Greg Norman has very good reason to think that he has played a crucial role in pushing the PGA Tour down their current path, with big changes on the horizon in the years to come.
The PGA Tour looks set to look dramatically different in the near future. It does appear that the days of the journeyman may soon be over, with just the top 100 players automatically keeping their full cards for 2026.
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“For him to try and trivialise what the greats before him did to grow and create what the PGA Tour is today is an absolute disgrace. You should hang your head in shame, Shark.”
Wayne Grady
“Let me just sum this up with a couple of words. First of all, Greg Norman is an icon in the game of golf. He’s a great player. We’ve been friends for a long time, and regardless of what happens, he’s going to remain a friend. Unfortunately, he and I just don’t see eye to eye in what’s going on [with LIV]. I’ll basically leave it at that.”
Jack Nicklaus
“Greg needs to go; he needs to exit stage left. He’s made his mark but I think now is the right time to say you’ve got this thing off the ground but no one’s going to talk unless there’s an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.”
Rory McIlroy
A new, heavily reduced schedule also seems to be on the cards. There have been suggestions that the PGA Tour season could consist of fewer than 25 events.
Appointing Brian Rolapp as the tour’s new CEO earlier this year certainly seems to have been a statement of intent.
Greg Norman reacts to Brian Rolapp being appointed as the PGA Tour CEO
Rolapp arrived from the NFL. There was optimism that appointing Rolapp would be a huge coup for the PGA Tour. He seemingly had been destined for the commissioner role at the NFL.
The PGA Tour is still waiting for Rolapp to really stamp his mark on the game. His first few months in the job appear to have been spent learning about the structure.
But, interestingly, one person who is optimistic about Rolapp’s appointment is Greg Norman – the man who had the same role with LIV Golf until earlier this year.
Speaking to Mark Bouris initially about whether the Australian Open will ever become a major, the Shark suggested that the PGA Tour have made a smart move in landing Rolapp.
“I don’t think we’ll ever get it as a major, but I actually think time is on my side. Experience and knowledge is on my side. I was there as part of it as a player, and I saw the weaknesses back then, and the weaknesses still exist today to some degree. But it’s now the new mindset of bringing new people in who are more business like,” he said.
“How do we grow it? It’s no different than what’s happening with the PGA Tour right now. They brought in an outsider from the NFL, Brian Rolapp, to restructure the PGA Tour to some degree. And from what I’m seeing, I don’t even know the guy, don’t need to know any of the policies, but what I’m seeing is this shift taking place. That shift is great. But the shift only happened because of what LIV did.”
What Brian Rolapp has said about rumours of a reduced PGA Tour schedule
It is not yet official that the PGA Tour will be reduced to around 22 events a season. Obviously, that would make every single tournament feel like a much more important occasion.
But there are other considerations. The PGA Tour does great work in a number of places across the country. And some of those cities will inevitably lose their tournaments if the schedule changes dramatically.
Rolapp was recently asked about Harris English backing a reduced calendar. And he hinted that it is a popular view among some of those he has spoken with.
“Nothing has been decided, and Harris’ comments have been getting a lot of attention, but Harris’ comments really reflect a lot of conversations that have been going on,” he said.
“If you dig deeper into what he said, it’s really not that complicated. If you are going to compete with Football in this country for media dollars and attention, it’s a really hard thing to do.
“The majority of golf is played in the summer and gets people’s attention, so looking at schedules to help optimize that calendar is certainly something we talk about.”
The positive news for Rolapp is that there appears to be a lot of goodwill towards him at the moment. Most seemed ready for a change after Jay Monahan‘s tenure.
That will be particularly important as Rolapp looks at potentially changing the tour beyond recognition.
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