PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan has faced calls to resign at an “intense and heated” players meeting following the shock merger with LIV Golf.
Several players left the American PGA Tour and European-based DP World Tour to join the Saudi Arabia-backed Liv circuit when it launched last year.
Monahan had previously said anyone who joined LIV would not be welcome back on the PGA Tour.
“I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Monahan said.
He added that Tuesday’s meeting before the start of this week’s RBC Canadian Open in Toronto was “intense and certainly heated”, while American golfer Johnson Wagner said it was “contentious”.
The PGA Tour winner, 43, told the Golf Channel: “There were many moments where certain players were calling for new leadership of the PGA Tour and even got a couple of standing ovations.
“I think the most powerful moment was when a player quoted Monahan from the 3M in Minnesota last year when he said, ‘as long as I’m commissioner of the PGA Tour, no player that took LIV money will ever play the PGA Tour again’. It just seems like a lot of backtracking.
“Players were mad, players were calling for (his) resignation, and Jay sat there and took it like a champ, he really did.”
An agreement has been signed that will combine the PGA Tour and LIV’s commercial operations and rights into a new, yet to be named for-profit company and it means pending litigation between the tours will be halted.
But the announcement took players by surprise with many reacting with anger, while the specifics of how the Tours will look going forward is not yet clear.
Northern Ireland’s world number three Rory McIlroy, who had been a firm defender of the PGA Tour, is set to speak to the media at around 15:00 BST on Wednesday.
Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy added: “(Monahan) just sort of explained the structure, how it’s going to look going forward.
“He didn’t really talk specifics. It was a tough meeting for both sides because nobody really knows what this is going to look like in the end.”
Human rights group Amnesty say the announcement is further evidence of Saudi Arabian efforts to draw attention away from the country’s human rights record, known as sportswashing.
Meanwhile a 9/11 victims group say the PGA Tour should be “ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed” after Monahan previously referenced the terror attacks when criticising players for leaving the PGA Tour for LIV.
LIV players lost their places on DP World Tour and PGA Tour, were fined for taking part and also saw their world rankings plummet as LIV events were not officially sanctioned.
European players who resigned from the DP World Tour are also not currently eligible for the 2023 Ryder Cup, with Henrik Stenson, removed as captain for this year’s event, which takes place in Rome from 29 September to 1 October.
“Any time I’ve said anything I’ve said it with the information I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players,” said Monahan.
“I accept those criticisms but circumstances do change and I think looking at the big picture got us to this point.
“It probably didn’t seem this way to them but as I looked to those players that have been loyal to the PGA Tour, I’m confident they made the right decision.
“They have helped re-architect the future of the PGA Tour, they have moved us to a more competitive model. We have significantly invested in our business in 2023 and we’re going to do so in 2024.”
Monahan said all golfers who joined LIV will be able to reapply for PGA Tour membership in 2024.
He also said that conversations about compensation may take place with golfers who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour, such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Fifteen-time major winner Woods and four-time major champion McIlroy turned down lucrative offers to join LIV last year.
“Those are the serious conversations that we’re going to have,” said Monahan.
“Ultimately everything needs to be considered. Ultimately what you’re talking about is an equalisation over time and I think that’s a fair and reasonable concept.”
High-profile players who accepted lucrative offers to join LIV, such as Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, were supportive of the merger with Mickelson saying it was an “awesome day”.
Former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, told CNN it was “the best thing that could ever happen for the game of golf” adding: “We are better together and not apart.”
But ex-PGA Tour player Brandel Chamblee, who is now a television analyst, has been critical, describing the announcement as “one of the saddest days in the history of professional golf”.
