It is going to be fascinating to see what direction the PGA Tour heads in now with Brian Rolapp at the helm as the organisation’s new CEO.
Brian Rolapp will have no shortage of tasks to tackle after starting his role as the new CEO of the PGA Tour. Of course, he has replaced Jay Monahan as the leading figure behind the scenes.
There will be plenty of interest in seeing how Rolapp handles the divide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Rolapp has known LIV CEO Scott O’Neil for some time.
But there are a number of issues Rolapp will be looking at inside the PGA Tour. Although he is not expected to get involved with deciding the format the Tour Championship ultimately opts to go with, his big role will be ensuring that the tour is capitalising on its potential.
However, perhaps he will also have to be prepared to put out some fires.
The PGA Tour is edging closer to having to tackle a crucial issue
There has been lots of debate surrounding Rory McIlroy‘s decision to skip the FedEx St. Jude Championship this week. It is not the best look during what should be the most important three-week stretch on the PGA Tour.
But McIlroy’s decision perhaps speaks to a bigger problem, with the PGA Tour unable to force their players to play at any event. The Northern Irishman should be fine to also sit out the BMW Championship – if he wishes to – and make the Tour Championship.
And speaking on Golf Channel, Eamon Lynch has suggested that the tour is approaching a pivotal moment with investors likely to start wanting guarantees of key players playing at certain events.
“This is a beautiful moment that is coming to the PGA Tour. We have a situation now where the players think they are owners. And we have a situation where there are actual people who think they are owners, the investors who put a billion pounds into the PGA Tour,” he said.
“At some point their interests are going to start going in separate directions. This is a perfect example of why you take a look at Scottie Scheffler last year.
“The Tour Championship ended up September 1st, he cut his hand on Christmas Day and did not reappear until the Pebble Beach tournament in February.
“So the last six weeks of Scottie Scheffler is absent from the PGA Tour was injury related. Leave aside the Hero that he played in the Bahamas, it was an exhibition event. That was six months basically where Scottie Scheffler was at home.
“He is the number one asset of the PGA Tour. Xander Schauffele didn’t play very much as well last Fall. He played the ZOZO but was otherwise largely injured.
“These guys have the right under the rules now to play whenever and wherever they want. It is not compulsory at all. I do not see the players voting to make it compulsory.
“Now the investors and owners of the PGA Tour for the sake of their business would probably like it to become so, because you could argue that is literally the only thing LIV has gotten right, the idea of contracting players. You can guarantee the product. They’re guaranteeing a product which isn’t very successful right now.
“The PGA Tour has a successful product which is not guaranteed in any market, because they don’t know who is showing up.
“I am not sure that the players are actually minded to give them that kind of power of them at any point but it does seem to be a crucial issue here in terms of who is making the decisions for the best interests of the business of the PGA Tour, rather than of individual players.”
Why Jay Monahan may not have done Brian Rolapp too many favours
Landing Rolapp appeared to be a huge coup for the PGA Tour. He did some amazing work with the NFL and appeared to be on a path to becoming their next commissioner.
Nevertheless, it will certainly help his cause if he can get the key players on side when it comes to some of the tougher decisions he will face.
However, Lynch believes that some of the stances taken by his predecessor will do him few favours, particularly when he attempts to make more unpopular calls.
“If there is one lesson we have learned in this game over the last three or four years it is that players will learn selfish decisions based on where they are in their career and what their interests are,” he added.
“I also think what is a fundamental thing that Rolapp has to get right, is to re-assert executive authority at the tour. Because we have players who think they are executives and investors who think they are day to day managers.
“After the framework agreement backlash, Jay Monahan spent so much time trying to build alliances again with players and to keep these players happy and stop them leaving the PGA Tour that there was a diminishment of executive function as the PGA Tour.
“One of the things Brian Rolapp is going to have to figure out what to do is make it clear to both sides, the investors and the players, that he is the one calling the shots.”
Ultimately, Rolapp should be able to argue that a thriving PGA Tour should benefit absolutely everyone, including those on the Korn Ferry Tour and the DP World Tour.
Players will not like every decision he looks to make. But there should be enough credit in the bank to ensure that Rolapp is trusted when he attempts to take the tour down a certain path.
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