Major(s) News & Notes June 26th, 2025
What will new Tour CEO mean for majors? Plus, latest Ryder and Walker Cup team news, Old Course work ahead of next Open, Tiger and Fred hit The Patch, slowing down other sports, This, That and Reads.
Days to The Open’s first tee shot: 21
Days to the AIG Women’s Open first tee shot: 35
Days to the Walker Cup flag-raising ceremony: 71
Days to the Ryder Cup opening session: 92
Since The Quad’s News & Notes last hit your inbox, the PGA Tour introduced a new CEO and carved out an exit strategy for current Commissioner Jay Monahan. Tiger few in to The Travelers Championship to pose for the predictably awkward staged photos. Roloff, the NFL executive, will now work for the players and a Strategic Sports Group made up of some NFL types like Falcons owner Arthur Blank.
Rolaff may or may not have installed ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter to work one of the Travelers Championship streaming feeds. Whether orchestrated by the new man or SSG, Schefter innocently showed how the whole NFL synergy thing will be cringe at times, even if there really was no reason to despise Schefter’s cameo. Next time? Get the name right of the guy you’re working with.
Robert, I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve been called Matt Damron. It could be a lot, lot worse.
All this small stuff aside, what did new PGA Tour For Profit CEO Brian Roloff declare as his top priority?
Learning what moves he can make to best preserve the competitive integrity to ensure a healthy professional game.
Studying how to improve the schedule for all of golf so that fans don’t have to chose between two majors or a PGA Tour signature event ending at the same time.
Slowing down the ball to bring back shotmaking, venues deemed outdated and the competitive stress longed for in the “Fans First” survey.
Growing the game.
You cynics who answered “4” then you need to expand your…wait. What? Sorry? Oh. Yep. He wheeled out the emptiest of overused tropes. The Sansabelt slacks of golf jargon. Dreaded “GTG” drops are so far past their sell-by date that you almost feel sorry for anyone who utters it now—BULLETIN—the game has grown.
“We are going to keep challenging ourselves to grow the game in new ways,” Rolapp said in a prepared statement. "Reach new fans, and create a Tour that reflects the future of sports and entertainment.”
Eight-figure salaries don’t buy what they used to.
Since we only care about the majors in the Quadrilateralisphere, the PGA Tour’s shift to a for-profit model is becoming a reality. This will mean we are about to witness once-unthinkable and extraordinarily short-sighted attempts at grow the game revenues of PGA Tour Inc.
“He can take a fresh look and say, ‘Okay, how is this league set up?’” Ogilvie said. “What are the strengths? What are the weaknesses? Let me get this straight — our players are the talent and they are playing other events that we don’t own and that aren’t in our TV packages?’ They benefit from exposure but it’s not traditional. That’s kind of weird.”
One possible target to help SSG recoup its money appears to include major championships and the Ryder Cup. The PGA Tour has no control over these events but does sanction them (mitzvah!).
Regarding the latter biennial event reconvening again this September on Long Island, the Tour secured pay for players for the first time. The fan reception at Bethpage is yet to be determined, but could be part of the 2025 story.
“Just because that is tradition, is there really a business case for that?” Ogilvie continued in reference to the way things currently work. “He might look at that and say, 'Why is this?' If this is the case, you have to make the case why this should go on like this. He said you want to honor the traditions of the game but not be bound by them.”
Interestingly, the Tour under Monahan worked in nefarious ways to undercut the tradition of all traditions, the Rules of Golf. The departure from respecting certain traditions, usually in pursuit of the almighty dollar, did not serve the PGA Tour well from a perception standpoint. Seeking to muddy, water down or undercut the rules that make golf different (and valuable to sponsors), has been a notable departure from the tenures of Commissioners Deane Beman and Tim Finchem. While much of it is player and greed-driven, the shift helps explain the disdain held for Monahan as he exits stage left.
If Rolaff were wise, he’d recognize that mining money out of the Tour’s properties should be a focus. Because asking Augusta National to pony up for the right to broadcast megawatt stars like Brian Harman or Patrick Cantlay? Not going to happen. Just like a silly tariff war, if Roloff and friends start asking for fees to cover the “media rights” of players owned by the Tour, major championships could begin demanding annual fees from the Tour to make their players eligible for their championships. Also known as Operation Giant FU.
Hate to be the one pointing this out: playing in a major is optional and a privilege. Like the Ryder Cup, the act of qualifying and succeeding in these events has been shown to enrich players in often untraceable and unimaginable ways. That doesn’t green light the organizers from getting to milk the players for every penny, but it is an intangible benefit that Harvard B School types miss and fans cherish.
But Roloff and friends now report to private equity investors who will want immediate returns. As Joon Lee argued in a new New York Times op-ed on the ways sports have changed with the invasion of private equity and disjointed streaming strategies, “Fandom isn’t being nurtured anymore. It’s being mined.”
Open Final Qualifying Draws Set
With Monday’s Regional qualifying at 15 venues now in the books, draws for Tuesday, July 1st’s Final Qualifying are now available via TheOpen.com.
