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New York Times
12 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Tiger Woods will head new PGA Tour competition committee, new CEO announces
ATLANTA — Brian Rolapp's first message as PGA Tour CEO: He's not afraid to change everything. Rolapp's first public move was to announce a Future Competition Committee, chaired by Tiger Woods, with the aim of a 'holistic relook at how we compete on the tour.' The committee, announced Wednesday before the Tour Championship, plans to find the 'optimal competitive model' for professional golf after several years of change and turmoil. Advertisement 'The goal is not incremental change,' Rolapp said. 'The goal is significant change.' Woods went as far on social media as to call it a 'new era' for the PGA Tour. This committee is a mixture of top player voices and business advisors, including Fenway Sports Group principal John Henry from the private equity consortium Strategic Sports Group, which invested $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises last year. It also includes former Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs executive Theo Epstein. Rolapp said he wants to ensure golf is the best version of a meritocracy, where top players compete together more often, and the regular season and postseason should be easy for fans to understand. The new CEO joined the tour this summer after spending the last two decades at the NFL, most recently serving as the league's chief media and business officer. For this news conference, he was introduced by his predecessor in all things but title, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who will stay on through his contract's 2026 end despite Rolapp taking control. 'Time will demonstrate that (Rolapp) is exactly the right leader for the PGA Tour at this moment in time and this moment in its evolution,' Monahan said, 'and that's why he already enjoys such broad support from our players, partners and team members who have had the opportunity to spend time with him.' Honored to serve as Chairman of the Future Competition Committee. This is about shaping the next era of the PGA TOUR — for our fans, players and partners. Thanks to @BrianRolapp for his vision and leadership, and grateful to the committee members for their willingness to… — Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) August 20, 2025 Only on the job for three weeks, Rolapp said he has not spoken with anyone from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — talks between the two sides have stalled since multiple White House meetings in February — and did not offer any specifics on plans for the SSG investment. Much of his focus Wednesday was on the Future Competition Committee and setting a strong mandate. Advertisement 'I don't think fans should expect anything we're doing now to exist in perpetuity,' he said. For example, the PGA Tour announced in May that it decided to change the Tour Championship midway through the season, removing the staggered starting-strokes format it's used since 2019. That provided proof of the tour's willingness to make improvements quickly, and that there's no correct timeline for any further changes in the format. It will make changes when leadership agrees it's necessary. 'I think the right answer to that is we will take as much time as is needed to get it right, at least the initial time out, but we're going to aggressively move,' Rolapp said. 'So I would like to put in the right competitive model as soon as we can.' Regarding his core principle of parity, Rolapp said one of the best things golf has going for it is that the difference between the fifth and 35th best player in the world is razor thin. That's something he wants to lean into, although it's unclear how. As for simplicity, he alluded to a need for improvement in fans' understanding of the stakes of any tournament. 'If this person wins, if this person loses, if this person finishes here on the leaderboard, what does that mean and how does that tie to the postseason?' Rolapp said. The players on the committee are Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchel, who are all either members of the PGA Tour policy board or the player advisory council. From the business side, it includes PGA Tour policy board chairman Joe Gorder, the former Valero Energy CEO, alongside Henry and Epstein. Rolapp said he wanted to announce this committee before its first meeting because he wants there to be immediate feedback from fans, media partners and players to help improve the discussions. 'If we had done a bunch of work and then announced it and gave the committee a baked cake, you're not getting a great result,' Rolapp said. 'I wanted the opposite.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Reuters
13 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
New CEO tees up Tiger to redefine PGA Tour competition
August 20 - ATLANTA -- Brian Rolapp has a new job -- and now so does Tiger Woods. Rolapp, the PGA Tour's new CEO 18 days into his tenure, announced the formation of the Future Competition Committee on Wednesday in advance of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Woods agreed to serve as chairman for the nine-person committee. The aim of the newly formed group, which has yet to meet, is to define a competitive model for PGA Tour events. The committee will consist of five other players -- Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell -- and three business advisors with Joe Gorder, who serves on the Tour's policy board, and John Henry and Theo Epstein, both of the Fenway Sports Group. Rolapp comes to the PGA Tour as the CEO after a career with the NFL as commissioner Jay Monahan steps aside. "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." The governing principles of the player-led committee are: Parity: to strengthen a commitment to a meritocratic structure. Scarcity: to increase fan engagement by ensuring top players compete together more often. Simplicity: to better connect the regular and postseason to magnify the season-ending Tour Championship. "The strength of the PGA Tour is strong, but there's much more we need to do, much more we need to change for the benefit of fans, players and our partners," Rolapp said. "I said when I took the job that I would take it with a clean sheet of paper, and that is still true. ... I said, we're going to honor tradition, but we will not be overly bound by it. Now we're going to start turning that blank sheet of paper into action with an idea to aggressively build on the foundation that we have." PGA Tour player Harris English is one of about 20 players Rolapp has spoken with since joining the organization. English said the two spoke for about 45 minutes. "I've been out here 14 years," English said. "I've seen a lot of changes out here, and (I gave him) kind of my thoughts on what's good, what's bad, what needs to be changed." One of the key issues facing Rolapp will be the relationship between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. The two entities continue separate paths with no prospect of a resolution anytime soon. Rolapp said he has not spoken with anyone from the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi-led group that finances LIV Golf. He was pressed about a possible resolution that would enable the world's best players to compete against each other, or at be in the same tournament fields more often. "I think I'm going to focus on what I can control," Rolapp 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. "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, and I'm interested in exploring whatever strengthens the PGA Tour." --Chris Vivlamore, Field Level Media
