PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will step down after 9 years within the function when his contract ends in 2026.
Brian Rolapp has been appointed because the tour’s first chief govt and can regularly take over Monahan’s day-to-day duties.
Rolapp has spent greater than 20 years with the Nationwide Soccer League (NFL), most just lately as chief media and enterprise officer.
“A yr in the past, I knowledgeable our boards that upon finishing a decade as commissioner, I’d step down from my function on the finish of 2026,” Monahan mentioned.
“Since then, we have labored collectively to establish a frontrunner who can construct on our momentum and develop a course of that ensures a clean transition.
“We have discovered precisely the appropriate chief in Brian Rolapp, and I am excited to assist him as he transitions from the NFL into his new function main the PGA Tour.”
Monahan’s previous few years as commissioner have been dominated by the ructions in golf brought on by the rise of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.
The 55-year-old was a vocal critic of LIV, however then performed a key function within the negotiations that led to an settlement to type a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV.
The secretive nature of the talks with LIV angered a variety of gamers.
Negotiations aimed toward a closing settlement between the PGA Tour and LIV are ongoing, and Rolapp is hoping to unify the game.
“I feel the followers have been fairly clear,” Rolapp mentioned. “They need to see one of the best golfers competing towards one another. I agree with that.
“In the case of the state of affairs with LIV, I feel that is a posh state of affairs that is in all probability one thing I ought to be taught extra about earlier than I converse.
“However I’ll say my focus is on rising the tour, making it higher, and actually shifting on from the place of power that it has.”
Tiger Woods was a part of the PGA Tour CEO search committee which unanimously beneficial Rolapp for the function.
“Brian’s appointment is a win for gamers and followers,” mentioned Woods. “He has a transparent respect for the sport and our gamers, and brings a recent perspective from his expertise within the NFL.
“I am enthusiastic about what’s forward, and assured that with Brian’s management we’ll proceed to develop the tour in ways in which profit everybody who loves this sport.”
