Brian Rolapp, the new CEO of the PGA Tour, shared an open letter on Tuesday and said, “Professional golf is evolving.” It sure is, if you keep in mind the emergence of LIV Golf in 2021 and its team concept. In response to LIV’s emergence, Commissioner Jay Monahan implemented key changes, including the 2023 Framework Agreement and signature events, amid heavy pushback from Tour pros. With Jay Monahan now ready to walk out of the PGA Tour in 2026, will the pushback end? Well, given Rolapp’s limited history in golf, he is likely to see some pushback on the tour
However, in his open letter after his announcement as the Tour CEO, Rolapp did express his aim to “honor golf’s traditions without being overly constrained by them.” Of course, he proved this by mentioning he’s not a golf insider, though he earned money in college working at the turn at Congressional Country Club near D.C. Aside from that, he doesn’t have a USGA-registered handicap. Though Rolapp claimed this means he comes to the Tour with “a clean slate,” is it a good thing? Well, the folks at Fore Play Podcast dive into it in a little more detail.
On the latest episode of Fore Play Podcast, Dylan Dethier decided to dig into Brian Rolapp’s statements, “It is fascinating, right? He was quick to sort of jump in and say, “Well, look, I did, you know, I did work at a golf course growing up.” He was the, worked at the turn at Congressional.” Dethier then pointed out Rolapp’s remarks about the “business fundamentals” of the Tour, which include a “great product” and “signature events.” Of course, that also includes the money.
In 2024, the Tour secured a $3 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group. Following that, in 2025, Golf Week reported that the Tour still has $1.5 billion remaining. That means Rolapp is right: the Tour is indeed a “great product.” He didn’t hide his excitement either. During a meeting at TPC River Highlands, Rolapp said of this, “Where we deploy that capital, I have ideas. I don’t think I want to share them now, but that’s going to be part of the job to get in there and talk about it.”
However, there’s also the fact that Rolapp also comes to the Tour with fresh ideas and vast NFL experiences. Does that mean he will bring a fresh NFL perspective into the world of golf? Likely. But that may also serve as a problem. Following his comments on Rolapp’s history with golf, Dethier continued: “It’s time to see, you know, just how radical he wants to get, or how radical the sport is willing to get. I mean, it, you know, it’s good. It’s nice that he’s not a traditionalist, but there are a lot of traditionalists in this world. I mean, I think we’ve seen that with whenever golf tries to do something too new and crazy, there is a lot of push back.”
Take the example of the Tour Championship stroke format. In 2019, Jay Monahan introduced this new format that heavily benefited the top players like Scottie Scheffler. As per this format, the points leader began at 10 under, holding a lead of at least two strokes over the rest of the field. Sure, it helped keep some golfers on the top, but the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship winner, Scheffler, said, “You can’t call it a season-long race and have it come down to one tournament.” That means Brian Rolapp has more than one task on his hands, something that even he agrees to.
Brian Rolapp will lead the PGA Tour with three goals in mind
Talking about his goals at the PGA Tour, Brian Rolapp highlighted three goals. The first being: “First, we must maintain an unwavering focus on the game itself, ensuring that we achieve the highest level of competition, which is crucial. This is something we are deeply committed to.” But, of course, that also comes by recognizing the importance of fans.
One of the primary challenges facing the TOUR is finding a balance between the interests of players and those of fans. Unlike the NFL, where team owners exist, the players themselves are the owners, as Rolapp emphasized. In the NFL, Rolapp discovered that prioritizing fan engagement led to the best outcomes for everyone involved. Does that mean we will have more engagements between the fans and the players? Well, we will see.
Following that, comes Rolapp’s next goal: “Second, it’s essential to identify the right partners—not just sponsors, but also media partners who can help promote the game, broaden its reach, and connect with as many fans as possible. This will be a priority for us.” In his previous role, Rolapp was instrumental in negotiating the NFL’s media rights agreements, including the creation of the Thursday Night Football package, which significantly expanded the sport’s fan base to unprecedented levels. Based on his comments, he is well-prepared to extract even greater value from the Tour’s television package, which will be up for bidding in a few years and take effect in 2031.
Then, the final goal: “Lastly, we need to adopt a mindset of continuous innovation. Change is necessary. As I mentioned in my letter to fans, we will respect tradition, but we won’t be unnecessarily constrained by it. Where it makes sense to evolve, we will embrace that change.” However, the PGA Tour presents a different challenge. Sure, while the Tour keeps the Fan Forward Initiative in high regard, its more specialized audience and moderate ratings likely require a distinct strategy focused on expanding the game. So, it will be interesting to see how Rolapp makes that work.
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