Some people booed when PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was introduced at the trophy celebration for Players Championship winner Scottie Scheffler on Sunday. It wasn’t the first time either.
This isn’t the NFL Draft, where fans boo NFL commissioner Roger Goodell every time he takes the stage to make a pick in the first round. It’s almost like a game. It’s become a part of the event because it happens so often there.
A lot less excitement is in the air at TPC Sawgrass, even though it’s the time of year when the PGA Tour gives its biggest prize to the winner.
Mike Tirico of NBC Sports hosts the event and presents Monahan, who gives the trophy to the winner every time. For the 50th anniversary of the Players, however, Monahan presented former commissioner Deane Beman. Beman was the commissioner 50 years ago and came up with the idea for the biggest event on the PGA Tour’s schedule. At this point, the boos were very clear when Tricio said Monahan’s name. Watch this video:
It’s happened before. There were more boos for Monahan in August of last year when Amanda Renner of CBS Sports asked him to give the FedEx Cup prize to Viktor Hovland at East Lake in Atlanta.
Nine months have passed since Monahan, 53, said on June 6 that the PGA Tour would work with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which supports the rival LIV Golf League. Since then, he has taken a lot of heat. When Monahan met with the media earlier this week at the Players Championship, they asked him a lot of questions about the tour, the possible relationship with the PIF, and whether he still thought he was the right person for the job. (You can read a summary of that meeting here.)
