PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp outlines elements of a new competitive model that are under consideration.
Cliff Hawkins, GETTY IMAGES
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp laid out a blueprint of what the tour’s future competitive model may look like in his first state-of-the-tour address.
Rolapp articulated the key themes that the Future Competition Committee, helmed by Tiger Woods, is focusing on, most notably creating a new streamlined and two-track tour that “outlives all of us,” he said.
“The committee’s focus has been on the competitive model built on meritocracy,” Rolapp told more than a thousand attendees in the atrium of the PGA Tour’s Global Home on Wednesday ahead of the Players Championship. “This is not a closed shop. We are aiming to … create a more cohesive schedule with a simpler point system, one where the best players compete against one another more frequently.”
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Rolapp outlined six themes that will determine the future schedule and structure of the PGA Tour, emphasizing “no decisions have been made.”
Schedule that runs from late January to early September: “In terms of overall structure – inclusive of the majors, the Players, the postseason – we are looking at roughly 21 to 26 tournaments on a first track of elevated events with the best players competing for higher purses,” Rolapp said. “To be clear, we will have a second track of PGA Tour tournaments which will ladder up to those elevated events.”
Consistent field sizes: “This means moving away from small fields and no-cut events,” Rolapp said. “Our best events will have larger fields. Ideally, we are targeting something closer to 120-player fields with a cut. That consistency matters.”
Splashy season-opener: “We want to open big with a marquee event at an iconic venue in the West … allowing us to finish on network television in prime time on the East Coast,” Rolapp said.
Larger markets: “Today the PGA Tour competes in only four of the top 10 largest U.S. media markets,” Rolapp said. “That is an opportunity. We are evaluating markets like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Boston, and many others – places where there is a strong fan demand for our sport and a chance to reach new fans. … I think just because we are looking to play more often in bigger markets does not necessarily mean we’re abandoning small markets. That is a misconception. There [is] room for both … it’s just important that we have a system that competitively and economically can support both big markets and small markets.”
English football-style system of promotion and relegation: “Scarcity is about making every event we have matter,” Rolapp said. “This is why we are evaluating the role of promotion and relegation between these two tracks within our competitive model. ... What we envision is a merit-based system that leans into what makes professional golf so compelling – players earning their way to the top, with every event having greater meaning. For our members, the message is pretty simple: Play well and you earn the opportunity to compete in our biggest events and for more money.”
“This remains a work in progress, and it is by no means a baked cake. These are simply areas we are starting to see a meaningful consensus.”
Brian Rolapp
Enhanced postseason stakes: “We have heard from our fans and our partners, they want more drama,” Rolapp said. “We are considering the potential integration of match play, either at the Tour Championship or across the postseason as a whole, bringing win-or-go-home moments to the conclusion of our season.”
“This remains a work in progress, and it is by no means a baked cake,” said Rolapp, who promised an update on the Future Competition Committee’s progress ahead of the Travelers Championship in late June. “These are simply areas we are starting to see a meaningful consensus.
“Once decisions have been made and finalized, changes will be implemented through a rolling approach. As Tiger 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.
“This is a complex process with many constituencies impacted. We will continue to move with urgency, but we are focused on getting it right.”
Rory McIlroy spoke to Rolapp for an hour ahead of his address, and the world No. 2 is on board with the parameters for change.
“It’s all pretty positive,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “I think he’s got into this job and realized how difficult it is to turn this big ship around, and there’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of opinions. So he’s obviously navigating that. But, yeah, I think what he said today was – it’s obviously a really good direction of where the tour should be going, I think.”
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