Soon after announcing Brian Rolapp as the first CEO in PGA Tour history, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan couldn’t help but lavish praise on the new executive. In June, he stated, “Brian is the perfect choice for the next chapter of the PGA Tour.” Similarly, Tiger Woods, the PGA Tour director, praised Rolapp, saying, “Brian’s appointment is a win for players and fans.” Many other Tour pros echoed this sentiment. But Monahan and the Tour players aren’t the only ones singing Rolapp’s praises – a surprising new name has joined the chorus!

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil shared his thoughts on Brian Rolapp on The Rick Shiels Golf Show, discussing their past connection and more. O’Neil kicked off the conversation with, “Brian and I went to Harvard Business School together.” When a curious Rick Shiels asked, “So you and Brian know each other pretty well?” O’Neil smiled and replied, “Yeah, we’re friends.” And O’Neil caps off his statement on his friendship with Rolapp with new information: “We go to the same Church, and so we’re friends. Yeah.”

The conversation around their friendship isn’t new; Brian Rolapp and Scott O’Neil have a history that predates recent discussions, including a friendly 2021 social media exchange over O’Neil’s book “Be Where Your Feet Are.” However, given LIV Golf’s rivalry with the PGA Tour, what does Scott O’Neil think that their friendship implies? O’Neil replies, “I hope so [that the golf world is excited].”

Following the remark, O’Neil immediately continues, “Brian is… he’s great for the game of golf. Like any sport, any fans of any sport should appreciate and love the fact that you get a whipsmart, high-integrity, extraordinary dealmaker, negotiator, wonderful person into the sport, and that’s him.”

And Scott O’Neil’s praise for his college friend Brian Rolapp is well-deserved. During Rolapp’s tenure as the NFL’s Chief Media and Business Officer, he spearheaded massive media deals with major players like ESPN, Amazon, CBS, Fox, NBC, Netflix, and YouTube, securing over $10 billion in revenue per season for the league! That’s a lot of success!

However, despite these numbers and the two CEOs’ history, Jon Rahm remains skeptical about whether the personal connection between them would suddenly boost merger talks between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to new heights.

Jon Rahm is hesitant to show confidence in the CEOs’ friendship

Reporters asked Jon Rahm at the 2025 LIV Golf Dallas if the CEOs’ connection could reunify the sport. Rahm’s response? That’s not for him to say. Ahead of the Dallas event, Rahm said, “I feel like that’s a question for obviously both the CEOs, right. Whatever I say is speculation. It’s not what they know. I would hope that their having a close relationship from the past should help facilitate at least the dialogue between them.”

Merger talks between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour stalled after the 2023 Framework Agreement announcement. The main hurdle? Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s push for a team concept, which the PGA Tour has so far resisted. Webb Simpson, a PGA Tour Policy Board member, echoed this concern in March, saying, “To me, it’s hard to get your mind around the team concept.”

So, Jon Rahm’s concern isn’t misplaced: there are many people working behind the scenes who are not ready for a merger. Yet, at the Dallas event, Rahm continued, “But at the end of the day, it’s not just up to them. There are also people behind them and higher up than them that would ultimately make the decision. Things are never as simple as they seem. But I would like to be positive about it and think that that would help it out.”

Even Brian Rolapp seemed hesitant to dive into this conversation during his media appearances. At the 2025 Travelers Championship, he acknowledged that “fans want to see the best golfers competing against each other,” but noted it’s “a complex situation that’s probably something I should learn more about before I speak.” Clearly, Rolapp grasps the complexity. Still, it’ll be interesting to see if his friendship with O’Neil will give merger talks new momentum.