Will ‘troubled’ PGA Tour boss act?
Monahan has the chance to right a wrong when it comes to the world rankings
US PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is a troubled man, or at least that is what he is trying to portray to the world – and much of it is of his own doing.
A fortnight ago he said he spent a “week listening and learning” about the racial inequalities of American society. That came in the wake of the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minneapolis, who was slain by a policeman on May 25 and spawned protests and riots across the US, that later spread to other parts of the globe.
Sadly, we have to give the 50-year-old Monahan the benefit of the doubt here, at best, and painfully watch him plod along in his quest to “try and understand” why and how black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups are prejudiced against just because of the colour of their skin or where they might come from.
But where the former IMG Worldwide employee is found wanting is when it comes to the world ranking points. Here Monahan and the “billiondollar”organisation that he leads have fallen way short of the mark, if only because they will have flexed their muscles and gotten their way again, as they have previously done in the face of inequality and injustice.
When the PGA Tour resumed after the Covid-19 lock down at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club last week, the event came with world ranking points attached.
This was grossly unfair because the European Tour, Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour are yet to get going after the enforced coronavirus shutdown. Consequently their players had no opportunity to play for points and if Monahan cannot see the injustice in this then one will wonder how he will make good on his word when speaking of the even greater evil that took George Floyd’s life.
Monahan said “we should grow as individuals and as an organisation (PGA Tour)... and most importantly, we should demand better”.
Well, we are demanding that the points gotten from the event that American Daniel Berger won in a playoff last Sunday be scrapped.
We also demand that the resumption of the allocation of world ranking points only begin when all the Tours are up and running.
To start awarding points at events like on their second tier Korn Ferry Tour, when American Luke List won at Sawgrass Golf Club last weekend is just not right.
It might be argued by the PGA Tour that they alone did not make the decision as to when world rankings points would start to be awarded after the lockdown. Well, they certainly did not vote against points being awarded last Sunday.
It’s been reported that only the European Tour’s Keith Pelley voted against it and he was the only one to do so.
In his letter to the Tour (about all the stuff that followed the murder of George Floyd) Monahan said: “I’ve often heard that if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”.
In this case, he is part of the problem. And while he is going around telling people, like young black American PGA Tour pro Harold Varner III that he’s going to help try and fix the injustices that exist in the very fabric of American society, he might as well fix the rankings points lot too, because this one we know he can do - and should do.
For the record, Berger moved up rather nicely from 107th in the
I’ve often heard that if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
Jay Monahan
world rankings after his win at Colonial Country Club last Sunday to 31st in the standings. And for those who know that game, that means he is poised for entry into some of the bigger tournaments lined up later this year.
For the rest of the (men’s) world of golf, they had no chance of improving their positions. They had no events to do so in.
It makes it interesting to see if Monahan is indeed as troubled by recent events as he says is, and if he actually does anything to address them at all. Time will tell.