The Shame of Jay Monahan - UPDATED

The full ramification of the Covid-19 virus remain unresolved....  However, Jay Monahan's position as a leader in the game of golf has been irreparably damaged.  When leadership and commitment were required, Jay was a font of B-school babbling....

PGA Tour calls off The Players, other tournaments in shocking reversal

Every major professional sport has cancelled their marquee events, so why should golf doing so represent a "shocking reversal"?  Well, I'm thinking you know the answer to that....

Nearly 10 hours after deciding to hold the Players Championship without spectators, the PGA Tour reversed course and shockingly called off the tournament and other events for the next three weeks. 

In a statement released Thursday night, the Tour announced Friday’s second round would not be played at TPC Sawgrass. The decision came following an extraordinary 36 hours during which the NBA suspended its season, the NCAA canceled March Madness and Major League Baseball called off spring training games and delayed the start of its regular season. 

“We have also decided to cancel all PGA Tour events – across all of our Tours – in the coming weeks, through the Valero Texas Open,” the Tour said in a statement, which would also affect next week’s Valspar Championship near Tampa and WGC Dell Match Play in Austin.

Adam should really begin at the beginning, the Wednesday evening dithering that resulted in a zero dark thirty to proceed with the tourney.  To be clear, proceeding with the tourney is defensible, what isn't was the decision to expose golf's unusually aged and vulnerable fan base to the dangers of public assembly.   

It's easy to attribute this to greed, and I find it interesting that no enterprising journalist has addressed the financial impact of playing without spectators.  Though Jay's appearance under the media Klieg lights revealed a man prone to vacillation and obfuscation.  We shan't soon forget this gem of assurance:

I would tell you that it started out as a task force. It's now essentially a business unit.

Struck by a frightening pandemic, America turns its hopeful eyes to Jay Monahan, who babbles incoherently from his Organization Theory textbook.

 But there's always time for self-congratulation such as this:

“We have pledged from the start to be responsible, thoughtful and transparent with our decision process. We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavoring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate. But at this point – and as the situation continues to rapidly change – the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.”

Yes, Jay that's the right thing.... Just, you know, kinda late.... That Thursday crowd, and all of their individual social networks, is on you Jay.

The timeline is quite bizarre.... Remember, the guys with early Thursday times were likely already asleep when the texts came from the Tour to soldier on.  So, not only did the Tour fail to protect its constituency, but they were slow to come to that decision.  I take it to mean that there was disagreement in how to proceed, and that Jay perhaps doesn't have complete control of the organization.

This I find the crucial decision point, not least because the Tour assumed responsibility for anything that results from this gathering of humans.  But also because, had they determined to play without spectators, I wonder if perhaps the entire event might have proceeded under those conditions.  

Then comes Thursday, and hell accelerates:

On Thursday, as concern about COVID-19 gripped the country, the PGA Tour was the

last American professional sport still standing. The NBA suspended its regular season on Wednesday night, after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus (a second Jazz player, Donovan Mitchell, has also tested positive for the virus). 

By Thursday afternoon, the NHL had suspended its regular season, and Major League Baseball had suspended spring training and delayed Opening Day by at least two weeks. The MLS and Association of Tennis Professionals suspended play for 30 days and six weeks, respectively. NASCAR still plans to hold its Cup race in Atlanta on Sunday without spectators. 

Universities and NCAA conferences also suspended spring sports, including men's and women's basketball. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC canceled their in-progress basketball tournaments on Thursday, and the NCAA canceled its winter and spring championships -- including March Madness -- shortly thereafter.

 Folks arrived to this at Sawgrass, which I found a nice touch:

Got that?  We're gonna let you infected scum watch, but we won't let our precious players near you.  Nice.

Jay made that status difference clear as well:

"I think if you look at our venues, obviously we're an outdoor sport, we're not in a stadium, and here this week at TPC Sawgrass our players are making their way over 400 acres," Monahan said during a news conference on Thursday. "You've got 144 players here and over the course of a round our players generally do socially distance themselves, we felt like by taking this step to address the problem with our fans, we're in a position where we can continue to operate the events as of right now. There are other circumstances that led to the decisions that those leagues made that are unique to those leagues that we're not currently faced with."

See, they were socially distancing before socially distancing was cool...

