Who is Brian Rolapp, the NFL executive set to become PGA Tour’s first CEO?

Jay Monahan is leaving the PGA Tour next year after a decade that ends with a league fractured by the Saudi riches of LIV Golf, turning it over to top NFL executive Brian Rolapp in a new role as CEO.

Rolapp, the chief media and business officer for the NFL and a key executive for Commissioner Roger Goodell, was introduced Tuesday as CEO, a position that had never existed in the tour’s six decades of existence.

“Players are central to everything we do, and making sure they are supported and heard will be a top priority,” Rolapp said in an open letter. “At the same time, we are going to keep challenging ourselves to grow the game in new ways, reach new fans, and create a tour that reflects the future of sports and entertainment.”

Monahan to remain on PGA Tour board

Monahan announced last December the search for a CEO. Still unclear was Monahan’s role until the announcement of Rolapp.

Monahan will shift his day-to-day responsibilities to Rolapp and focus more on his position on the PGA Tour board, along with the commercial PGA Tour Enterprises board, through 2026.

Monahan, who guided all of golf through the COVID-19 pandemic, was criticized for not taking a meeting with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia when it wanted to invest in golf with a team component.

LIV Golf began in June 2022 and lured away over the next two years Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson. Monahan and two board members, Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy, then secretly met with PIF leadership and reached an agreement in late May 2023 that was geared toward bringing golf back together. That infuriated PGA Tour players who stayed loyal.