Brian Rolapp to officially take over as PGA Tour commissioner on Jan. 1 when Jay Monahan exits

[ASFN Admin]

Jay Monahan’s run as the PGA Tour’s commissioner will officially come to a close at the end of 2026.

The Tour announced on Tuesday that chief executive officer Brian Rolapp will assume the role of league commissioner when Monahan steps down at the end of the calendar year. Rolapp will become the Tour’s fifth commissioner officially on January 1, 2027.

“I am grateful for the trust the boards have placed in me for the opportunity to serve the PGA Tour and our membership as Commissioner,” Rolapp said in a statement. “Over the past year, we have made meaningful progress by prioritizing our fans and working collaboratively – with our players, our partners, our boards and the Future Competition Committee – to strengthen our foundation and shape what comes next.”

The Tour hired Rolapp as the league’s CEO in June 2025. He had spent more than two decades as an executive with the NFL, and had even been considered a possible successor to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had he remained with the league.

Soon after the hiring was made, Monahan announced that he was going to step down from his commissioner role at the end of his current contract. Rolapp has largely taken over as the league’s leader since then, and has spearheaded several major changes already — including the new format changes that were also announced on Tuesday. Among other things, the Tour will launch two different competitive tracks for players, the Championship and Challenger series, starting in 2028.

Tiger Woods was in attendance at the announcement on Tuesday in Connecticut, too, which marked his first public appearance since he was involved in a car crash and arrested earlier this year.


Monahan was hired as the Tour’s commissioner in 2017, when he replaced longtime commissioner Tim Finchem. He stepped away briefly from his post in 2023 due to an undisclosed health issue, which came shortly after the surprise announcement that the Tour was entering negotiations to join forces with LIV Golf. That drew an immense amount of criticism from both inside the Tour and out, though the sport’s landscape has changed tremendously since then. No merger of sorts ever came to fruition, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is pulling funding from LIV Golf at the end of 2026, leaving the future of that venture very much in doubt.

“It has been an honor to serve as Commissioner of the PGA Tour and to work alongside our players, partners and leadership team during a transformational period for our sport,” Monahan said in a statement. “The progress we have made was driven by a willingness to evolve and the shared commitment to do what is best for the future of the Tour. Brian is the right leader for this moment and I am confident the PGA Tour’s best days are ahead.”

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