Players 2026: This Easter Egg from Brian Rolapp will have a certain kind of golf fan rejoicing<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe are evaluating the role of promotion and relegation across our competitive model,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cWe are further strengthening our merit-based system and leaning into what makes professional golf so compelling: players earning their way to the top, with every event having greater meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the recurring themes of Rolapp\u2019s tenure has been scarcity, widely interpreted in the industry as the elimination of events. As Golf Digest has learned, the endangered events will likely be demoted to the second tier rather than cut entirely. The system essentially formalises what has effectively been a two-tour structure for years.<\/p>\n
The non-answer answer on rollback<\/p>\n
At the Tour Championship, Rolapp acknowledged he was still getting up to speed on the USGA and R&A\u2019s proposed rollback of the golf ball. On Wednesday, he made clear neither he nor the tour is ready to take a position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is clearly a complex issue,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cFrom what I can tell, it comes down to two questions: Is distance a problem? Should it be addressed? Question number one. Question number two, does the current rule being proposed accomplish that. I\u2019ve spoken with players; I\u2019ve spoken with the governing bodies; I\u2019ve spoken with golf ball manufacturers; I\u2019ve spoken to fans. What\u2019s clear to me is that everybody has an opinion, and those opinions are clearly not consistent on either question. As far as our players, I know they\u2019re hitting prototypes. I hear all different things. Some are impacted; some that expected to be impacted are not. So as far as the PGA Tour is concerned, we have not taken a position. When we get comfortable with the rule and the data, we\u2019ll make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a diplomatic answer, but it\u2019s hardly an endorsement of the USGA\u2019s proposal. Most of Rolapp\u2019s membership, sponsored by OEMs, opposes rollback. Picking that fight while bigger battles loom would be an unusual opening move.<\/p>\n
Bigger cities returning to the schedule<\/p>\n
As previously reported, the tour is pushing to place events in larger markets. \u201cThe PGA Tour competes in only four of the top 10 largest US media markets,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cThat is an opportunity. We are evaluating markets like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston and many others, places where there is strong fan demand for our sport and a chance to reach new fans.\u201d Possible match play in the playoffs<\/p>\n
Adding match play to the Tour Championship is hardly a new idea, particularly after the tour eliminated the WGC-Match Play, yet the concept has historically been vetoed by broadcast partners wary of late-round matchups between non-marquee players. Rolapp said match play is back on the table, and possibly for the entire postseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of the motivation comes from our fans and our partners who want to see more drama in the events that they attend,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cI mean, again, the sports business is not that hard; just think like a fan and nine and a half times out of ten, that\u2019s probably the right answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tour may have new playoff sites<\/p>\n
East Lake has hosted the season-ending Tour Championship for decades. The club has history but it has never quite captured the imagination of the broader golf public. Rolapp was careful to say the club has been a strong partner and that the tour will likely return to Atlanta, but the finale\u2019s long-term future there is less certain. \u201cWhat we do with the postseason, we\u2019re still figuring out,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cThere\u2019s clearly high demand in some of the discussions we\u2019ve had. Some of these bigger markets would really like a postseason event. So I think everything is really on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes the venue itself. Sources tell Golf Digest that Riviera and Pebble Beach are among the possibilities for a more recognisable final stop.<\/p>\n
No more limited fields, no cut events<\/p>\n
One of the signature series\u2019 most persistent criticisms from fans, media and players alike has been its closed field, no cut format, which drew unflattering comparisons to LIV Golf. Rolapp said the new top tier will feature full fields and a cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur best events will have larger fields. Ideally, we are targeting something closer to 120 player fields with a cut,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cThat consistently matters. It helps fans know who they will see and showcases the most competitive players they want to see. It helps partners know what they\u2019re investing in and it helps players better understand the competitive landscape in their schedules, all while embracing meritocracy.\u201d In a related note \u2026<\/p>\n