JT seems a good guy, but I do hope someone told him how wrong he is here:

"It was tough," Justin Thomas said. "It's awkward this week because you want to give high-fives, you want to sign autographs, but you have to be a little selfish at a time like this and you have to be cautious."

Not selfish, JT, sensible....  This quote is interesting as well:

"I think everybody's a little bit worried about it, but we've just got to get through it," said Brian Harman, after his opening-round 71. "It's a bad situation, but I've got full faith that the tour is going to take care of us. It's just precautionary. They had to do it, and I think it's the right call because it's either that or you've got to cancel golf tournaments. It stinks, especially with the weather this week. It would have been a highly attended event."

Oh Brian, we all know they'll take care of you guys.  It's the rest of us that seem disposable....

So, the Tour takes aggressive action, announcing the intention to do on Friday that which clearly should have been done on Wednesday (or really Monday):

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour announced it will continue, albeit without fans.

 Then at 9:54 p.m. came this reversal:

“It is with regret that we are announcing the cancellation of the Players Championship,” the tour said in its statement late Thursday night. “We have also decided to cancel all PGA Tour events—across all of our tours—in the coming weeks, through the Valero Texas Open.

Monahan is supposed to meet with the media this morning, so perhaps we'll get some color on what changed their mind.  But Jay can rest assured that the Praetorian Guard is closing ranks:

“I believe the tour made the correct decision to both play the event [Thursday] and then cancel it,” Billy Horschel, a member of the tour’s Player Advisory Council who also lives a few miles from TPC Sawgrass, said when reached by phone Thursday night. “It’s a tough decision to make and then also cancel events through the Valero. But the tour has always done things with the best interest in mind for the players, caddies, volunteers, fans and anyone else involved with running an event.

Thanks, Billy, we'll get back to you when we need another testimonial.  But riddle me this:  How can putting thousands of humans in close quarters on Thursday be the right call when the event is cancelled Thursday night?  Given, yanno, that Hideki's 63 is stricken from the record books, the assembly of folks was quite obviously, at best, ill-considered.  At worst, well let's give it time to see if there's a body count involved...  Sheesh!

Shack was all over the horrible decision to allow fans in, and has this quick summary of missteps from our Tour leadership:

So amidst everything taking place and health matters that should be the primary focus, it still must not be forgotten that the PGA Tour, in “full speed ahead” mode all week at its wonderful but overinflated home event, became the last major American sports league to pull the plug.

This, after waiting until 12:15 am earlier in the same day, to issue a statement about the status of Players Championship opening round, and only then to offer first round refunds if so desired. 

There were no pleas for vulnerable seniors to stay home. 

No pleas to those under-the-weather to stay away.

No, “we-got-this”, to volunteers who consume consummate news outlets and might be uncomfortable exposing themselves to large crowds. 

Business-as-usual.

Market-by-market.

From Task Force to Business Unit-approved.

Yet as first round play got underway, major events continued to be cancelled, financial markets kept sending the same grim messages, and America began boarding up the windows. 

Yet in marching ahead with the Players and upcoming schedule, Commissioner Monahan again teed up the vast acreage card during a midday press conference. The very same assertion that property size would keep people safe and shot down in Monday’s surreal CNBC appearance, then uttered Tuesday to reporters, and somehow schlepped out again in an answer that soured within hours.

It's interesting to me that Jay keeps harping on the acreage bit, interesting in the sense that a pathologist might be interested in a virus he hasn't seen previously.  It's appropriate that, as other sports are cancelling their events, that he sort through the ways in which his game is similar but, you know, also different than these other sports.  For instance, where in his ruminations does he account for the aged demographic of golf?  I'll hive you a clue, he doesn't....

So, kids, I'll set aside my rant for the moment, what happens next?  With the Tour cancelled into April, America turns its lonely eyes to...well, over to you, Fred Ridley:

As the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the sports world,

Augusta National is now considering whether to limit patrons at the upcoming 2020 Masters, or ban them from the premises altogether, according to multiple sources. 

An Augusta National member wrote in a text to GOLF senior writer Alan Shipnuck Thursday morning: “I believe the tournament will be played. Discussions are ongoing. Limiting patrons seems likely. Might be none at all. Closing practice rounds, canceling the Par-3…everything is on the table. Expect an announcement next week.”

