How the PGA Tour CEO is putting golf back together

Golf Digest

The regular season is over, the FedExCup playoffs are afoot, and if you're like me, you're a little extra pumped for the 2026 postseason. Why? Well, along with the usual drama, the results of these playoffs will echo into the future. And I don't just mean 2027, either. Let me explain: Brian Rolapp's plan for the PGA Tour includes a two-tiered system launching in 2028, and the Championship Series is the target of every player trying to land on the right side of the dividing line between the haves and have-nots. But how do you get there? Well, it's based on your 2027 points, a huge chunk of which will come from the eight signature events. And the only reliable way to even play in those events is to make the top 50 in the standings this year, and that will be determined this weekend in Memphis. Those are serious stakes! And if that sounds a bit more interesting than normal, we've got more good news: Joel Beall sat down with Brian Rolapp to learn more about the man, his vision, and the lessons he brings from the NFL. It’s a must-read on the most influential man in golf.

How PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is putting golf back together

From the Civil War to football—and now pro golf—Rolapp believes history rhymes.

By Joel Beall

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Jay Coffin 

This stat is not too shabby if you're Jackson Koivun: The former Auburn star joined Tiger Woods as the only men to qualify for the PGA Tour's postseason after playing only five reguar season events. Woods did so in the 2019-2020 season, playing in the Zozo Championship (win), Farmers Insurance Open (T-9), Genesis Invitational (68), Memorial (T-40) and the PGA Championship (T-37). He then played in the first two playoff events and did not qualify for the Tour Championship. Koivun won the 3M Open two weeks ago and this week at the Wyndham Championship held onto the 70th and final position in the FedEx Cup standings.

Shane Ryan 

We have a surprise withdrawal from the first playoff event. There are 70 players eligible to tee it up in this week's first FedEx Cup playoff event in Memphis, but one of them, Daniel Berger, has opted out. As you see in the tweet below, the official field at the FedEx St. Jude Classic includes just 69 players, and Berger's name is the only one missing. We don't know why he's skipping the event, but we know he hasn't played since the Open, and we know he's missed four of his last five cuts dating back to the Memorial. For playoff events, there is no alternate list—you either make the postseason or you don't—and nobody will take his place.

Christopher Powers 

Stand down, Golf Twitter. There's footage of Davis Thompson's albatross ... sort of. The 27-year-old had the sickos up in arms on Saturday when, at the par-5 fifth hole at Sedgefield, he holed out for a 2 from 186 yards to vault up the leaderboard. The problem? There was zero footage of the shot, which brought out the Golf Twitter torches and pitchforks. Understandably so. At around 5 p.m. ET, though, an angel from on high, AKA a ShotLink camera, flew down and saved the day.