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Brian Rolapp, the chief executive of the PGA Tour, has dismissed any notion of LIV golfers being afforded entry to the Players Championship as a means of boosting the tournament’s status. The PGA Tour has tried to start a debate over whether the Sawgrass event should be added to the rota of majors.
The obvious element that undermines the Players’ standing is the inability of LIV players – such as Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, winner of the 2022 Open Championship – to enter. Rolapp made it plain in Florida on Wednesday that the situation will not change any time soon. “That’s not sort of a priority I’ve put on my list,” he said. “So that’s not something I have considered to date.”
Brooks Koepka is in the Players field having returned to the PGA Tour from LIV.
Rolapp was similarly blunt when asked whether unification between the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV circuit and the PGA Tour seems likely. “I’ve been clear about this; my brief is to make the PGA Tour better,” he said.
“I’m open to whatever makes the PGA Tour better. Better for fans, better for our members. That’s what I’m focused on and that’s where I put all my efforts.”
Albeit yet to be ratified by or even put before his board, Rolapp hopes to remove 70-man, no-cut fields on the PGA Tour. He wants to double the number of signature events on his tour, to 16, with the tournaments to feature cuts and 120 players, and for the mainstream season to run from late January until early September.
“Some elements could be addressed for next season with more significant change likely to be implemented for 2028,” he said. “This is a complex process with many constituencies impacted. We will continue to move with urgency, but we are focused on getting it right.
“We are certainly proud of our history and just as focused on building the strongest possible future for our game and for our fans.”
