PGA Tour has grand plans for DP World Tour links as shake-up for schedule planned

The landmark partnership was struck in 2020 and has seen the two established circuits work together on a variety of matters, including strategic commercial opportunities.

It has also led to ten PGA Tour cards becoming available through the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings, with Bob MacIntyre being one of the players to secure a crack at the PGA Tour over the past three years.

Speaking at the PGA Tour’s headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida on Wednesday, Rolapp, a polished individual, talked up the relationship as both Guy Kinnings, the DP World Tour’s chief executive, and Eric Nicoli, the circuit’s chairman, listened to what he had to say.

“The Strategic Alliance predates me, but the importance of the European Tour and the history of the European Tour and the relationship the PGA Tour doesn't, and I have an appreciation for that,” said Rolapp.

“We're fortunate to have a strategic alliance; it's one that we value. It's one that many of our members value. We would like to extend that. In fact, we made a proposal to do that, to how to actually create even a more mutual benefit relationship. So we hope we can do that.”

Rolapp, who was making his first media address during Players Championship week following his appointment as Jay Monahan’s successor last year, was later asked if his vision for the PGA Tour contained an “international” element after talking about how he aimed to break into some of the biggest cities in the US, including New York, Boston and Chicago.

‘We want to do more internationally’

“Yeah, I'm glad you asked that, thank you,” he replied to that question from Iain Carter, the BBC’s golf correspondent, with the Genesis Scottish Open being the biggest tournament staged by the PGA Tour outside the US in conjunction with the DP World Tour.

“No, you should not think about this as purely in the confines of the United States. I think the bulk of our events will be, just because of the nature of the tour and the realities of our business. But we do want to do more internationally.

“I mentioned our Strategic Alliance in the discussions that we want to have with them and pull them into this. I think in the fall, in other parts of the calendar, are great places to lean into that.

“I think you'll see parts of our schedule that will have an international component to it, even in the summer. So it is very much on our mind. We have not gotten to it in our committee work because we're sort of concentrating on the core of our schedule. But it is very much high on the agenda.”

With Tiger Woods acting as chairman of a Future Competition Committee, Rolapp is looking to shake up the PGA Tour schedule and revealed it is aiming to have a promotion and relegation system similar to what happens in football on this side of the Atlantic.

Though still a work in progress, the plan is to have 16 so-called Signature Events - double the number at the moment - but with 120-player fields and 36-hole cuts. With majors and Play-Off events added in, that would mean a schedule of 21-26 events for players in a “top track”.

A “second track” would run alongside the top one, with the plan to have an end-of-season tournament where both promotion and relegation would be on the line.

“The intention is to take both of these tracks and elevate them,” insisted Rolapp. ”What I don't want people to think is that we are creating a good track and subordinating another track. That's not the goal, and that's not what we're doing. We're trying to create a cohesive competitive system that lifts the quality of our entire competition.”

‘Our fans and partners want more drama’

He spoke about how the aim was for the main schedule to run from late January through until early September, opening “big” at an “iconic venue” on the west coast of Ameirca, and revealed that a match-play element could be something added to spice up the Play-Offs.

“We have heard from our fans and our partners, they want more drama,” declared Rolapp. “We are considering the potential integration of match play, either at the Tour Championship or across the post-season as a whole, bringing win-or-go-home moments to the conclusion of our season.”