Xander Schauffele Says PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan Has 'A Long Way To Go' To Gain His Trust

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It's not just supporters of the PGA Tour who have lost faith and trust in commissioner Jay Monahan over the last year and change with the emergence of LIV Golf and continued negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), plenty of players also aren't exactly pleased with the man in charge of running the PGA Tour. 

Xander Schauffele made it abundantly clear that he falls in that group who are much more out than in on Monahan at the moment.

Monahan held his first press conference since August 2023 on Tuesday ahead of this week's Players Championship. While the majority of his hour-long presser was filled with wasted breath, he did give an interesting non-answer when asked if any players on the Tour's Policy Board had called for his resignation amid the turmoil in professional golf.

"You know, there's been a lot of good-spirited debate amongst our board. I don't think that would be a surprise to anybody, you know, given the events of last summer. But we are a unified front," Monahan said before later stating "I am the right person to lead us forward, I know that."

(Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

Schauffele is not a member of the Policy Board, but the opinion of the No. 6 ranked player in the world certainly carries pedigree.

Less than two hours after Monahan's presser wrapped up, Schauffele took the stage and the very first question he was asked was whether he has confidence in Monahan moving forward.

"Yeah, I mean, you know what I've said in the past on how I feel about it. Trust is something that's pretty tender, so words are words, and I would say in my book he's got a long way to go," Schauffele said. "He could be the guy, but in my book, he's got a long way to go to gain the trust of the membership. I'm sure he's got the support of the board, since they were with him making some of those decisions, but for me personally, he's got quite a ways to go."

Schauffele has long been linked to a potential move to LIV Golf and has refused to pledge his allegiance to the Tour, but is still very much a PGA Tour player, and now one that has cast doubt towards the commissioner.

One person who is on the PGA Tour Policy Board is Patrick Cantlay, Schauffele's best friend out on Tour. It's a fair assumption Cantlay has shared some stories about the closed-door meetings that have been taking place.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.