Brian Rolapp was announced as the PGA Tour’s new CEO back in June, but he officially began his role on August 1st, and Jay Monahan spoke about the tour’s new leader on Wednesday ahead of the Tour Championship.
Rolapp is expected to bring fresh ideas and innovative thinking to the PGA Tour after years of, what some people suggest, stagnation under Monahan.
Only last month, Rolapp insisted that the new-look PGA Tour will honour golf’s traditions, but won’t be overly bound by them.
With LIV Golf clearly not going anywhere, it’s more important now than ever before for the PGA Tour hierarchy to offer their fans an even better product.
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have both been impressed by Rolapp so far, and the future definitely seems to be bright with the former NFL chief at the helm.
Jay Monahan makes comment on new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp
Monahan is hardly a popular figure amongst PGA Tour fans, and the same can be said regarding how the players view him.
However, it’s all change now with Rolapp in the hot-seat.
Monahan addressed reporters on Wednesday ahead of the Tour Championship which begins on Thursday morning.
He began his press conference by sharing what he has been telling everyone about Rolapp’s qualities.
He said: “Speaking of momentum, we have a new leader of the PGA TOUR, and Brian Rolapp is off to a great start. As I’ve told everyone that’s asked me, Brian is very bright. His experience lends itself perfectly and precisely to the future opportunity of the PGA TOUR. He’s competitive in a really good way, and he has a humility and a self-awareness that makes him a leader. It’s been a pleasure to watch him connect with our players, our partners and team members.
“Time will demonstrate that he is exactly the right leader for the PGA TOUR at this moment in time and this moment in its evolution, and that’s why he already enjoys such broad support from our players, partners and team members that have had the opportunity to spend time with him.
“Although he’s only been in the seat for three weeks — in fact, I think it’s 18 days — our team is already feeling the impact, and I think all of you will share that excitement as he begins to lay out his vision for the future.“
The general consensus is that Rolapp will make a big difference to the way in which the PGA Tour operates.
However, only time will tell as to whether or not he is the real deal.
Brian Rolapp says his first act as PGA Tour CEO involves Tiger Woods
Rolapp is not wasting any time at all when it comes to making changes.
His first act seems to be a real power move, with Tiger Woods taking a lead role on the tour.
Rolapp explained: “I am pleased to announce today that as one of my first acts we’re going to have the formation of the future competition committee. The purpose of this committee is pretty simple. We’re going to design the best professional golf competitive model in the world for the benefit of PGA TOUR fans, players and their partners. It is aimed at a holistic relook of how we compete on the TOUR. That is inclusive of regular season, postseason and off-season.
“We’re going to focus on the evolution of our competitive model and the corresponding media products and sponsorship elements and model of the entire sport. The goal is not incremental change. The goal is significant change.
“I’m also pleased to announce as the chairman of this committee, Tiger Woods has agreed to serve as chairman. The PGA TOUR is certainly fortunate to benefit from his experience and his time and his dedication. That will be important to this effort, and I’m personally grateful for Tiger for offering to take this on.
“There will be additional members to the committee. There will be nine in total. There will be six players, including Tiger. The other players will be Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell. There will also be three other business advisors. That includes our Joe Gorder, chairman of both of our boards, John Henry, principal of Fenway Sports Group and enterprise board member, and Theo Epstein, whose accomplishments in professional sports are well known, and is also a senior advisor to Fenway Sports Group.“
With Woods helping to guide Rolapp towards better decisions for the future of the PGA Tour, the early signs seem to be really positive right now.
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