Last week at PGA Tour headquarters, new Tour CEO Brian Rolapp revealed six themes where is the league going? One of those was a great West Coast kick-off date, a way for the tour to get fans excited and kick off the year in a big way.
“We want to open a big event with a marquee event in an iconic location in the West, among other things,” Rolapp said, “allowing us to end up on prime-time network television on the East Coast.”
What might this look like? It will likely be in late January or early February, and we already know that the tour time in Hawaii is probably limited. That leaves a few current tournaments as possible options: The Farmers at Torrey Pines in San Diego, the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, or the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterey Peninsula. The Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles could also be an option.
We may not get an answer anytime soon — and the Tour may still be figuring it out — but you can make a case for most of these points, just as GOLF’s Subpar duo thinks their local event, the WM Phoenix Open, would be the ideal start.
“In my opinion, this would go the week before the Super Bowl, between the conference championships and the Super Bowl, it’s that dead week,” Subpar co-host Colt Knost said in the latter. Episode subpar. “This is the week, let’s start the PGA Tour, get everybody excited and then we take a week off for the Super Bowl — because there’s no reason to go against that — and then we start.
“Their long-term goal is to own wine,” he continued. “They want golf to be must-see TV all summer long, going up against baseball, obviously some basketball. That’s their big goal. But I like that we’re going to open up a lot.”
Co-host Drew Stoltz, who is also a member of Thunderbirdsthe organization that runs the WM Phoenix Open, agreed.
“I mean, what’s bigger?” he said. “There are some great places, some great golf courses out west, but if you’re going to make a big splash to open the season, what would make more sense than that? I don’t have any inside information, not saying it’s a done deal, but if that’s the way you’re going, we’ll basically call it when football ends, even if you get the biggest week, that’s the Super Bowl.”
For more on the latest episode of Subpar, where they break down Cam Young’s Players win and talk more about Rolapp’s six themes, you can listen here or look to YouTube below.
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