Latest news with #JayMonahan
The Star
17 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Monahan unconcerned about Rory
Rory McIlroy is not at this week's Memorial Tournament. — AFP US PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has come to the defence of Rory McIlroy, whose tournament scheduling left him out of the Memorial Tournament this week and marked the third signature event he missed this season. 'The beauty of our model is that our players have the ability to select their schedule,' Monahan at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, venue of this week's Memorial Tournament.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
PGA Tour Announces Changes To Tour Championship Format
In an attempt to approve its much maligned season ending tournament, the PGA Tour announced this week that its controversial starting strokes format to the Tour Championship is no more. Beginning this August, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, the Tour Championship will switch to a 30 player field, with all golfers starting at even par, eliminating the starting strokes format that has been in place since 2019. The championship will now be a 72-hole event and the winner will take home the FedEx Cup, prize money (to be determined), and a five year PGA Tour exemption. ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 01: Scottie Scheffler holds the FedEx Cup trophy during the final round ... More of TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on September 1, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images) For years the PGA Tour has been looking for ways to make the Tour Championship more interesting and appealing to golf fans. In a statement released this week, commissioner Jay Monahan stated, 'our Fan Forward Initiative has helped us evaluate each part of the PGA Tour season and today's announcement is a first step in the evolution of our postseason.' During the Memorial Tournament, the PGA Tour's player advisory board met and approved the changes to the season ending event. Monahan went on to state, 'the Player Advisory Council led a thorough process to respond to what our fans are asking for: The most competitive golf in the world, played for the highest stakes, in the most straightforward and engaging format.' In response to data indicating that fans want to see scores closer to par, the PGA Tour Rules Committee will 'adjust its course setup approach to encourage more risk/reward moments throughout each round, further heightening the drama and competition to determine the FedEx Cup champion.' World number one player, and Player Advisory Council member Scottie Scheffler recently declared, "we want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy to be the most difficult to win. Xander Schauffele backed up Scheffler's stance saying, 'I think it being sort of the hardest tournament to qualify for, just being 30 guys and 30 guys after a year-long race, I think it kind of fit to not make it 30-under winning.' He went on to say, 'I think it makes sense to make it difficult. So with that being said, I mean, pin locations, grow the rough, make the fairways smaller. I mean, to start you just make fairways small and grow rough, make greens firm and fast. It's going to be pretty difficult.' 'As the PGA Tour continues to evolve and respond to feedback from fans and players, additional enhancements to the Tour Championship are being evaluated and will be announced in the coming months,' the PGA Tour's news release stated. This has fueled speculation that the Tour Championship could be moved from East Lake Golf Club to other venues or the format could be tweaked to a possible match-play bracket style tournament in the future. For now, the match-play style bracket format possibility has fallen apart based on player feedback. 'It's just not what the players wanted to do,' Kevin Kisner, a member of the Player's Advisory Council said. 'Seventy-two-hole stroke play on an iconic golf course is what all the best tournaments play.'
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Jay Monahan on Rory McIlroy's schedule: 'I don't have any concern'
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan came to the defense of Rory McIlroy, whose tournament scheduling plan will leave him out of the Memorial Tournament this week and mark the third signature event he has missed this season. "The beauty of our model is that our players have the ability to select their schedule," Monahan told reporters on Wednesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club, site of this week's Memorial Tournament. "What Rory McIlroy has done, I think he's played in this tournament every year since 2017. And you look at the tournaments that he's supported. I don't have any concern, because you look at this on balance over time, his support of our tournaments and our partners is extraordinary." In addition to skipping this week's 50th edition of the Memorial, the world's No. 2 player also bypassed The Sentry and the RBC Heritage, both signature events. McIlroy, 36, raised a few eyebrows by opting to skip the Memorial Tournament in favor of next week's RBC Canadian Open. The native of Northern Ireland has admitted to a preference of playing the week before a major championship. The Memorial Tournament and Canadian Open flipped places on the calendar this year, with the Canadian now leading directly into the June 12-15 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Masters last month. He earned his first green jacket and fifth career major in dramatic fashion, overcoming two double bogeys in the first round and two more on Sunday before beating England's Justin Rose in a playoff. "Look at the season that Rory has had. He's had a life-altering season," Monahan said. "He's won the Players Championship, you win the Masters Tournament, you win the (career) Grand Slam and you win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am." --Field Level Media
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Monahan: 'Months of work' led to Tour Champ change
Jay Monahan tells Rex Hoggard about the "exhaustive process" that led to the Tour Championship format changes, defending the mid-season timing of the announcement and emphasizing the increased playoff competitiveness.
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Rory McIlroy's blunt chat with sponsors as PGA Tour change controversial rule
The PGA Tour have announced that they will scrap the starting-strokes format from the Tour Championship following negative feedback from players, including Masters champion Rory McIlroy Rory McIlroy may have influenced a significant change in PGA Tour policy, after officials listened to backlash and scrapped the controversial starting-strokes format at the Tour Championship. The tour veteran and thrice-crowned champion of the event has long been vocal with his distaste for the system. The ruling allowed the FedExCup leader to begin at 10 under par, with the rest staggered behind depending on their ranking since its introduction in 2019. Commissioner Jay Monahan has listened to the discontent and confirmed a shake-up. From this year onward, all entrants will tee off on an equal footing with the traditional even-par start. The top scorer will not only clinch the FedEx Cup but also secure a hefty bonus and an extended five-year exemption on the tour. Not one to hold back, McIlroy expressed his frustration in 2019. He said: "You can shoot the best score of the week and not win the tournament. If that happens to someone, it's going to be hard for them to wrap their head around. "I get it from a fan experience point of view, I get it from giving guys that have played better throughout the year an advantage, but I don't know. "We had breakfast with some of the sponsors, and what I said to them was 'if the PGA Tour is trying to do this season of championships, which starts with the Players in March, then goes through the four majors and culminates with the FedEx Cup at the end. "If the FedEx Cup really wants to have this legacy in the game like some of these other championships, is people starting the tournament on different numbers the best way to do it?'" PGA star Sam Burns also chimed in earlier in April, expressing his dismay, saying: "Right now, it's a bit confusing for fans to have a tournament where we start even all year and then in our biggest tournament of the year, there are starting strokes. There's a bit of a disconnect." Last year's winner, Scottie Scheffler, began the event at 10-under and finished on 30-under to beat fellow American Collin Morikawa by four strokes. Morikawa began the competition at four under. Speaking in Atlanta last August, Scheffler shared his concerns in a statement, as per the Mirror US. "Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players-which brings out the best competition," he said. "We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win." Monahan has declared that "the announcement is an important first step in the evolution" of the season finale. A whole host of suggestions have been made over recent years on how the Tour can better recognise the season-long standings. One of those had been a knockout matchplay event, with players entering the event at different stages according to their ranking heading into the final tournament of the campaign. Other ideas included a similar playoff-based system. The new format will be played in this year's Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta from August 21 to 24.
