Jon Rahm Downplays New PGA Tour CEO Role amid LIV Golf Negotiations
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
While the world's best golfers battled the brutal greens and unforgiving rough at Oakmont during the U.S. Open, the PGA Tour's new CEO news caught many off guard.
Brian Rolapp, a seasoned NFL executive with over 2 decades of experience, had been appointed as Tour's first-ever CEO alongside Jay Monahan. The timing was curious, but with ongoing rifts between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, players and insiders welcomed the move.
Everyone was hopeful that Rolapp's fresh leadership might finally stitch LIV Golf and PGA Tour's broken relationship since its inception in 2022. But Jon Rahm wasn't quick to jump on the optimism train.
Jon Rahm Downplays New PGA Tour CEO Role amid LIV Golf Negotiations. (Image Collage | Image Credits: Getty Images)
Jon Rahm Downplays New PGA Tour CEO Role amid LIV Golf Negotiations. (Image Collage | Image Credits: Getty Images)
Getty Images
When asked whether Rolapp and O'Neil's connection could accelerate unity talks, Rahm responded with skepticism.
"I feel like that's a question for obviously both the CEOs, right. Whatever I say is speculation. It's not what they know," he stated during LIV Golf Dallas' press conference.
"I would hope that them having a close relationship from the past should help facilitate at least the dialogue between them two, but at the end of the day, it's not just up to them."
Rolapp and Scott O'Neil reportedly bonded during their time at Harvard Business School and stayed connected throughout their careers.
"There's also people behind them and higher up than them that would ultimately make the decision. Things are never as simple as they seem," Rahm added, dropping a stern reminder that it isn't a two-man conversation.
But he also admitted, "I would like to be positive about it and think that that would help it out." His words were diplomatic, but the tone cast a doubt over Rolapp's potential to resolve a 2-year-old stalemate.
In 2023, both the clubs agreed to a "framework agreement" between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns LIV Golf.
Breaking: The PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour have merged "to unify the game of golf," it was announced Tuesday.
More: https://t.co/PVIW1GKF5Y pic.twitter.com/Eytna4X7xp — ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2023
Two years have passed, and despite rounds of negotiation with high-profile figures like President Donald Trump, little has moved the needle. Now, Rolapp's entrance into this standstill offers a new face, but not necessarily a new fix.
Rolapp himself isn't pretending to have all the answers. Speaking at the Travelers Championship, he shared:
"My view is I come in with a pretty clean sheet of paper. I also come in knowing that there's a lot to learn... Everything that works in the football world may not work in the golf world."
On the LIV debate, he acknowledged the complexity: "That's a complex situation that's probably something I should learn more about before I speak. But I will say my focus is on growing the TOUR, making it better, and really moving on from the position of strength that it has."
So far, the NFL executive has struck the right tone, but for both the Harvard-graduate CEOs, the road ahead is long, complex, and anything but straightforward.
More Golf: Viktor Hovland Points to PGA Tour Money Problem vs 'the Saudis'
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