Jay Monahan New PGA Tour Commish

[iacas]

Jay Monahan is taking over for Tim Finchem on January 1, 2017.

Big news.

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/jay-monahan-the-pga-tours-next-commissioner-will-approach-the-job-expertly-and-with-a-soul

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Monahan attended Trinity College in Hartford, where he played hockey and golf and was a Division III Academic All-American. After graduating with a degree in history, and later a masters in sports management from Amherst in 1995, his early jobs included managing global marketing for EMC Corporation, which included overseeing the former ADT Skills Challenge and a world golf championship. After joining IMG, in 2002 he became the first tournament director of the Deutsche Bank Championship. In 2006 he went to Fenway Sports Group, where he directed sponsorship sales for the Boston Red Sox and NASCAR, before joining the PGA Tour in 2008, bringing his wife and two daughters to Ponte Vedra, where he was soon appointed executive director of the Players Championship. Other weighty titles – senior vice president for business development, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, and in 2014 deputy commissioner – followed, as Monahan clearly became a Finchem favorite and clear successor.

 

Oooookay.

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It appears a model resume for – to borrow from Peter Jacobsen’s metaphor when Finchem took over for Beman – “keeping gas in the Mercedes.” But influential insiders already see Monahan as an agent of change. One who will be more people oriented toward corporate sponsors, who are being forced to apply a more stringent standard of cost effectiveness to their sports buys.

“Tim did a great job, but the client-service part of it is not something the tour has done well, and I think Jay will change that,” says Seth Waugh, who while CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas hired Monahan as his tournament director. “Jay makes everybody feel like a partner, because he thinks that way.

I think that's a big thing there. Deutsche Bank just stopped sponsoring the PGA Tour event in Boston, right?

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“The commissioner model at the tour with Deane and Tim has been kind of a monarchy,” Waugh continued. “Peter Dawson at the R&A was also imperial. But just as Rob Manfred at MLB and Adam Silver at the NBA have adjusted, Jay’s not going to run it that way. He works in concert more than by controlling.”

Another longtime power broker, Alastair Johnson of IMG, said, “Jay’s learned a lot from Tim, but he’ll be his own guy. I think he will be generally more engaging. Tim often seemed scripted, and with Jay you know a lot of it is extemporaneous, from the mind and the heart. He’ll have to say no, but will not say no as abruptly as his predecessors. Jay’s great strength is building relationships -- personal, political or corporate. He has the gift for being personal, political and corporate at the same time.”

Less robotic? More willing to speak extemporaneously? Good.

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Monahan’s character was displayed in the first year at Deutsche Bank. A bus carrying spectators to the tournament from a parking area at Gillette Stadium hit a windblown steel gate. Tom Kelly, a 64-year-old high school football coach and English teacher, eventually died from his injuries. The tournament was not liable in the resulting lawsuit, but Monahan made a point of reaching out to the Kelly family, making sure they have been part of the tournament every year since.

“When that happened, Jay went to the hospital, sat with the guy and his family,” says Waugh. “He owned something that he didn’t have to own. He did it quietly, and with a soul. That’s Jay Monahan.”

I didn't know about that.

[newtogolf]

I was never a big fan of Tim Finchem so I welcome the change.  

[CarlSpackler]

Will be interesting to see how things go.

[woodzie264]

9 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

I was never a big fan of Tim Finchem so I welcome the change.

yep 

[Buckeyebowman]

3 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I was never a big fan of Tim Finchem so I welcome the change.  

Finchem was a capable caretaker of what Beman had built, I suppose, but he always came off as a bit wooden to me.

[iacas]

22 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Finchem was a capable caretaker of what Beman had built, I suppose, but he always came off as a bit wooden to me.

He worked for the players, and the players have benefited from both Finchem and Tiger.

[newtogolf]

56 minutes ago, iacas said:

He worked for the players, and the players have benefited from both Finchem and Tiger.

 Finchem also made himself a fair amount of money, in 2015, he made $11M which was more than any one golfer made on the Tour in 2016 (excluding endorsement deals).  

He did work for the players, but was also known to be at odds with some of them too.  Phil, Tiger and Norman all had issues with Finchem.  Finchem wanted control over players likeness and image which put him at odds with Tiger, which wasn't fair given Tour players aren't employees.  Phil and Finchem battled it out about the early years of the FedEx Cup and how it was executed.

He definitely did some good things too, but overall I just never felt he was a great representative of the Tour to the public.

[Buckeyebowman]

And let's not forget that Deane Beman had his fair share of detractors. Yet, the tour grew like Topsy under his leadership.

None of these jobs are easy, but sometimes circumstances can help ease the way a little, like Finchem having Tiger on the Tour. Or David Stern having, first, Bird and Magic and then Jordan!

[iacas]

13 hours ago, newtogolf said:

He definitely did some good things too, but overall I just never felt he was a great representative of the Tour to the public.

He didn't really have to represent the Tour to the public. He had to represent the players to business, and handle the legal waters, and all that hooey.