Adam Scott and Tiger Woods have been handed the keys to creating the best PGA Tour possible by new CEO
But that model doesn't yet include any reunification with LIV as talks again stall, with players including individual LIV champion Jon Rahm and Ryder Cup star Bryson DeChambeau set to again ply their trade on the rival tour in 2026.
Masters champion Scott, who missed the season-ending PGA Tour playoffs this year, has taken on a leadership role during the protracted standoff between the two tours that had come closer together this year.
Scott, as chairman of the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council, and Woods even met with US President Donald Trump at the White House in a bid to bring the parties to some sort of agreement to ensure the world's best players played together more often.
At the Tour Championship, Rolapp, who was appointed in June, outlined his desire for that to happen without being able to give any update on talks with LIV, which has released a full schedule of events for 2026, including a return to Australia.
LIV has also struck a deal to play in Adelaide until 2031 on a purpose-built course just outside the CBD, with that deal dependent on the future landscape.
But Rolapp revealed one of his new endeavours, having started with a 'clean sheet of paper', was the formation of the new committee, which will feature Scott and Woods and aim for 'significant change' in the operation of the PGA Tour.
'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,' Rolapp said. 'The goal is not incremental change. The goal is significant change.
'Tiger Woods has agreed to serve as chairman. The PGA Tour is certainly fortunate to benefit from his experience and his time and his dedication. That will be important to this effort, and I'm personally grateful for Tiger for offering to take this on.'
Scott will be joined on the committee by fellow players Patrick Cantlay, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell along with some business experts.
'The committee makeup was deliberate and thought through,' Rolapp said.
'Clearly, it's player led. The player input to this is extremely important.
'We're certainly focused on the future. We're excited about the future and excited about the opportunity ahead.'
But Rolapp couldn't expand on where discussions with LIV sat in that future outlook.
'I think I'm going to focus on what I can control,' he said.
'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.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
BHP boss secures meeting with Trump, advocating for biggest copper mine in North America
The BHP boss has made it into the Oval Office along with his Rio Tinto counterparts, seeking the US president's support for its joint venture copper mine. It follows a US appeals court issuing a temporary order, blocking the Trump administration from handing a sacred tribal site, Oak Flat in Arizona, over to Resolution Copper. Copper is a strategic focus for Australia's biggest miner — BHP chief executive Mike Henry told The Business the setback is disappointing, but he expects the project to succeed at some point. "This is a project that will create thousands of jobs in the local community and billions of dollars of economic activity across the US," he said. Donald Trump posted on his social media platform after the court decision: "A Copper Mine in Arizona, 'Resolution,' was just delayed by a Radical Left Court for two months." "3,800 Jobs are affected, and our Country, quite simply, needs Copper--AND NOW!" the post reads. The two mining giants have found an ally in the Trump administration, which has been well documented on the watering down of environmental and cultural protections. "The administration has been supportive of mining, but let's keep in mind here that both companies have very strong internal policies when it when it comes to both Indigenous, cultural heritage protection. "In this particular case, this project has been underway and being progressed now for 20 years and there's been over a decade of consultation," Mr Henry said. When it comes to the Trump administration's tariffs, BHP itself has very little direct exposure, but its biggest customer China is in the firing line. Mr Henry expressed cautious optimism about the demand outlook from China. "Expectations [are] widely held that they'll achieve their 5 per cent [growth] ambition for the year. "This is one of the things that's helped to underpin healthy pricing for commodities, which has then allowed us to turn in this pretty healthy set of financial numbers, including declaring a 60 cent dividend for the half," the chief executive said. When asked about whether other acquisitions would be on the table if the Resolution Mine project fails, Mr Henry said his company was "absolutely disciplined". "One of the great things that we've managed to achieve over recent years is the development or the progressing of four big copper growth options," he said. "So we're not reliant upon any of them individually. "We've got multiple organic growth options and that's really where management's focus is." BHP owns a 45 per cent interest in the Arizona copper project, while Rio Tinto owns the remaining 55 per cent. Mr Henry has warned that Australia is vying with countries like the US and Argentina, which have acted to attract more global capital. "There's been particularly strong focus on urgently attracting more investment [in the US], including manufacturing and basic industries like mining," the BHP boss said. "We're seeing similar moves underway in Argentina." He added that recently the market saw the newly elected Canadian prime minister introduce "more front-footed active approaches to getting large projects up in Canada as well". While facing strong competition globally, Mr Henry said the federal government had shone the spotlight on productivity and economic reform more broadly to make the nation competitive. "Australia is an export-reliant nation … some of the stalwarts of our current exports are going to face headwinds in the coming years," he noted. The BHP boss said more efficient regulations and cheaper electricity also played an important role in bringing more large-scale projects into Australia. This week, the country's biggest miner, and second biggest company, reported a hit to its full year profit due to weaker iron ore, coal and copper prices. Statutory profit came in at $US9.02 billion ($14 billion), up 14 per cent on the previous year — but on an underlying basis, the result was the lowest in five years. Revenue was down by 8 per cent. The company raised its dividend payout ratio from 50 per cent to 60 per cent, despite its weaker financial position, with shareholders to receive a 60 US cent payout in the last half, taking the total dividend to $US1.10 for the full year.