Am I wrong to think that playing without spectators is an acceptable level of risk?  I thought that about The Players as well, especially 300 million people with cabin fever is an issue....  

Of course this is subject to events, but I'll also remind everyone that there's a body of thought that the Coronavirus will not survive the heat of summer....  The good news is that golf has heat to spare.

We also have an interesting pop-up Tour Confidential panel on this very topic:

While the majority of major sports leagues decided to suspend or cancel their seasons on Wednesday evening and into Thursday, the PGA Tour played on at the Players Championship. Then came Thursday night, when the Tour released a statement saying it was canceling the Players, as well as the next three Tour events through the Valero Texas Open. The next time we’ll see pros, if it even happens, will be at the Masters at Augusta National. What does this lengthy stretch off mean for players, fans and more?

Luke Kerr-Dineen: It means that golf, rightfully so, will take a backseat to the greater forces at work here. And that’s for everyone, from pro golfers to average fans. When you’re in the middle of it, it’s easy to think that something like this could never happen in golf. How could you possibly cancel the Players Championship? The fact of the matter is that golf is uniquely exposed. Players, coaches, staff and fans criss-cross the globe following this game, and when entire countries are going into lockdown — along with a number of U.S. cities limiting the size of public gatherings — there’s no justification for golf tournaments to continue and risk the public health.

But Luke, I had been reliably informed that because golf is played over 400 acres....  Yeah, not so reliably, it seems.    

Sean Zak: I’ll state the obvious and say hopefully it means good health and a lower risk of the golf community spreading the disease. But I’m sure we’re asking the question for other reasons. I think it means the golf schedule will look wildly different in June, July, August and September. That might feel obvious, too, but putting on my future-finding glasses, I see the PGA Championship relocating (might I suggest Whistling Straits?), the Masters rescheduling (wouldn’t September or October be fun?) and potentially the Olympics doing the same. Beyond that (which I’ll let my colleagues answer) there’s a lot of money tied up among the telecasts of those big events. Hopefully that doesn’t become the main focus of decision-making, but the last 24 hours don’t give me any optimism.

Yeah, Sean, they're in such a bubble that they just don't get how bad this makes them look.  Can't really start to tumble the schedule in my mind until we know how long the layoff lasts, and specifically whether the Masters is played as scheduled.  

This might be my fave, just because it's so all over the place:

John Wood, PGA Tour caddie for Matt Kuchar: I’m going to play Devil’s advocate here. I think we will play The Masters, though probably without patrons. (As powerful as Augusta National is, I wouldn’t be surprised if we register and get a vaccination at the same time.) That’s a joke, by the way. But I do think we will play The Masters as scheduled. I’ve nothing to base it on, just a hunch. I’m not entirely sure what the impact is on the world of golf. The players will be anxious to play, but in all honesty a three week break isn’t unheard of, so they’ll be fine. It might even do some of them some good. For us caddies, it will be slightly different. Some will be fine and not take too big of a financial hit. To others this will be a significant hit, and I feel for those guys. I would hope some of the pros would help their guys out with a salary for a few weeks until we know what’s going to happen long term. There will certainly be some pros who will think of this and do it, and there will be others who don’t. And still playing Devil’s advocate, and I’ll probably get killed for this … but is there a chance we are overreacting to this? I’m not a doctor. In fact, I was even horrendous at “Operation” as a child … lots of buzzers, so I’m sure I don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m just asking the question: My slim understanding of this is that if you’re relatively healthy and not past a certain age, the symptoms present like the flu. It comes, you get a fever, a dry cough, perhaps a headache and other aches and pains, and it runs its course. The CDC has estimated that between 12,000- 30,000 deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to influenza from October 1, 2019-February 1, 2020. Globally, the WHO estimates the flu kills between 290,000-650,000 people every year. Playing tournaments without fans for a few weeks seemed feasible. Most of those playing and caddying are relatively pretty healthy, and if you didn’t feel safe playing, no one would be forcing you. I also understand the other side of things … if you contracted the virus you could spread it to others. So that’s me contradicting myself about four times. So what does all this mean? Well, I wish we could have finished out this week, as the tournament has already started, and minimizing the risk by not allowing fans in seemed a good compromise. But it’s completely understandable to send everyone home to give those involved to let things settle and then re-evaluate in a few weeks. It is one of the craziest days in the 24 years I’ve been caddying.