Sponsor exemptions may be on the outs<\/p>\n
Another source of fan frustration, one that cuts against the meritocracy ethos Rolapp keeps invoking, is the sponsor exemption system, along with the politics surrounding it. Rolapp appears to recognise the tension.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my opinion we need a better competitive model because we should be delivering fields to the sponsors,\u201d he said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t make them work hard to put together a field. We\u2019re delivering them something, and they\u2019re supporting that. I think we need to be better partners in that. I also have an appreciation for the fact that professional golfers are independent contractors. So their level of job security is in some part tied to the exemptions they have earned. It\u2019s a balance. Those are all discussions we\u2019re having with the committee\u2014to provide for those things but also deliver the purest competition that fans want.\u201d A strong opener<\/p>\n
As Golf Digest reported in January, the Hawaii swing is in danger of being cut. Rolapp said the tour wants to open its season out west and close with a prime-time network television special at an iconic venue. Perhaps Kapalua qualifies as \u201ciconic,\u201d yet one possibility, sources told Golf Digest, is hosting the season opener at Torrey Pines.<\/p>\n
Reunification with LIV is not a concern<\/p>\n
Even before Rolapp arrived, the tour had quietly narrowed its reintegration focus to three players: Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka. Koepka has since returned, and DeChambeau\u2019s LIV contract expires this year. As for the others, or any broader rapprochement with LIV, Rolapp expressed no interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brief is to make the PGA Tour better,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m open to whatever makes the PGA Tour better, better for fans, better for our members. That\u2019s what I\u2019m focused on and that\u2019s where I put all my efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tour may have a media rights fight ahead<\/p>\n
The tour\u2019s current media rights deal runs for several more years. It was negotiated in a pre LIV world with a different competitive picture and it predates the two tier structure now being assembled. There is also the small matter of the NFL, which appears poised to re enter the market aggressively. Rolapp, who came from the NFL, spoke candidly about what that landscape could mean.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve read the same reports you have, that they would like to go to the media market earlier. The US media rights market is $30 billion (approx. $45.6 billion AUD). The NFL currently accounts for $12 billion (approx. $18.2 billion AUD) of that. They have made their public intentions clear; they would like to double that,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cSo if you start doing that math and you\u2019re anyone other than the National Football League, you ask yourself: Next time I go to market, how do I make sure I have the most compelling product so that we can compete in what is a very complicated media ecosystem that\u2019s changing all the time? You see fans changing their habits, television versus streaming. You see the companies and the economics of the industry changing. So it\u2019s a very dynamic time in media.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are in the sports business, it behoves you to put your house in order as much as possible. That is a significant part of the work that the Future Competition Committee is doing, and it\u2019s one of the reasons why it\u2019s so important.\u201d Don\u2019t expect a new schedule for 2027<\/p>\n
There had been hope in the industry that changes would arrive as soon as next year. Last month at the Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods moved to temper those expectations. Rolapp echoed the sentiment. Expect some adjustments in 2026\u2014not a wholesale transformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce decisions have been made and finalised, changes will be implemented through a rolling approach,\u201d Rolapp said. \u201cAs Tiger has said recently, some elements could be addressed sooner for next season, with more significant change likely implemented for the 2028 season, pending the necessary work with our partners and other operational considerations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a complex process with many constituencies impacted. We will continue to move with urgency, but we are focused on getting it right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[Photo: Orlando Ramirez] Change is coming. Eventually. Although nothing concrete was announced regarding the future on Wednesday at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[4225,64,63,62094,755,265717,1745,14239,44,1747,265718,265719,63841,85,42336],"class_list":["post-535435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brian-rolapp","tag-golf","tag-golf-ball-rollback","tag-golf-news","tag-liv-golf","tag-news","tag-pga-tour","tag-pga-tour-schedule-changes","tag-pga-tour-two-tier-system","tag-professional-golf","tag-sports","tag-tour-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}