Follow us on Google Discover Four-time PGA Tour winner Kevin Kisner has revealed what he told Brian Rolapp after he was announced as CEO last year.
Rolapp will also replace Jay Monahan as commissioner in 2027 and will be tasked with leading the PGA Tour into a new era.
Kisner raised a major issue Rolapp will face over the coming years involving star players such as Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.
Kevin Kisner identifies Brian Rolapp’s biggest PGA Tour challenge
Kevin Kisner believes the current PGA Tour stars will have shorter careers than ever due to the significantly higher prize money.
Successful players such as Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth have already earned enough to never worry about finances again.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Kisner has warned Rolapp that this will inevitably reduce their desire to keep playing into their 40s and 50s.
This would also create a major problem for the PGA Tour Champions, which Kisner insists is already a failed idea.
He revealed: “When Brian Rolapp got the job as Tour CEO, he made it his mission to call everyone with a tour card and ask, ‘What do we do well and what can we do better?’
“I spent a long time on the phone with Brian early on in his career, and he asked one of what was going to be one of the biggest challenges of his job as CEO.
“And I told him, ‘The cycle of your superstars is going to change dramatically in your lifetime as CEO because these guys are playing for so much money now. And you’re not going to have guys who are playing the Champions Tour at 50 to still pay their bills because of the money they’re playing for.’
“Your Justin Thomases, your Jordan Spieths, your Rory McIlroys at that point. They’re just not going to play at 50 years old for $300,000 when they have $200 million in the bank. It just doesn’t add up.
“In my opinion, if you want to keep your superstars relevant, you either have to lower the level of the Champions Tour or do away with it completely because it’s not a big winner for the PGA Tour as far as revenue. It loses. All my Champions Tour buddies are going to come at me for that one. But it’s just not.
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“I get it. Steven Alker, who won yesterday, needs the money. He never made money on the PGA Tour. He’s out there playing for his livelihood, and good for him. I hope he wins every tournament and makes millions of dollars.
“But there’s no way you’re going to talk Jordan Spieth into playing that tour and continuing to help boost your ratings. I think that’s going to be one of the biggest challenges of where the PGA Tour goes in all this restructuring.”
Unfortunately, there is probably nothing Rolapp can do to make older PGA Tour players continue playing against their will.
A more likely solution is that he encourages the Tour to build the next generation of superstars to replace the likes of McIlroy.
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