SBS Australia
5 hours ago
- SBS Australia
'Anti-Americanism' could now count against applicants for US visas
US President Donald Trump's administration says it will assess applicants for work, study and immigration visas for "anti-Americanism" and count any such finding against them. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a "policy alert" that it gave immigration officers new guidance on how to exercise discretion in cases where foreign applicants "support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities" as well as "antisemitic terrorism". Trump has labelled a range of voices as anti-American, including historians and museums documenting US slavery and pro-Palestinian protesters opposing US ally Israel's military assault on Gaza. "Anti-American activity will be an overwhelmingly negative factor in any discretionary analysis," USCIS said. "America's benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies." The announcement did not define anti-Americanism. But the USCIS policy manual refers to a section of federal law about prohibiting naturalisation of people "opposed to government or law, or who favour totalitarian forms of government". Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said the step had echoes of the 1950s when Senator Joseph McCarthy hunted alleged communists in a campaign that became synonymous with political persecution. "McCarthyism returns to immigration law," he said. Reichlin-Melnick said anti-Americanism "has no prior precedent in immigration law and its definition is entirely up to the Trump admin". Temporary deportation protections Meanwhile, a federal appeals court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to end temporary deportation protections and cancel work permits for more than 60,000 immigrants from Central America and Nepal. The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit allows the government to end Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Nicaragua, Honduras and Nepal while a court challenge to that policy plays out. The order immediately ends protections for Nepalis, which expired on August 5. Protections for Hondurans and Nicaraguans will expire on 8 September. US Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the decision will help restore integrity to the immigration system and stop Temporary Protected Status from being used as a "de facto asylum system". US district judge Trina L Thompson had temporarily blocked the administration from cancelling the protections in a sharply worded ruling in July, where she found the government's decision was likely motivated by racial animus.
Daily Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Simone Biles' rise from running a lemonade stand to $40m fortune
American Simone Biles is considered the greatest gymnast of all time, but she says her very first job was looking after her younger sister in their foster home. 'Other than that, I did run a lemonade stand when I was younger,' she said. The 28-year-old legend was three when she and her siblings were placed in a foster care due to their mother's struggle with addiction and they were all later adopted by their grandparents. How she managed to overcome what she admitted was a 'difficult start to life' and rise up to win 11 Olympic medals — seven of them gold — was the theme of her discussion with journalist and former Australian Olympian, Giaan Rooney, at today's sold-out REA Conference 'Ready' at Randwick Racecourse, attended by close to 2000 real estate agents and property professionals. At the age of 6 when still in daycare, Biles was noticed by a coach who saw her imitating other gymnasts and recognised she had talent. She was on her way after she invited her to classes. MORE: Ready2025: How AI will help you sell your property for more Now, she has an estimated fortune of $40m, thanks to earning about $5m a year in endorsements; is married to Jonathan Owens, an American football player for the Chicago Bears; and has a whopping 10.2 million Instagram followers. She and her husband are building a lakefront home in Texas, reportedly worth about $3m. But she bought her first house at the age of 21 for about $600,000. 'I've sold that to my brother,' she said. The discussion touched on the highs of winning five medals at Rio in 2016 — four gold and one bronze — having arrived, as a 19-year-old, at her first Olympics where the president had just been impeached, there were tanks on every corner, and police brandishing AK-47s. 'I was at the top of the podium, overwhelmed with emotion — it was truly a dream come true, I was a princess in a castle, and I was super, super grateful to bring home a medal for our country.' She carried the Team USA flag during the closing ceremony, but that was no mean feat because in the US, it's considered disrespectful to let the American flag touch the ground. 'I can remember everyone telling me, don't let the flag touch the ground, and I took it very seriously .. but it was very heavy, it was 50 or more pounds, it weighed half of me, I was only 103 pounds, I could barely hold the flag, but it was such an honour.' But there were lows to come: the disappointment of the Tokyo Olympics, intended for 2020, being postponed until a year later due to Covid — a big issue for gymnasts who typically have short careers. 'I remember thinking, I'm angry, I'm upset,' she told the crowd. 'I'm in the best shape of my life, I'm so excited, I'm 23. 'I'm not sure I'm going to be able to go after another year After that they 'were all quarantined basically' and 'I neglected my mental health — I could tell I needed help'. She told her by now adoring audience: 'Because I was so afraid of getting physically hurt, I had a mental injury, I never thought that could happen … I was scared of stairs, kerbs, anything…. at 23, I'm old, I'm ancient!' At Tokyo, she was the only returning veteran, everyone else was a 'rookie'. 'There was a lot on me,' she said, but she was 'physically exhausted'. Biles was suffering 'the twisties' — a mental block where a gymnast loses their spatial awareness and body control mid-air — which led to her having to withdraw from several events. 'I made the decision to pull out … even NASA was trying to help me … but it can be life threatening if you land or fall badly.' She then copped it from the 'couch potatoes' who took to social media to claim 'she doesn't want to lose' … though her withdrawal allowed the team to walk away with silver. From that adversity whe became an 'inadvertent ambassador for mental health'. 'I'm not the first elite athlete to talk about mental health … it feels like your world is tumbling down, I'll never make the Olympics again!' But Biles did come back, winning three gold and one silver at the Paris Olympics last year. 'It was the cherry on top,' she said. 'I was seeing my therapist, I got to talk to her before each competition,' she said. And what of the LA Olympics in 2028? 'I'll be 31, but I haven't ruled out competing … I haven't decided yet, I'll consider how I am mentally and physically before I decide. 'I'm old for a gymnast, but I'm aging like fine wine …. it will take a lot of dedication, making sacrifices, but if I'm not on the floor, you will see me in LA, but I'm not sure in what capacity.' MORE: Online fashion guru's $10m win
