When Brian Rolapp stepped in as the PGA Tour’s new CEO earlier in 2025, he framed his ambition around three guiding principles: parity, scarcity, and simplicity. With those priorities in mind, the Tour is now openly entertaining a sweeping re-think of how the season is structured.
At the RSM Classic, Harris English signaled what could be a profound shift: the Tour may move to a far smaller schedule of just 20-22 tournaments per year, roughly half of what fans have grown accustomed to. The motivation? To make each tournament more meaningful, encourage the best players to show up consistently, and avoid diluting the talent across dozens of weak-field events.
“We’ve got some smart guys at the helm. Now with Brian Rolapp coming in, he’s seeing the PGA Tour in a different light,” English said.
“Sometimes change is good. I get that they want all the best players playing together more often, and the talk of the Tour potentially starting after the Super Bowl I think is a pretty good thing because we can’t really compete with football. So we’ll see where it goes.”
What Would a Compressed PGA Tour Calendar Look Like?
During a recent interview at CNBC’s CEO Forum, Rolapp said that starting the season after the NFL’s Super Bowl “makes sense,” and that compressing the calendar could help reclaim attention in a crowded American sports landscape.
That would mark a dramatic departure from the current tradition of beginning in January, often with events in Hawaii and early-season West Coast swing tournaments.
Under this scenario, many long-standing early events might be cut entirely or moved to new dates. Even beyond timing, the structure of tournaments may change: the distinction between “signature” or “elevated” events and regular tournaments could vanish. Instead, all events would be equal in status–with the hope that every tournament draws strong fields because top players would be expected to attend each one.
Beyond the core 20–22 tournaments, leftover weeks and lower-tier tournaments could be reimagined: perhaps folded into a revamped developmental circuit (or expanded second-tier tour), or consolidated into a fall season with a different competitive purpose. The idea is not just to cut tournaments, but to make each event count and to create a post-season model that feels logical, competitive, and digestible for golf fans and casual sports watchers alike.
Why Now? The Rationale from Rolapp and Others
To Rolapp, the overhaul isn’t just about scheduling; it’s about making the Tour’s product more compelling. He argues that the sport has grown into a patchwork of events that exist largely because someone found a course, sponsor, or date–rather than being designed as parts of a cohesive whole.
By reducing the number of events and focusing on “bigger” tournaments, the Tour can emphasize scarcity–when top players tee it up less often, each appearance becomes more desirable. The hope is that fans, broadcasters, and sponsors will take notice when each tournament promises a strong field and competitive drama. Similar to how marquee events work in sports like tennis or the NFL.
Moreover, by potentially avoiding a head-on clash with American football (one of the biggest draws in U.S. sports), the Tour could reclaim television attention and fan focus.
“These are the types of debates we’re [Future Competition Committee] having,” Rolapp said. “How does the schedule look? How do you make bigger events? How do you actually stream them together in a season that you can understand? Part of professional golf’s issue is it has grown up as a series of events, that happened to be on television, as opposed to how do you actually take those events, making them meaningful in their own right, but cobble them together in a competitive model, including with a postseason that you would all understand whether you’re a golf fan or a sports fan.”
Risks, Doubts, and What’s Still Unsettled
Of course, nothing is official yet. Rolapp and the Tour’s leadership have stressed that these are still ideas under discussion.
Additionally, some critics argue that making every tournament “equal” might dilute the prestige of majors or formerly elevated events. And for players outside the top tier, a leaner calendar could mean fewer playing opportunities. Potentially narrowing the pathway for rising stars or fringe pros.
The uncertainty may also impact courses, sponsors, and regional fans–especially in areas that have long depended on hosting tournaments for local pride and economic benefit.
“Every sport has stars, but what really makes sports work is really the middle class,” Rolapp said. “So, in my old job, sure, we put the Kansas City Chiefs on primetime as much as we can, but that’s not why the NFL was so successful; it was because when the Bengals are good, you watch, and when the Lions are good, you watch. The middle class matters. You cannot build a lifelong sport that outlives your stars if you don’t build a system that works beyond your stars. …
“I will do whatever makes the PGA Tour stronger.”
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