Commissioners of every other pro sport have sought the advice of Monahan due to the Tour's successGETTY IMAGES
The PGA of America in its preparations for this week's PGA Championship has "taken copious notes" of how PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has "conducted the past eight weeks of tournaments" since golf's restart, according to Mark Cannizzaro of the N.Y. POST. The commissioners of every other pro sport also have "consulted with Monahan, who's become somewhat of an unwitting pioneer since he was the first to restart his sport's season after the pandemic." PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said, "It's been nothing short of heroic. I'm biased, because I'm a huge Jay fan. But he was in the heart of it. They were into Players (Championship in March) when it went from playing with fans to no fans to cancellation. Within 24 hours, he went from game on to game off and everything in between." ESPN's Andy North, who will be calling the PGA Championship, also has "taken notice of the work Monahan has done the past two months." North: "I hope that at the end of this season, whenever it does end, there will be some stories written on what a great job the Tour did" (N.Y. POST, 8/2).
TAKING A LEADERSHIP ROLE: Golf Channel’s Jaime Diaz called Monahan the "central figure" in the PGA Tour succeeding in its post-shutdown comeback and said he has "really been a leader." Diaz added, "Primarily he’s been a pioneer, because there is no playbook for this. As a result, everybody’s been watching him. The scrutiny has been huge throughout sports. How do you do it? How do you make your sport work in a pandemic? Jay has gone through a lot of trials and learned from a lot of them. He’s gained great respect.” He later said, “Jay Monahan has risen as one of the great commissioners” ("Live from the PGA Championship," Golf Channel, 8/3).
