Brian Rolapp has taken many bold stands that Jay Monahan was just too hesitant to think about. The new PGA Tour CEO hasn’t backed down from any challenges presented by other Tours, whether it came from Europe or the Saudi. That has earned him more praise than criticism as he looks to push the Tour to the next level. And with the PGA Tour also beginning its next chapter this season, this is the perfect time for him to rewrite the story of what it could turn into next.

That’s exactly what Trey Wingo & Notah Begay discussed in the former’s podcast on YouTube. The host brought up how the 2025 season was the best golf we have seen since the post-Tiger Woods era and asked his guest how Rolapp could keep it going.

Begay told Wingo, “I think he should do what he’s good at. I think he’s going to bring the game of golf into the modern era in terms of a business. Assigning quantitative values to our assets and getting a better understanding of various important revenue streams and opportunities, what we have to maintain, what we can capture, and to make the Tour more efficient and effective as an economic engine in the modern sports era.”

Rolapp comes from an extensive background of business experience. He worked with NBC Universal as the Director of Business Development. During his regime, he curated the acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which included the USA Network and Sci-Fi. After that, he moved to the NFL, where he worked extensively on the league’s business strategy and product development. Under Rolapp, the NFL saw incredible growth as it signed numerous media deals to expand the league’s presence.

Begay trusts Rolapp to use his experience to execute the operations in the PGA Tour efficiently. Focusing on the business side of things, the retired pro believes the CEO will focus on the financial sustainability of the Tour. Just like he did with the NFL, Rolapp should focus on expanding the “revenue streams” of the PGA Tour and make it more profitable. That will certainly help it become an “economic engine.” But the new CEO will also be wary of the challenges that he will face along the way.

“There’s so much competition out there from different leagues and different things trying to take people’s eyeballs away from TV screens. People’s attention spans have gotten shorter. We’ve got to do a better job of making sure that our stars show up as often as possible, and he’s going to do a good job with that.”

As Begay advised, the fans have options available now. The DP World Tour is quite competitive, and LIV Golf has some of the top stars. Tiger Woods’s eventual shift to the Champions Tour will also drive the audience away. Craig Kessler made a huge announcement of the LPGA Tour getting live coverage for all their events going forward. With so much action going on at all times, the PGA Tour will need to be engaging and exciting for the fans. So Rolapp will need to cater to their short “attention spans”.

All these changes would only mean one thing: “That being said, [for] the journeymen, their journey’s over. I think their time is done. That’s unfortunate, because the Tour has always been great about providing opportunities for numbers 100 to 150 on the money list. I don’t think that’s any longer going to be the case because with 100 Tour cards out there, with the number of Signature events that are out there, breaking into the top 100 is going to be an extremely difficult proposition.”

Jay Monahan is already cutting down the field size for the FedEx Cup season from 2026. That would mean, pros who were just hanging around on the PGA tour without being too competitive won’t have a place to stick around anymore. The memberships have been cut down from 125 to 100 per season. And those who don’t make the cut will be forced to move to the Korn Ferry Tour. Even those within the top 100 will be fighting for a spot in the Signature events. And if that’s not all, the competition has gotten intense in the secondary Tour as well.

“With the 20 cards coming off the Korn Ferry Tour, it’s going to make it even harder. Now you’re adding younger, hungrier, to a certain degree better players, into an equation where… Joel Dahmen’s a great example. He’s been on the PGA Tour for quite some time. He’s struggling right now. If there was a time and a place on the PGA Tour in the 80s, 90s, or 2000s where the Joel Dahmens weren’t going to have any problem maintaining status. Because those 25 cards make a huge difference.”

Unlike in 2023 & 2024, where the top 30 Korn Ferry Tour players received a PGA Tour card, the rule was changed for the 2025 season. Only those who made it to the top 20 this year were awarded a membership for 2026. After the rule change, pros like Joel Dahmen, who is hanging by a thread on the FedEx Cup leaderboard at 93rd, won’t be able to guarantee their membership. They might also struggle to jump back into the big leagues if they do drop down to the Korn Ferry Tour. The level of competition has just gotten a little too intense for journeymen like him.

As critical as he is of the situation, Notah Begay still believes Brian Rolapp will help the PGA Tour succeed. But others believe that the big changes already implemented by the management might not be good for the Tour.

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Not everyone believes that Brian Rolapp can save the PGA Tour

Ever since Jay Monahan announced the field size changes for 2026, a number of players have spoken up against it. One of the most vocal rebels against the idea is Lucas Glover. The golf veteran had said, “I think it’s terrible, and then hiding behind pace of play, I think it challenges our intelligence. They think we’re stupid.” He believes that Monahan was just using the pace of play issue as an excuse to reduce the field size. In another statement, he had also mentioned how golf is the only sport that is contracting instead of expanding to become more engaging, which is absurd.

Another legend, Padraig Harrington, had also commented on the issue, saying, “At the end of the day, the people on the inside are voting to keep the thing tighter and more closed… The tour was running just fine. Fields go to 156 at certain times of the season or 144, but players will deal with it. They will handle that. They prepare for that.” He believes that if the issue is on the field, then the players are supposed to be blamed for it. Cutting down the field is not the answer.