Brian Rolapp Lays Out Six Themes For PGA Tour’s Future Schedule

Brian Rolapp, who was appointed as the PGA Tour’s first CEO last June, held a wide-ranging press conference on Wednesday at TPC Sawgrass ahead of this week’s Players Championship. His most notable statements revolved around the future of the Tour, specifically when it comes to scheduling and format, while making it abundantly clear he has the golf fan top of mind.

One of Rolapp’s first projects with the Tour was the formation of the Future Competition Committee. This group was established last August, is chaired by Tiger Woods, and has just one, albeit very complicated, goal of making the best possible version of the PGA Tour for all involved.

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While Rolapp did note that the Tour is actively engaged with current and prospective corporate and media partners — undoubtedly very important pieces to the puzzle — what stood out most were the six themes he presented about the Tour’s future schedule that could potentially come to fruition as early as 2027.

It is worth emphasizing the word “potentially” in that last sentence, as Rolapp mentioned multiple times that the themes are ideas at this point, none of which have been brought forth to the players in an official capacity.

A New Calendar And A ‘Second’ Tour

A new-look schedule would run from late-January to early-September, with roughly 21 to 26 events. The goal regarding signature events would be to double them from eight to 16, with a “second track of Tour tournaments” that would ladder players into the field for signature events.

More Players, More Cuts

Wave goodbye to the small-field, no-cut events that the overwhelming majority of golf fans have grown to despise in recent years. Rolapp specifically emphasized the cut returning on an every-week occurrence, which would allow fans to better understand who is, and isn’t teeing it up each week. Field sizes for events would settle around 120 players.

Copying The Premier League

Rolapp noted “two tracks” within a new-look competitive model that he compared to what is seen in the Premier League and many other soccer leagues around the world, with promotion and relegation. This would create legitimate consequences and raise the standard for players looking to achieve or maintain a spot on the “A Tour.” Every single event on the calendar would achieve a bigger meaning if this were to be introduced.

Circling The Major Markets

In terms of no-brainer moves, this one takes the cake. The Tour will look to hold more events in major markets and bigger cities, specifically noting New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston.

Inexplicably, the Tour currently only competes in four of the Top 10 largest U.S. media markets. That needs to be an instant change.

Starting Big In The West

The Tour’s first event of the season needs to feel bigger, and everyone knows it. Keeping the season opener out West is a no-brainer given both weather and TV windows for the rest of the country during the NFL season, but playing at an iconic venue is on the docket of ideas. Yet another thing fans have been screaming about forever. 

Did Somebody Say Match Play?

Of the many carrots Rolapp dangled out there during his lengthy press conference, the mention of introducing match play was by far and away the biggest and brightest.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs have changed over the years, but it has always felt like a ginormous missed opportunity for the Tour to not have some sort of match play event throughout the final stretch. Rolapp seems to agree, as he noted that the Future Competition Committee is looking to potentially add match play to the Tour Championship or “across the postseason as a whole.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the golf world who wouldn’t be on board with any of these proposals, especially when it comes to match play entering the equation.

While Rolapp was more or less thinking out loud and presenting ideas that he knew fans and media members alike would instantly applaud, the way he managed to do so was a much-needed change in tone.

He was the polar opposite of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who turned into “one of the guys” over the years. Rolapp, on the other hand, comes from the NFL media world and is honest about the fact that he still has plenty to learn about the game of golf itself.

“Sports business is not that hard; just think like a fan, and nine and a half times out of ten, that’s probably the right answer,” Rolapp said on Wednesday.

That statement alone should excite the golf world as a whole.