While Brian Rolapp has plenty of credit in the bank, a lot of fans would be lying if they claimed that they were not slightly uneasy about how the PGA Tour will look once he has stamped his mark on the schedule.
Much of Brian Rolapp‘s work is taking place behind the scenes right now. His appointment as the new CEO of the PGA Tour came too late to have a huge impact on the 2026 season.
But much is likely to change in 2027. Harris English suggested he had heard that the PGA Tour schedule could span just 20 events in the future.
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That would certainly tie into the idea of scarcity; something Rolapp has mentioned when he has been willing to shed a little light on his future plans.
The PGA Tour does need to change. However, Rolapp has recently been given a sense of the challenges he is going to face when the 2027 schedule begins to take shape.
The PGA Tour has come in for criticism ahead of The Players Championship
Last week, the PGA Tour unveiled a trailer for The Players Championship next month. It was well put together and would have whetted the appetite for the flagship event at TPC Sawgrass.
However, all that anyone wanted to speak about was the tagline at the end of the trailer. ‘March is going to be major’ was the claim.
It is obvious what the PGA Tour is trying to do. They are hoping to maximise the potential of the biggest event that they own.
Nevertheless, the tagline has attracted all sorts of criticism. Lee Westwood claimed the PGA Tour were clearly worried about their future.
And it would be naive to pretend that it was only those on the LIV Golf side who were baffled by the slogan. Many have questioned how sensible it is for the PGA Tour to try and paint The Players Championship as a major championship.
In truth, the tagline itself is basically harmless. Although no-one seems to agree with Brandel Chamblee’s bizarre claim about The Players Championship, there is no indication that those at Ponte Vedra are actively pushing for the event to be officially put on the same level as the four majors.
With that, Rolapp has got a sense of what happens when you even hint at going against the traditions of the game.
Brian Rolapp will upset a lot of people when the new PGA Tour schedule is announced
A PGA Tour schedule of 25 events would see a number of notable tournaments taken off the calendar.
That inevitably means that events won by legends of the game are going to disappear. It also means that plenty of tournaments that are crucial to their local areas will no longer continue on the PGA Tour.
Events do not last forever. But saying goodbye to so many at the same time will clearly hit very differently.
While many understand Rolapp’s desire to make every single event feel even more significant, those ruthless decisions will be much tougher to stomach once it impacts the tournaments they care about.
There appears to be enough confidence that Rolapp will be vindicated once the new schedule becomes the norm.
However, the CEO will have to be prepared for an incredible amount of pushback if the reaction to The Players Championship trailer is anything to go by.
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