The PGA Tour spent over a year grappling with the fallout of its lengthy battle with LIV Golf before the saga took a fairly unexpected twist at the start of June after commissioner Jay Monahan announced the two leagues had agreed to merge.
It was a fairly stunning turn of events that drew plenty of backlash from the golfers who’d remained loyal to the PGA Tour in addition to plenty of critics who blasted Monahan for his hypocrisy after opting to team up with the Saudi Arabian investors he’d previously criticized LIV Golf for working with thanks to the country’s ties to the 9/11 attacks.
While the commish was initially front and center while attempting to defend the decision to form a tentative partnership with the organization that seemingly went out of its way to position itself as the PGA Tour’s bitter rival, that changed a little over a week after the deal was revealed when Monahan announced he was taking a sudden leave of absence to attend to an unspecified medical issue.
There were plenty of conspiracy theorists who felt it was hard to ignore the timing of that announcement, which some people argued was a smokescreen that would allow Monahan to disappear from the public eye while facing a tsunami of scrutiny and could potentially allow him to retire and ride off quietly into the sunset.
However, it doesn’t appear that was the case.
According to ESPN, Monahan broke his silence ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, as he told a group of reporters at TPC Southwind he took some time off to deal with anxiety stemming from the pressures he found himself dealing with after the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger was announced.
He offered some insight into his thought process, saying:
“I think the reality for me was that I was dealing with anxiety, which created physical and mental health issues and challenges for me, and I realized that I needed to step away and to deal with that and understand how to develop the skills to deal with that going forward.
To step away at that point in time was very difficult for me, but I needed to take care of myself and my family, and ultimately come back here stronger than I’ve ever been to lead the PGA Tour forward.”
Anyone who’s grappled with serious anxiety knows it’s certainly not easy to get under control, but it’s obviously good to hear Monahan wasn’t facing any serious physical issues and seems to be in a good place despite the long road that’s still ahead of him as the PGA Tour continues to move forward and finalize the merger.
The post PGA Tour Head Jay Monahan Reveals Reason For Sudden Medical Absence After LIV Golf Merger appeared first on BroBible.