Woodie is a good guy, and his concern for the caddies with less lucrative gigs speaks well of him.  But of course we're over-reacting, that's really the whole point.  Shut it down as quickly as possible, so we can get to the harder work of putting things back together....

Alan Bastable: The impact on the players? If the respite is actually only three weeks, this isn’t a *huge* deal. In fact, some pros might welcome the break. On the fans? They’ll survive. On the events themselves, the sponsors, the charities and communities that depend on these tournaments? It’s a mess. More than most sports, golf has an elaborate network of partners with revenue coming in from countless sources. Pulling the plug on five events in a four-week stretch will be a wicked web to untangle. Tour execs will earn their fat salaries in the coming weeks. You also get the sense, as Zak points out, that the way this thing is going we’re going to be looking at more cancellations beyond the Texas Open. The Masters, a week later, seems unlikely to happen. Harbour Town, Zurich, Wells Fargo — all those events are undoubtedly on alert. The PGA Championship in San Francisco in mid-May? It would be wise for that tourney to make contingency plans, as it undoubtedly already has. Wild, sad, incalculable day.

Alan, this seems a very strange time to be sympathetic to overpaid Tour staffers...  They've let us all down horribly, and they're also not real good at taking ownership of their screw-ups.  

Given the extent to which we've tied transmission to specific events such as that Biogen meeting, I'll very interested to see the cost of allowing spectators in on Thursday.  Also, I keep focusing on Thursday, though it's really the full Monday-Thursday period, with inaction becoming increasingly irresponsible day by day.

Josh Sens: The impact on the Tour has been pretty well covered by my colleagues above. I’m left to wonder whether it will have any trickle-down effect on the rhythms of public golf on the courses most of us play. I drove out to one of the Bay Area’s busiest munis yesterday to check on the state of things and found the place to still be, well, as packed as ever. Not a single slot open on the tee sheet, backups on tee boxes everywhere I turned. .A number of people I spoke with said they felt the threat was being overblown by the media, and, besides, that a golf course was just about as safe and healthy a place as they could be. I’ll leave it to the public health experts to adjudicate that. What was striking was the extent to which the golf course felt to many like a refuge. Most things in this game seem to spill from the top down. What starts on the Tour makes its way down to the rest of us. I wonder what I’ll see in a few days when I revisit the course, how packed it will be, whether golfers will be thinking differently in the wake of what the Tour has decided. And don’t even get me started on the questions surrounding the golf resort and travel business in general. It’s hard to have a good handle on where things stand now, or where they’re going. But you’ve got to figure a rough road lies ahead.

Very interesting field of inquiry, Josh.  It reminds me of the aftermath of 9/11, when the bride and I were in Scotland.  I had a client then whose offices were downtown, and experienced the attack firsthand.  He actually apologized to me for playing golf within a few days, as if it was an inappropriate thing to do with folks still searching for loved ones.  Of course I responded that he had a human need to fond refuge after what he had gone through, no explanation or apology necessary...

Like Josh, I expect the golf course to be my refuge....  perhaps we'll bump elbows on the 18th green, or perhaps we'll just bow to each other.  But that of course assumes that the spread of the virus won't be such that we're fearful of being at our clubs.  Fellow members will be living their lives, thereby coming in contact with the world at large.  If that becomes a significant risk, God help us all....

There's a couple more responses for those with time to kill, though my thoughts now turn to this little blog.  A first world problem for sure, though it does have the positive effect of keeping me off the streets.

I'll try to find things worth blogging, just because I think we'll need it.  My blogging tends to be reactionary, riffing on that which others say or write.  I would think the golf publications will do what they can to provide content, so I'll try to check back in when there's something to blog.  Content with humor will be especially important, so I'll be on the lookout for that.

I'm also shutting things down early out here, and heading home Monday morning.  No Weekend Wrap accordingly, though perhaps not a big concern with no weekend of action to cover.  Check back when you can, but let's all stay healthy and play that much more golf.

UPDATE:  While I was typing, Fred Ridley has called off the Masters, as well as the other two events held there (the Drive, Chip & Putt and women's amateur event).