Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy did not find out about the secret deal to end golf&#8217;s civil war until the day it was announced, it has emerged.
In a development that will raise eyebrows and potentially pile pressure onto Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner confirmed the two biggest active names in the sport were kept in the dark throughout the extraordinary negotiations to broker peace with the Saudi-backed LIV series.
It was only a short while before the bombshell merger was disclosed that they were informed, which throws up the powderkeg issue of how they might react. Both men have been staunch opponents of LIV, especially McIlroy, and each rejected eye-watering sums to join the breakaway circuit.
In Woods&#8217; case, the package was worth north of £650million and the carrot dangled for McIlroy was in the region of £400m. Having shunned those astonishing sums, while also doing the PGA Tour&#8217;s bidding in speaking out against LIV&#8217;s hostile takeover, golf insiders are fascinated to see how they will publicly respond to Tuesday&#8217;s unification.
When asked if there was any regret in not informing his two star names in advance, Monahan said: &#8216;Listen, again, what we&#8217;ve agreed to here is a framework agreement, and the binding elements are tied to the litigation. A lot of these details we&#8217;ve got to work through.
<img decoding="async" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/07/00/71842673-0-image-a-16_1686092916194.jpg" width="634" height="423" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" />
Tiger Woods was kept in the dark over golf&#8217;s shock merger until the day it was announced
<img decoding="async" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/07/00/71842675-0-image-a-17_1686092921225.jpg" width="634" height="455" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" />
Rory McIlroy was also not informed about the development and is a staunch LIV opponent
<img decoding="async" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/07/00/71842853-12167301-image-a-32_1686093340280.jpg" width="634" height="423" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" />
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is under pressure following a heated players&#8217; meeting
&#8216;If we had announced a definitive agreement this morning and I was calling them in the morning and I had made commitments on behalf of the PGA Tour and not had an opportunity to fully vet them with our policy board and with those two individuals in a larger group, then that would be a complete miss on my part, and I recognize that.
&#8216;But this was us reaching a framework agreement. We think it&#8217;s the right agreement. Obviously Tiger and Rory&#8217;s perspective is one that I understand very well, and it was part of my thinking throughout these conversations, and it will be a part of my thinking going forward.
&#8216;Now that we&#8217;re in a framework agreement, I look forward to talking to all of our players, including the two of them, to make certain that this comes off the right way.&#8217;
Monahan&#8217;s position is now under immense scrutiny.
It is understood the mood at the players&#8217; meeting at the Canadian Open, attended by McIlroy, was aggressive, with top golfers furious at learning the developments via press release and social media.
<img decoding="async" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/07/00/71843227-12167301-image-a-40_1686094087943.jpg" width="634" height="485" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" />
Woods (left) and McIlroy (right) are the two biggest names currently active in the sport
<img decoding="async" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/07/00/71838785-12167301-Saudi_officials_led_by_Public_Investment_Fund_chief_Yasir_Al_Rum-a-33_1686093485490.jpg" width="634" height="467" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" />
There is anger the Tour has now welcomed the Saudi billions (pictured: Yasir Al-Rumayyan)
<img decoding="async" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/07/00/71838765-12167301-Many_of_golf_s_top_stars_are_thought_to_be_frustrated_after_bein-a-34_1686093506455.jpg" width="634" height="423" data-gallery-handler-attached="true" />
McIlroy rejected an eye-watering sum in the region of £400million to join the LIV breakaway
There is also significant anger that a Tour they sided with and supported, rather than jettison for personal gain, has now welcomed the Saudi Arabian billions, with pathways in place for LIV rebels to return to the traditional tours having already cashed in. Monahan admitted the meeting was &#8216;intense&#8217; and &#8216;heated&#8217;.
More broadly, he stands accused of hypocrisy for accepting the deal alongside the DP World Tour and has been viewed as the surrendering of global golf to Saudi Arabia. Monahan has previously slammed the morality of accepting Saudi money and pointed to the Kingdom&#8217;s links to 9/11.
Those comments have returned to bite him.
He said: &#8216;I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite. Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that&#8217;s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players. I accept those criticisms. But circumstances do change. I think that in looking at the big picture and looking at it this way, that&#8217;s what got us to this point.&#8217;
<h3>PGA AND LIV IN SHOCK MERGER</h3>
PGA Tour sensationally MERGES with rival LIV Golf in major win for the Saudis, gloating Trump, and the players who pocketed MILLIONS &#8211; as loyal PGA golfers are left to find out by LETTER
PGA commissioner Jay Monahan hails &#8216;momentous day&#8217; in letter to Tour members after agreeing shock merger with rivals LIV Golf&#8230; as he insists the sport and its players will &#8216;benefit for years to come&#8217;
&#8216;Rory is down so bad right now!&#8217;: Social media pokes fun at McIlroy for &#8216;turning down $300MILLION just to work for the Saudis for free for one year&#8217; after shock announcement that the PGA tour and LIV Golf are MERGING
PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger: All the big questions &#8211; answered and unanswered &#8211; as players are left in the dark by the sport&#8217;s shock &#8216;unification&#8217;
