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Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the Players Championship gets underway from TPC Sawgrass!

1. McIlroy: With ratings sinking, PIF deal needs to happen fast

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”With TV ratings falling so far this season, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that he wants the “train to speed up” regarding the PGA Tour finalizing a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to reunify men’s professional golf.”

• “These bigger signature events that we tried to create, they worked last year,” McIlroy said at TPC Sawgrass, the site of this week’s 50th Players Championship. “The ratings were up, and it was great. But you look at the ratings this year for those events in the United States and everything’s down.”

• “According to published reports, TV ratings for the final round of last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida, where world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler ran away with a 5-stroke victory, were down 30% compared to the final round in 2023. TV ratings for final-round coverage of the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 18 — when 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama returned to the winner’s circle — were down about 5%.”

2. McIlroy gives Monahan a vote of confidence

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“…early Wednesday at The Players Championship, the commissioner received a vote of confidence from world No. 2 Rory McIlroy.”

• “You look at what Jay has done since he took over. The media rights deal, navigating us through COVID, the strategic alliance with the DP World Tour. I would say creating PGA Tour Enterprises, we were just able to accept a billion and a half dollars in the business,” said McIlroy, who resigned from the Tour’s policy board last year with one year remaining on his term. “People can nit-pick and say he didn’t do this right or didn’t do that right, but if you actually step back and look at the bigger picture, I think the PGA Tour is in a far stronger position than when Jay took over.”

3. McIlroy: Players Championship missing some of the best players is a problem

BBC report…”And the split means several of the world’s best are not competing at this week’s Players Championship in Florida.”

• “I don’t think there is a fast solution,” McIlroy told BBC Sport.

• “But everyone needs to put their feelings and egos aside and figure out a solution where we can bring all the best players back together week in week out.”

• “…The Players Championship is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year but the PGA Tour’s $25m flagship event is missing its 2022 winner Cameron Smith and reigning major champions Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm. All three now play on the LIV circuit alongside the likes of fellow major champions Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Garcia.”

• “…It’s the biggest tournament outside of major championship and you don’t have all the best players in the world here, that’s a shame,” added McIlroy.

4. Xander: Monahan has a long way to go to regain my trust

Gabrielle Herzig for Sports Illustrated…”Schauffele, speaking at a press conference ahead of the Players Championship, did not hold back when asked whether Monahan is the “right person” to guide the Tour as it enters a new partnership with Strategic Sports Group and continues negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV Golf. “

• “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. 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.”

5. Interpreting Monahan

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard tries to read between the lines…”Monahan did, however, leave some breadcrumbs for those who watched his press conference, starting with a possible timeline. When the June 6 framework agreement was announced, it had a Dec. 31 deadline that came and went with no deal. Since then, the only updates have been vague.”

• “I expect next time I’m in front of all of you we’ll have a lot more progress to report,” the commissioner said.

• Although that’s far short of a hard deadline, it does give a rough estimate of where the Tour and PIF are in the process, with Monahan’s likely next press conference — barring some breaking news — coming at the Tour Championship in August.

• “Monahan also addressed how the deal with SSG, a group led by Fenway Sports, might impact a potential deal with PIF. Some looked at the SSG agreement as a possible competitor to a potential Saudi investment…”

• …Monahan’s explanation seemed to suggest that it’s not a matter of a SSG or PIF deal, but instead an SSG and PIF deal. It would be a stretch to imagine some of the best business leaders in sports — including Arthur Blank, John Henry and Steven Cohen, who are all investors with SSG — were interested in investing in PGA Tour Enterprises, the circuit’s new for-profit arm, with the looming threat of LIV Golf backed by the vast resources of the PIF. It’s more likely SSG signed on to be a part of professional golf’s new reality with the PIF.”

6. Scheffler: Don’t blame us

Ben Parsons for Bunkered…”For the second successive year, LIV golfers are ineligible for the PGA Tour’s flagship event because of their defections to the Saudi-backed series.”

• Scheffler sympathises with fans who are caught up in the chaos, but thinks the blame should be pointed at LIV players for fracturing the men’s professional game.

• “If the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left,” Scheffler said. “We had a tour, we were all together and the people that left are no longer here. At the end of the day, that’s where the splintering comes from.

• “As far as our tour goes, like I said, we’re doing our best to create the best product for the fans, and that’s really where we’re at.”

7. AK’s rough start to comeback continues

Paul Higham for Golf Monthly…”It was another tough day at the office for the returning Anthony Kim after he shot a four-over round of 74 on the opening day of the International Series Macau event on the Asian Tour.”

• “The 38-year-old returned to golf with a fanfare as he took part in two LIV events, before teeing it up on the Asian Tour in a traditional 72-hole tournament at Macau Golf and Country Club.”

• “PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan revealed on Wednesday that he had held talks with Kim about a return before he opted to join Greg Norman’s organisation.”

8. Best Driver 2024 is live now on GolfWRX

What’s the best driver of 2024? This year, to answer that question, we have expanded our panel of expert fitters to help you find which of the 2024 drivers is best for your game, breaking down the candidates by clubhead speed.

9. Photos from The Players

• Check out all of our galleries from TPC Sawgrass!