Tiger Woods takes up PGA role but unification in golf is as distant as ever
Woods, who has not competed since the 2024 Open Championship because of injury, was the headline name when Rolapp addressed the media in Atlanta on the eve of the Tour Championship. Just three weeks into office, the chief executive has formed a future competition committee that will also feature Patrick Cantlay and Adam Scott. Rolapp seems clear that the tournament landscape has to change.
'The purpose of this committee is pretty simple,' Rolapp explained. 'We're going to design the best professional golf competitive model in the world for the benefit of PGA Tour fans, players and their partners. It is aimed at a holistic relook of how we compete. That is inclusive of regular season, post-season and off-season.
'We're going to focus on the evolution of our competitive model and the corresponding media products and sponsorship elements and model of the entire sport. The goal is not incremental change. The goal is significant change.'
Creation of a meaningful break between PGA Tour seasons and guarantees that the most high-profile players will play in top events seem logical starting points for Woods.
Press conferences such as this once tended to focus on progress on a deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi's Public Investment Fund. A framework agreement was signed between the parties in summer 2023 with the supposed aim of uniting elite golf. Progress, though, has been slow; the PGA Tour rejected various concession requests made by the PIF in late March, in exchange for $1.5bn of investment. Key figures in this sport such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka play under the LIV banner and are therefore key absentees from the PGA Tour.
Rolapp admitted he has not held discussions with the PIF. 'My primary focus is going to be on strengthening the Tour,' he said. 'Blank sheet of paper means blank sheet of paper. Whatever does that, I'll pursue aggressively. That's how I view it.'
At the Players Championship five months ago, the PGA Tour's commissioner Jay Monahan revealed 70% of fans surveyed wanted unification with LIV. Rolapp echoed that sentiment in June. Pressed on whether he agreed golf spectators want to see the best in the game compete against each other more often, Rolapp appeared to backtrack. He said: 'Yeah, golf fans want to see the best competition possible in the sport that they love in a competitive model that makes sense.'
Subsequently challenged on whether or not unification should be a priority, the chief executive seemed to rail against 'a LIV question'. He added: 'I'm going to focus on what I can control. I would offer to you that the best collection of golfers in the world are on the PGA Tour. I think there's a bunch of metrics that demonstrate that, from rankings to viewership to whatever you want to pick. I'm going to lean into that and strengthen that.
'I will also say that to the extent we can do anything that's going to further strengthen the PGA Tour, we'll do that. I'm interested in exploring whatever strengthens the PGA Tour.'
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As he seeks to complete a sensational season with victory at the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, Scottie Scheffler dismissed parallels with the once imperious Woods. The world No 1 has won five times in 2025, including at two majors, to separate himself as the dominant figure in golf.
'It's very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods,' Scheffler said. 'Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf and I think he always will. Tiger inspired a whole generation of golfers. You've grown up watching that guy do what he did week in, week out, it was pretty amazing to see.'
Scheffler did credit Woods with a role in his development after being in the 15-time major winner's company at the 2020 Masters. 'I've only played one round of tournament golf with Tiger Woods and it completely changed the way I look at how I play tournaments,' Scheffler said.
'I can't tell you the look on his face when we got to the 1st green. I look over, and we're in 20th place, kind of playing, yada, yada, yada, and I look over and this guy is just locked in. I was taken aback. I was like, holy smokes. Then we got to the 2nd hole, and he had this chip shot and he looked at it like it was an up-and-down to win the tournament. I'm like: 'This is incredible. I've never seen anything like this before in my life.''
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