Brian Rolapp appeared to get off to a bright start in his time as the new CEO of the PGA Tour, with plenty of players proving to be very complimentary of the man tasked with succeeding Jay Monahan.
It did appear that the PGA Tour needed to move in a new direction following Jay Monahan‘s tenure as commissioner. Monahan’s time in charge will largely be remembered for the turmoil caused by the formation of LIV Golf.
Talks over a merger with LIV appear to have stopped completely, with the PGA Tour enjoying an impressive season. But there does appear to be a sense that Brian Rolapp may be the person to help the tour realise its full potential.
Rolapp has spoken with a large number of PGA Tour players, with Rory McIlroy among those to praise Rolapp.
However, not everyone is rushing to speak to the new CEO, it seems.
Lucas Glover explains why he does not want to speak with PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp
Lucas Glover has criticised the PGA Tour for reducing the number of cards handed out from 2026. And speaking in a superb interview on Monday Q Info this week, he admitted thinking that speaking to Rolapp would be pointless after next year’s schedule was unveiled.
“I met him there in Hartford, he was great, very nice. I think I missed his call when he called me. He did call. I missed it. The players relation staff has tried to get us in touch and I’ve been reluctant. Honestly, I just decided that I didn’t need to have that conversation. When the new schedule came out, they added another signature event, took another full-field event out, that was kind of it for me. That’s what made me realise it wasn’t changing and it was going to get worse. They pulled out a full-field event, put in another signature event at the worst possible place in the schedule,” he said.
“I know your listeners will say, ‘well, Lucas, you don’t have to play in them if you don’t like it’. Well, I’m not stupid.
“When the new schedule came out and all I’m hearing is the same conversation: money, money, money, money, money; when’s the last time anybody talked about the charity initiative of the PGA Tour? When’s the last time anybody talked about the billions of dollars that we made for charities across the country and communities where we play? Nobody talks about that anymore. Why not? It’s because it’s not a focus anymore unfortunately.”
The 2027 schedule will probably be the first indicator of Brian Rolapp’s vision for the PGA Tour
In fairness to Rolapp, it is hard to imagine that he will have had a large say in what the schedule for 2026 will look like. Those plans to return to Doral for a signature event will have been in the works for some time before he arrived.
However, you can also relate to Glover’s stance. Ultimately, he will be aware of how difficult it will be to convince the best players on the PGA Tour to open up more opportunities for those further down the food chain again.
And he may simply feel that he does not have the energy to fight that battle any more.
Some think the 2027 schedule could look drastically different.
Hopefully that proves to be the case. Many will agree with Glover’s view that the PGA Tour will eventually pay the price if they become even more of a closed shop, with it becoming harder and harder for new superstars to emerge and establish themselves.
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