Rolapp outlines vision for the future of the PGA TOUR in address to media

PGA TOUR CEO Brian Rolapp addressed media, players and stakeholders at PGA TOUR HQ today ahead of The Players Championship, and he outlined a future vision for the PGA TOUR on which consensus has been built between the future competition committee, players and stakeholders of the TOUR. Since he took office this has been a highly anticipated moment, and many of us in the media have speculated as to what the future will look like, and today that vision was made a little clearer, but with much more detail to come.

Rolapp outline the following six key themes:

1) Season structure: The PGA TOUR is looking at a schedule from late-January to early-September, with roughly 21 to 26 events on a first track of elevated events which would include the majors, THE PLAYERS Championship and the postseason. These events would be similar to today’s Signature Events, with the best players competing for elevated purses. That would mean at least doubling the current number of Signature Events (eight). Rolapp also noted there would be a second track of TOUR tournaments that will ladder up to the elevated events.

So, the PGA TOUR is going to create a two-tier tour, the cat is out of the bag, In my opinion that is a great thing. For far too long we have had players able to have a comfortable career by pottering along and not achieving very much whilst keeping their status at the top of the game. It also potentially opens the door to more golfers deciding to play DP World Tour events, especially the bigger events, or even move to LIV Golf. I think a two-tier PGA TOUR could help the whole of men's professional golf, not just the PGA TOUR.

2) Consistent fields: The Committee is focused on delivering consistent fields at top events. They believe in moving away from smaller fields and no-cut events, with Rolapp indicating they are looking at field sizes around 120 players with a cut.

This will be great news for the section of the golf community who believe that tournaments without a cut do not matter. It does not, however, deliver the most famous golfers week in week out over the weekend, and whilst that its a true meritocracy, it can be argued that this will not improve the PGA TOUR product. However, it would seem here that the PGA TOUR is trying to create a major experience at every event, and making it more competitive, week-in-week-out, so a cut does help to achieve that.

3) Open big: Rolapp emphasized the need to open big to start the season, with a marquee event at an iconic venue in the west, the benefits of which would include finishing on network TV in prime time on the East Coast.

There has been much speculation that this would be the Waste Management Phoenix Open, but is that an iconic venue? It could very easily be Pebble Beach as the season-opening event, and played in a time zone where it can deliver primetime viewership in the East of the USA. There was no discussion on the number of tournaments that the PGA TOUR will require its members to play going forward in this new vision, but if they want to "open big" then surely they have to play at a venue where all players want to play, and given the shenanigans at TPC Scottsdale in recent years, will every player want to play there?

4) Major markets: Rolapp has a keen eye on where the PGA TOUR plays, with an opportunity to bring events to more major markets where demand is strong. Currently, the TOUR competes in only four of the top 10 largest U.S. media markets. Rolapp said the TOUR is evaluating markets with strong existing fan demand and the opportunity to reach new fans in places like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston, among others.

Is the PGA TOUR making a mistake in focusing on major media markets over great courses? The World Surf League made a conscious decision to take events to the best waves around the world as they remodelled their product some years ago, and the PGA TOUR should do the same with this new vision. "The course is vital, in a perfect world we would have a big market and a great course" Rolapp said today. The leading 10 media markets in the United States of America are New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Washington DC and Phoenix.

The leading 10 courses in the United States according to Golf Digest are Pine Valley (New Jersey), Augusta National (Georgia), Cypress Point (California), Shinnecock Hills (New York), Oakmont (Pennsylvania), Merion Golf Club (Pennsylvania), National Golf Links of America (New York), Sand Hills (Nebraska), Pebble Beach (California), and Fishers Island Club (New York). Of course the tour has to think about space for fans and infrastructure and the willingness of a club to host an event, but imagine having a tournament at Pine Valley and/or National Golf Links of America. It would inspire the players and it would inspire the fans, as well as providing a truly outstanding landscape for television to present a compelling broadcast from.

For decades the PGA TOUR played in Chicago at the Western Open, and every time they have visited Olympia Fields, they have had a compelling tournament and a major championship-worthy test of the players. Medinah will host the Presidents Cup next year, and playing there on a regular basis would elevate the PGA TOUR no doubt.

Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Atlanta are all among the top 10 media markets in the USA, and whilst they all have good golf courses, its just my opinion that a future PGA TOUR should focus more on playing at iconic, great, championship courses than major media markets. Elevating the overall product would enhance the PGA TOUR and grow their revenue through sponsorship and media rights.

5) Promotion and relegation: The Committee is evaluating the role of promotion and relegation between the two tracks within the competitive model to bring an added element to the second track of events. Rolapp said the TOUR envisions a merit-based system that leans into what makes golf compelling: players earning their way to the top, with every event having greater meaning.