They must be sick! How stunned PGA loyalists turned down MILLIONS to snub controversial LIV Golf breakaway, with Tiger Woods rejecting almost £700m and Rory McIlroy declining £400m
LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson delights in &#8216;awesome day&#8217; after rebel circuit announces merger with traditional circuit &#8211; while the PGA Tour&#8217;s Jay Monahan is blasted
Brooks Koepka savages NBC and LIV Golf critic Brandel Chamblee after PGA and Saudi-backed series merger, asking for a &#8216;welfare check&#8217; on analyst
PGA Tour sensationally MERGES with rival LIV Golf in major win for the Saudis, gloating Trump, and the players who pocketed MILLIONS &#8211; as loyal PGA golfers are left to find out by LETTER 
OLIVER HOLT: A penny for the thoughts of some of the high-profile golfers who resisted the riches on offer from LIV because PGA chief Jay Monahan told them they owed it to the game not to defect
How LIV won golf&#8217;s bitter civil war: Saudi billions captured PGA&#8217;s biggest names before stunning deal was struck after rebels like Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson were pitted against Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods
Saudis BUY golf: Stunning deal sees LIV join forces with PGA and DP World Tours and pump in £1bn to help the new collaboration
The day golf changed for ever: Saudis bankroll shock deal with PGA and DP World Tours after toxic year as LIV rebels are welcomed back&#8230; with Amanda Staveley&#8217;s role proving key
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman &#8216;NOT expected to have a role in the PGA Tour merger&#8217; and the rebel series chief only found out MINUTES before the deal was announced
REVEALED: PGA Tour golfers &#8216;call for chief Jay Monahan to step down&#8217; in &#8216;contentious&#8217; players meeting after he kept McIlroy, Woods and Co. in the dark for seven weeks over shock LIV merger
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were kept in the dark about the secret deal to end golf&#8217;s civil war until the DAY it was announced, reveals Jay Monahan as pressure mounts on the PGA Tour chief after his U-turn 
Grab the popcorn! Netflix&#8217;s &#8216;Full Swing&#8217; was filming as the news broke of the PGA Tour&#8217;s shock merger with LIV Golf, confirms producer, with season 2 set to capture all the dramatic fallout
&#8216;A good day to have a good day&#8217;: LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka&#8217;s wife Jena Sims revels in Saudi takeover of golf after her husband earned £100m+ by joining rebel tour before shock merger
Rory McIlroy &#8216;is told to &#8220;F*** OFF&#8221; by a fellow PGA Tour golfer during an explosive meeting&#8217; hours after the bombshell merger with Saudi-backed LIV was announced 
PICTURED: Rory McIlroy looks GLUM as he is seen for the first time since controversial PGA-LIV Golf merger, as the vocal critic of the Saudi-backed tour plays in the Pro AM in Canada
Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and fellow rebels who left the World Tour &#8216;are still INELIGIBLE for the Ryder Cup&#8217; despite PGA and LIV merger
LIV boss Greg Norman tells staff it&#8217;s business as usual despite bombshell merger with the PGA &#8211; after he was kept in the dark about end of the golf war that&#8217;s rumoured to have cost him his job 
LIV stars backed the right horse and cashed in, Saudi Arabia has seized control, while Rory McIlroy&#8217;s loyalty has been for nothing&#8230; the winners and losers as golf&#8217;s bitter civil war ends with a shock merger
PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan &#8216;reveals it gave into shock LIV Golf merger as it couldn&#8217;t afford to keep fighting Saudi Arabian PIF&#8217;s unlimited money&#8217;
LIV Golf &#8216;WILL continue in 2024&#8217; after PGA merger&#8230; despite Tour chief Jay Monahan saying he didn&#8217;t &#8216;see a scenario&#8217; where the Saudi-backed series existed
LIV Golf rebel Martin Kaymer claims &#8216;hypocritical&#8217; PGA Tour loyalists should play in Japan to avoid accepting &#8216;blood money&#8217; following shock merger
LIV Golf and PGA Tour merger faces probe from Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal because shock deal &#8216;raises concerns&#8217; over Saudi PIF&#8217;s role
PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan wrote to Senators telling them that Congress left the traditional circuit &#8216;on our own&#8217; just days before probe into controversial LIV merger 
Jon Rahm says &#8216;a lot of people feel betrayal&#8217; over the &#8216;bombshell&#8217; PGA Tour alliance with LIV Golf &#8211; and insists players &#8216;don&#8217;t have any of the answers we&#8217;d like&#8217; as he speaks out at US Open
Jay Monahan STEPS AWAY from PGA Tour Commissioner duties due to unspecified medical issue&#8230; one week after controversial merger with LIV Golf 
Sergio Garcia admits he&#8217;s hopeful over a return as Europe&#8217;s Ryder Cup captain after LIV Golf&#8217;s stunning merger with the PGA Tour&#8230; and reveals that he was &#8216;caught by surprise&#8217; by the news
Golf&#8217;s Saudi investors &#8216;are creating a compensation fund to reward players who stayed loyal to PGA Tour in battle with LIV&#8217;&#8230; with likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods set for BIG payday
Former US Open champion Dustin Johnson reveals &#8216;LIV will run through 2024&#8230; with Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Co. working on a full schedule for next year&#8217; despite merger with PGA Tour
Vindicated Phil Mickelson waits to have the last laugh on LIV Golf&#8217;s PGA Tour merger as he vows to speak &#8216;later&#8230; but not this week&#8217; at US Open
PGA Tour and LIV Golf &#8216;dismiss all legal claims against one another&#8217; after shock merger &#8211; but the deal will still be investigated by the US Justice Department

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were kept in the dark about the secret deal to end golf’s civil war until the DAY it was announced, reveals Jay Monahan as pressure mounts on the PGA Tour chief after his U-turn

Playnews

Sports

News

Animals

Babies

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were kept in the dark about the secret deal to end golf’s civil war until the DAY it was announced, reveals Jay Monahan as pressure mounts on the PGA Tour chief after his U-turn