The PGA Tour finally has a leader in charge who seems to understand what the fans want to see.
While I was initially skeptical of new CEO Brian Rolapp due to rumors of a shortage in scheduling and excessive NFL crossover, it looks like he may be hitting the mark.
Rolapp addressed the media Wednesday ahead of The Players Championship to discuss the future of the tournament and, more specifically, the potential schedule and format changes proposed by the Futures Tournament Committee.
He focused on six key points, which we outlined and analyzed immediately after the presser.
While there’s still a lot to discover going forward, here’s how I’m feeling about some of the news.
The details of that will be key, but the Tour could finally implement a promotion system that makes a lot more sense in golf.
Within the tournament itself, it looks like players will be relegated and promoted between an A tournament (raised events 21-26) and a B tournament (the rest of the schedule). There is currently a system that in order
e it does with AON Swing 5, but it’s confusing and hard to track down.
What remains to be determined is how often these promotions and demotions occur. Rolapp compared the potential system to English football, but he also mentioned the lack of relevance to each event.
This leads me to believe that players can be promoted or relegated within each event, which could be a genius system. Golf is a game of form and would benefit from a lot more movement through the pro tour than it currently has.
Take a look at tennis. Players aren’t stuck on the Challenger Tour or low-level ATP events for an entire year just because they started the season there. If they play well, they can jump right into high-level events.
An event like the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach that offers 10 promotions for low-level Tour players, even Korn Ferry Tour players, to the next Players Championship would be a fascinating watch for golf fans. This would also eliminate the scarcity factor that Rolapp seems to be focusing on.
Relegation is also important. There are plenty of non-competitive Tour players who start at great events for an entire year. Sure, they may have earned their card, but that shouldn’t lead to an entire year of guaranteed starters if they can’t even compete for cuts.
These players have to drop into lower quality events until they find their game again.
And speaking of cuts…
Crops matter again
There was no news that made me happier than hearing that non-stop tours are going away. This is something we’ve repeated at MyGolfSpy, but it can’t be overstated how important cuts are in professional golf.
The tour has basically faked it for us this year, giving us the cuts we want, but in small areas. This has resulted in around 20 players leaving the field of 70, which is not what the fans are looking for.
Rolapp expects fields of 120 players for signature events, which is about the perfect number.
There are other players, and we’re back to never ending rounds in the dark due to slow play. Any less, and we don’t have quality cuts where players have to perform well to make it to the weekend, earn points and get a big payday.
A big measure of a quality, consistent player in the past was how many cuts he made, and especially how many putts he made – something Tiger Woods set a record we thought might never be broken.
Scottie Scheffler has been working toward this record, but the comparison is difficult to make because of the many events he can play without a cut or a very light cut.
This return to single-cut full-field events will restore that measure of a player’s consistency and make Thursdays and Fridays much more interesting for players who are out of contention but looking to play the weekend.
Top markets and new courses?
The PGA Tour schedule has become stale.
After the tour wraps up the West Coast and the Florida Swing, there are very few events that I look forward to each year outside of major championships. In fact, most places in the fall are more interesting than those in the summer.
It looks like Rolapp may be looking to change that, with news that the Tour plans to visit more major markets. Cities like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC and Boston have spectacular golf courses and massive fan bases that should be visited almost every year, if possible.
Instead, the Tour continues to play many times in Texas and plays in boring locations in Minnesota, Detroit, Memphis and many more each year.
In 2025, one of the most memorable events of the year was a one-off visit to The Philadelphia Cricket Club for the Truist Classic, which was moved from Quail Hollow because Quail Hollow was hosting the PGA Championship. The crowds were great, and the course held its own with a winning score of 16 under.
The tournament could be strengthened by moving more tournaments to big cities with big crowds and classic courses, making each tournament feel more special.
One thing that LIV Golf has certainly done right is to prioritize events in bigger cities and it looks like Rolapp has taken notice and will try to do the same.
Rolapp appears to be focused on the right things after his first big push. If he can continue to focus on the fans and what makes the Tour such a great product, he will right many of the mistakes that Jay Monahan made and begin to push the Tour in the right direction for years to come.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.
Top Photo Caption: Brian Rolapp gave a press conference this morning. (GETTY IMAGES/Tracy Wilcox)
