PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | The setting for Brian Rolapp’s state of the PGA Tour media session Wednesday morning – on a small stage set in the airy lobby inside the tour’s contemporary “global home” as they call it – did more than provide room for the crowd of invited guests that approached 1,100 people, some of whom leaned over railings on the second and third floors to see and hear what the tour’s CEO had to say.
In just his second extended media session since joining the tour last summer, Rolapp provided a follow-up to the vision he outlined during the Tour Championship in Atlanta last August, suggesting that potentially profound but not draconian change is coming to the PGA Tour.
To borrow Rolapp’s own words from Wednesday morning – “Be firm on the strategy but loose on the details” – the tour’s leader moved the conversation along, citing six themes to the work being done, without offering many specifics because those have not yet been nailed down.
Speaking and taking questions for approximately 45 minutes, Rolapp was impressive, offering broad clarity where he could and context where it was needed. There was no earth-shaking news but none was expected.
Rolapp did, however, offer a more complete vision of where the tour is likely to land when the various pieces are pulled together, possibly in 2028 but more likely over the course of a few years.
“I can’t emphasize this enough; nothing has been finalized,” Rolapp said, quickly adding he intends to provide another update at the Travelers Championship after a June 22 policy board meeting.
“Once decisions have been made and finalized, changes will be implemented through a rolling approach. As Tiger [Woods] has said recently, some elements could be addressed sooner for next season, with more significant change likely to be implemented for the 2028 season, pending the necessary work to be done with our partners and other operational considerations.”
“Scarcity is about making the events we have matter more so I think there will be a place for most of our events in our new model.” – Brian Rolapp
Rolapp outlined six themes driving the work of the Future Competition Committee led by Woods and the tour’s leadership:
- Creating a schedule of between 21 to 26 top-tier events including the four majors, the Players Championship and the playoff events, running from late January into September (when the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cups are traditionally played);
- Targeting 120-player fields with 36-hole cuts and moving away from smaller, no-cut fields in signature events;
- Start future seasons on the West Coast at an iconic venue, allowing for a prime-time finish on the East Coast;
- Adding events in major markets that do not currently have PGA Tour events, potentially New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C.;
- Determining a structure for promotion and relegation, using a two-track system of events, with smaller events augmenting the tour’s intended meritocracy;
- Enhancing the postseason, possibly building in a match-play element while maintaining the three-event playoff structure.
Rolapp made a point to suggest that his August comments about creating scarcity on the tour do not mean the tour will drastically reduce the number of events on the schedule, but it is working to essentially divide the schedule into two tiers. He used the European soccer model of promotion and relegation as the conceptual blueprint guiding the tour.
“Scarcity is about making the events we have matter more so I think there will be a place for most of our events in our new model,” Rolapp said.
The notion of adding match play into the playoff structure has been raised before but never developed traction. Rolapp did not commit to changing the playoff format but returned to a theme of creating drama for fans where possible.
“The sports business is not that hard. Just think like a fan and, nine times out of 10, that’s probably the right answer.” – Brian Rolapp
While praising the tour’s long-standing relationship with East Lake Golf Club as host of the Tour Championship, Rolapp did not rule out rotating the final event to different venues, especially given the interest in expanding into big markets.
“The sports business is not that hard. Just think like a fan and, nine times out of 10, that’s probably the right answer,” Rolapp said.
Rolapp said he does not anticipate the Players Championship moving from its March date and he is not actively engaged in any discussions with LIV Golf. The creation of the Returning Member Program, which allowed Brooks Koepka to come back, was in response to a special set of circumstances, Rolapp said, and is not a long-standing program.
He offered no specificity on where or how the $1.5 billion invested in the tour by the Strategic Sports Group will be invested but indicated some of it will go toward creating bigger events in large media markets. Rolapp made a point to shoot down suggestions that the investors are looking for a short-term reward in the model of some private-equity investments, saying they have a more long-term vision.
“We understand the reality of what we’re doing is not only hard to design it, but it’s hard to implement,” Rolapp said. “So we want to make sure we do it the right way.”