(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Do eight Majors on the bulletin board give you the right to share your thoughts in an open letter to the PGA Tour Commissioner, the Tour Policy Board and all of your colleagues? Tom Watson thinks so. In the letter, sent and made known yesterday, Watson, after having wished a speedy recovery to Jay Monahan (as is known, the Commissioner, immediately after the announcement of the “peace” agreement, took a step back to face a not better specified “medical situation”, NDR) expressed, without too many words, his thoughts on the PIF / PGA Tour / DP World Tour agreement.
Tom Watson, statements
“In light of recent news, I can understand the allegations of hypocrisy, and since Jay is an intelligent person, I know he understands them too” “In my opinion, the communication was handled poorly and the process by which the Tour agreed to the partnership with the PIF was implemented without good practice” “In our capacity as players representing the Tour, and also on behalf of PGA Tour shareholders, I ask, what choices do we have?” Watson then underlined how, after the meeting held before the RBC Canadian Open between Monahan and the players, many questions remained open, hoping that there will be a more comprehensive discussion before the Travelers’ Championship.
“The Commissioner and the PGA Tour Board, where five players sit, will have to give many explanations in person to easily obtain our agreement regarding this partnership with the PIF” “The shareholders of the Tour, the players themselves, the general media audience around the world, as well as tournament sponsors and independent partners of the Tour demand an explanation of the benefits to be derived from this partnership” “To date, there are many unanswered questions, which I hope will be addressed with the players by Tour management ( Monahan’s responsibilities have been split between Ron Price, Chief Operating Officer, and Tyler Dennis, President and Vice-President executive, ed) before the Travelers’ ” “These questions are made more difficult by the hypocrisy of ignoring the moral issue, a pos ition that has long been held in high esteem by the Tour’s leadership”.
The American champion also underlined the need to carefully evaluate the question of the return to the Tour of players who have resigned, such as Dustin Johnson. “But my main question remains this: ‘Is the PIF really the only viable way to save the Tour from its financial woes? Is there a plan B?” “And then, what is asked in return, exactly?” “We need clarity and deserve total clarity regarding the financial health of the PGA Tour and the details of the partnership project.”