Tales from the Tour: Money, secrets, surprises dominate year’s PGA headlines
More than six months have passed since PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan of Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund appeared publicly for the first time.
It was in a television studio, not a federal courtroom. That was the first surprise.
They spoke of a proposed business partnership, which no one saw coming because negotiations had been held in secret. Even now, no one is sure where it will lead. Tiger Woods used the word “murky” to describe how he envisioned the immediate future of golf ’s landscape.
As for the immediate past? Money was at the center of almost every conversation, from $20 million purses to how much it would take to lure a top player to LIV Golf ( Jon Rahm won’t say).
But the game marched on inside the ropes (too slowly for some) and provided new major champions, new stars and plenty of memories for this year’s version of “Tales from the Tour:”
The Genesis Invitational was the perfect place for a photo opportunity, and not just because Tiger Woods was making his first start of the year.
Riviera Country Club is hosting the golf competition when the Summer Olympics return to Los Angeles in 2028. It just so happened the last two gold medalists — Xander Schauffele (Tokyo) and Justin Rose (Rio de Janeiro) — were in the field. They brought their gold medals, and then another Olympian showed up to join them.
The golfers didn’t immediately recognize freestyle swimming great Janet Evans until she reached into her bag and removed a small pole holding the four gold medals she won in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992.
“Hang on,” Evans said, reaching into the bag again to get her silver medal. Schauffele was born a year after Evans competed in her last Olympics. It didn’t take long for him to realize he was in the presence of Olympic fame.
Monahan was in the breezeway at Bay Hill, fresh off a seven-hour board meeting that reshaped the structure of the tour. Adam Hadwin walked by and asked him what came out of it. Monahan assured him good news was on the way.
“For everyone?” Hadwin asked.
Even then, there were concerns that a new schedule would be lucrative mainly for the best.
Another player who sought out Monahan was more interested in soccer’s Premier League. It seems Monahan had arranged