I think this is a great move, and actually brings the TOUR more into line with LIV Golf, in the fact that performance across the season will matter more than past achievements. It remains to be seen how this works, but the tour has only been an all-exempt platform since 1983, and the likes of Ben Hogan had to qualify for the 1953 Open at Carnoustie via a qualifying tournament at Panmure. Rolapp mentioned the possibility of a Promotion/Relegation tournament at the end of the year.

None of the six themes mention anything outside of the United States of America, or intimate that the PGA TOUR is looking to become a global tour, but Brian Rolapp said that we "Should not look at this as being solely US-Centric, this will have an international element, possibly in the summer and the fall".

Rolapp said that the PGA TOUR "Will look to enhance and extend Strategic Alliance" with the European Tour. Now this answer can be viewed in multiple ways, because firstly if they could look to extend the Strategic Alliance, does that mean that there is a possibility it won't be extended, and that the DP World Tour could look elsewhere for additional funding, creating a new partnership with a different tour?

Rolapp mentions the fall or autumn as a possible time to enhance the partnership with the DP World Tour, but we have heard this before from Jay Monahan, with the creation of a 3-tournament world series, which never came to pass. The fact is there is very little scope for any global events outside the United States of America in this new model, with the possible exception of the Genesis Scottish Open, played the week before The Open, and maybe the AMGEN Irish Open the week before that.

He stated that currently the PGA TOUR only visits 4 of the top 10 media markets, so potentially that means 6 additional US-based events on the calendar, so where is the room for events outside of North America? He didn't mention any specific tournaments, but there has to be some doubt over the future of the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR calendar. A two-tier system putting the Canadian Open among the second tier of events would not satisfy Canadian golf, fans and golfers at all, when that championship has been won by some of the icons of the game since its inception in 1904, and has been played regularly by the likes of Rory McIlroy.

So maybe the DP World Tour could look to co-sanction the event as part of the summer or even the autumn schedule. When Tiger Woods won the Canadian Open in 2000 it was played in the week ending September 10.

Allowing LIV Golf players into The Players Championship "not a priority"

"Professional golfers are independent contractors" except for if they play on LIV Golf. Rolapp didn't say the bit I have added there, but he may as well have done. At the Press Conference he stated that the Returning Member program was a one and done, and was created because they were presented with a situation regarding Brooks Koepka being out of contract with LIV Golf. He was asked if LIV Golfers could be allowed to play in The Players Championship if it helped elevate the tournament's case for Major Championship status, and Rolapp added that it was "not a top priority".

He went on to say "We should work hard to deliver the best possible field for the sponsors" in response to a question about the role of sponsors invites in the future of the PGA TOUR. Sponsors invites have been a part of the modern professional sport for decades. I am not sure how the PGA TOUR fulfils its goal of creating the best field possible for a sponsor if they are not going to grant a select number of entries to LIV Golf members in the same way the DP World Tour has done for eligible golfers, and if they are not going to at the very least not going to have top 50-ranked LIV Golfers, and past champions playing on LIV Golf at The Players Championship.

A question was asked about the investment from SSG, and one was asked about unification. Rolapp said that his brief was to make the PGA TOUR better, so it seems for now that the PGA TOUR are not looking at merging with the DP World Tour and LIV Golf any longer. Nobody asked a question about the PIF, and it seems as though the sport will continue on its present track of having multiple tours worldwide for the foreseeable future.

Possible match play element in the PGA TOUR's postseason mooted

Rolapp said that the future competition committee had discussed having a match play element to the postseason, and that would be great if they went all in on that. NCAA;s Division 1 Basketball Tournament or March Madness, is one of the great sporting occasions in America, and indeed world sport, and golf is perfectly placed to create something similar to conclude the season. No detail was given, but Rolapp did say that they were looking to have three events, which points towards three separate events rather than one event covering three weeks, but wouldn't it be great if the PGA TOUR did, for once, come up with something innovative and compelling.

Imagine if 64 golfers qualified for the playoffs based upon performance throughout the season, and over the course of three weeks they played 12 matches each before knockout competition over the final weekend of the season.

The 64 players could be divided into 4 pots of 16 players, with each player playing one match against 4 players from each pot, similar to what happens in the UEFA Champions League in football. 12 matches gives every golfer an ample opportunity to play well enough to make it to the knockout rounds, and reduces the lottery that straight knockout match play can become. Each day for 12 days you would have 32 matches of top level match play, it would be compelling and different.

Rolapp said that a further press conference would be held during the week of the Travelers Championship, following the US Open in June, with a view to the changes being finalised over the course of the next two years before full rollout in 2028.

SHANK, by Matt Hooper