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‘Best Intentions’: Chris Kirk Has Absolute Trust in Jay Monahan and PGA Tour’s Widely Debated Model

Published 02/27/2024, 7:00 PM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Jay Monahan and his circuit have undoubtedly entered a new phase in their run. The reason is none other than the deal with SSG, which helped them secure an investment of $3 billion in the game. Although many athletes were initially kind of apprehensive about the PGA Tour and its management during the whole negotiations phase, a lot of golfers were confident that it would deliver, including Chris Kirk.

The American Pro was responding to a query thrown at him regarding the same at a press conference ahead of the upcoming event, the Cognizant Classic. Meanwhile, as he did so, the 38-year-old went ahead to exude complete faith in the commissioner and the Tour, all the while mentioning how they have the “best intentions” of the golfers in mind.

The PGA Tour finds credence in Chris Kirk

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“I’m very focused on what my job is, not what their job is,” declared Kirk with absolute faith when asked about the recent deal with the Fenway Group-led consortium. “Yeah, I have trust in them,” added the pro before continuing to declare that “everybody that’s running the TOUR has our (sic) best intentions in mind.” Moreover, he also pointed out how the efforts of the officials, including Monahan’s, are focused on the aim of furthering the game and the Tour.

The 6-time PGA Tour champ also mentioned how he could call “anybody on the player relations team,”  even the commissioner’s cell phone, and he would get an answer, exhibiting trust once again. Adding on, he also commended the circuit for “doing a great job with a really, really hard situation” when “difficult” things were thrown at them over the past few years.

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Meanwhile, he was also inquiring about the equity that would be shared with the members of the PGA Tour and its workings. “I’ve read over some of the basic models,” said the Tennessee-born athlete. However, he was quick to point out his lack of knowledge regarding the same, confessing, “I don’t have a comprehensive enough understanding of it to really try to explain it right now.”

USA Today via Reuters

But not everyone oozed blind faith in the commissioner and the tour. There were many, including the likes of Collin Morikawa, who had raised their concerns back when the PGAT-LIV Golf merger was announced.

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Morikawa highlights the communication gap between the Tour and its players

“We want to know the why,” said a surprised Morikawa back in 2023, when the whole framework agreement was announced. What’s more, he also mentioned how “there’s too many answers to really put it into one underlying umbrella of the why” because many parties were involved. He expressed his curiosity about why the whole thing went down without them knowing.

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Later on this year, the 27-year-old also complained about how the emails that the circuit sends its players have all been “fluff,” all the while divulging how there’s “no point in reading them.” Moreover, he also hinted at the troubles the pros have been facing during the whole ordeal while suggesting how steps need to be taken to remedy the same. Well, it appears not everyone had the same opinion as Kirk did throughout the process. Nevertheless, the 2024 Sentry Champ seems to be happy he chose to do so. Is his faith placed in the right person? Only time will tell!

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Written by:

Allan Abe

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Allan Abe is a Senior Golf Writer at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Master’s Degree in English, he has covered many themes in golf as a beat writer, with in-depth coverage of instances of many golfers’ lives, like Bubba Watson and Adam Scott. Allan particularly excels at live coverage and a hole-to-hole analysis of events.
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Edited by:

Vishav

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