, not after it.

What did Monahan acknowledge he'd do differently?

Monahan said he would handle some things differently in hindsight, singling out the rollout of the Tour's 2023 framework agreement with LIV's Saudi-backed investors as his single biggest regret from the entire conflict.

How does Monahan view LIV Golf's collapse?

Asked about the Tour outlasting LIV as it winds down, Monahan declined to claim credit, saying he was proud of the outcome but that it reflected the work of everyone at the organization during a difficult period rather than his own leadership alone.

The full interview had not been made available for on-demand viewing at publication time; Golf Channel is expected to re-air it, with clips distributed separately.