PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has an Open Mind Towards Gambling

New PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has been a tremendous spark since taking over for Tim Finchem, who was at the helm for 22 years. He’s mentioned schedule changes that include moving majors like the PGA Championship and has mentioned that the pace of play needs to be improved, which I think we can all agree with whether or not Jason Day likes it.

Now he’s looking at taking a page out of NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s book and welcoming gambling to the Tour. In an interview with the Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner, Monahan mentioned that it is definitely something he is looking at. (The comments come at the 5:50 mark of the video above.)

"“Is it something we look at? Absolutely, we always look at something that other sports are doing, having success with, trends in the industry. It’s something we’ve spent a lot of time on up to this point in time. You look at DraftKings and FanDuel, you look at gaming in the international markets, there’s a lot of opportunity there.” “There’s some complexity, and that complexity has held us back from moving forward. But we will look at it and have an open mind towards it.”"

Monahan embracing changes like moving the majors around, the pace of play (the 6:45 mark of the video), gambling, and shortening the playoffs have already made him a popular guy. I am definitely interested in seeing what he can accomplish over the next few years for the Tour.