Rory McIlroy agrees with Jay Monahan that the current commissioner is the best person to lead the PGA Tour under the current circumstances. Monahan said so at a press conference on Tuesday, March 12, and a day later, McIlroy supported him.

The Northern Irishman is at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to play THE PLAYERS Championship. On Wednesday, Rory McIlroy gave a press conference from the venue and, when asked by Barstool Sports reporter Dan Rapaport, expressed his support for Jay Monahan.

Here’s what Rory McIlroy had to say about it:

“Yeah I think so [that Jay Monahan is the right person to be the CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises]. I mean, you look at what Jay’s done since he took over, you know, the media rights deal, navigating us through Covid, the strategic lines with DP World Tour, creating PGA Tour Enterprises that we were just able to accept a billion and a half dollars into the business.

“I mean, people can say he didn’t do this right or didn’t do that right, but if you actually step back and you look at the bigger picture, I think the PGA Tour is in a far stronger position than it wasn’t for Jay. I think some of the reaction to June 6th was warranted, but I think at this point it’s eight months ago and we all need to move on, we all need to sort of move forward and try to bring the game back together.”

A look at Rory McIlroy’s results at TPC Sawgrass

TPC Sawgrass, home of THE PLAYERS Championship, has been a difficult test for Rory McIlroy, although he has successfully navigated it many times. McIlroy has competed at the event, also known as “fifth major,” on 14 occasions, with seven cuts passed.

Despite having missed six cuts at TPC Sawgrass (the event was cancelled in 2020 after the first round), three corresponded to his first experiences playing there (2009, 2010, 2012). However, his most recent missed cut occurred just last season, when McIlroy also missed the cut at The Masters.

McIlroy won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2019 (it was his 15th PGA Tour victory), with a score of 16 under. He has finished in three other top 10s (2013, 2014, 2015), one top 15 (2016) and two top 35s (2017, 2022).

The Northern Irishman has played 44 rounds at TP Sawgrass, with 22 scores of par or better and eight with scores in the 60s. His lowest score for 18 holes is 64, posted in the second round of the 2016 edition. His lowest score for 72 holes is the 16 under that gave him the title in 2019.

As for his worst round, it was the first round of the 2021 edition (79). His worst score for 36 holes was 10 over, also in 2021. His worst score for 72 holes was 2 over in the 2017 edition, when he finished 35th.