A total of 288 golfers will vie for 20 spots into The Open at Royal Portrush.
Five berths are on the line at these four qualifying venues: Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald, Royal Cinque Ports, and West Lancashire.
Also, the top two finishers at this week’s Italian Open at Argentario Golf Club will earn exemptions to The Open. Just nine players in the field are already headed to Portrush.
Ryder Cup Teams Take Shape
With nine weeks and one major left, the squads are shaping up. Both teams take the top six point earners and six Captain’s picks. As expected, USA Captain Keegan Bradley has moved into the top 12. Since getting the Captaincy nod a year ago Bradley has been adamant that he’d only play if he qualified on points.
Moments after winning the Travelers, Bradley sounded like someone leaning toward maintaining his Captaincy title while kicking the door open to playing while leaning on Vice Captains.
“To be honest with you, I never really planned on playing,” Bradley said. “I really wanted to just be the captain. I really felt strongly about that. I want to serve the guys. They asked me to do a job. I want to do it to the best of my abilities.
“Now, with the amazing vice captains that I have, and I have a better perspective of playing in the Presidents Cup and being around a lot of the guys, I feel a lot more comfortable if I went that route. I'm really proud of the guys that are vice captains and -- you know, obviously, you got Jim Furyk, one of the greatest players to play and also an incredibly great captain at the Presidents Cup.”
Furyk captained the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National and could easily pick up some of the PGA-mandated appearance and press obligations. Bradley could also turn the Captaincy over to Furyk or another Vice Captain with the understanding that he’d lead the USA team in 2027 at Adare Manor.
The European side has to feel good about the general consistency of its top four players. After that, cracks have begun to emerge following a strong start to 2025 as names like Lowry, Hojgaard, Aberg, Rose and Detry have struggled in recent weeks. But at least Rose made the Royal Ascot procession.
Walker Cup Latest: USA Announces First Three In
Since the last News & Notes edition, the USGA has announced the first three selections for the 2025 United States squad that will compete at Cypress Point.
Jackson Koivun, Ben James and NCAA Champion Michael La Sasso will lead the 50th Walker Cup team going against Great Britain & Ireland, Sept. 6-7. The American collegiate stars earned automatic spots as USA’s three highest-ranked players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
All three players played in the recent U.S. Open at Oakmont.
As for the rest of the squad, only the selection committee knows, but Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine offers his ranking of locks, likely maybes, and on-the-cusp candidates.
Old Course Getting New Irrigation Before 2027 Open
Allan Crow reported a few weeks ago on the £10.5m irrigation project announced by the St Andrews Links Trust and commencing this winter. The plans are to optimize water usage “by more than doubling the current 800 sprinklers on the course.”
Besides efficiency, the project will feature “hidden pop-up sprinklers to provide better irrigation for the vast greens without compromising the playing surfaces.” A “mole plough” will be used to lay new pipework and cable and will require a number of holes to be closed at various times when work begins in November, 2025. The project price tag includes additional installations at the other Links Trust courses.
“Our new irrigation system will allow us to take a more targeted approach to course management,” said the director of greenkeeping, Sandy Reid. “We will be better able to irrigate specific parts of the courses, which is particularly useful during dry spells such as we’ve experienced recently as it ensures all irrigation gets to the areas most in need. This will ultimately allow us to operate more efficiently, improve course conditions and maintain our sustainable and responsible use of water.”
The Old Course work is expected to be completed by March, 2026, and more than a year ahead of the 2027 Open Championship.
Tiger And Fred Visit The Patch
Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley and Tiger Woods made a site visit to inspect the recently announced “The Loop at The Patch,” and the future TGR Learning Lab Augusta.
Images from the day were posted on the official Instagram page of The Patch, Augusta’s longtime municipal course now being renovated by Beau Welling and Tom Fazio.
There isn’t much to view regarding the renovation work, but it was good to see Tiger upright and moving after his recent Achilles tear. Otherwise, it’s the usual construction photo opp featuring overdressed men wearing shiny watches and pointing at dirt. Oh, and with a video piece now posted.
This And That
A follow-up to yesterday’s Quad item regarding the PGA of America needing to hit pause on upcoming Frisco championships” Sunday ratings for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship plummeted from recent years and Saturday coverage according to Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter: “NBC drew just 428,000 viewers for the final round, down big from 867,000 last year (Amy Yang).” Whether this was related to Saturday’s slow-play disaster or running up against the conclusion of the Travelers or a senior major on Golf Channel, I don’t know. Perhaps American viewers aren’t into watching golf at desolate-looking places with few spectators? Either way, everything was working against this one.
Collin Morikawa has fired replacement caddie Joe Greiner and seemed unusually agitated about being “put down.” It’s his latest prickly overreaction, a trend unbecoming of a two-time major champion. Or, maybe it’s a rebrand? (Schupak/Golfweek)
The USGA awarded the 2031 and 2037 U.S. Senior Open to The Broadmoor’s East Course, in Colorado Springs.
This Week In Slowing The Ball Down
As the brats continue to parrot the manufacturer's talking points at the horror of losing 15 yards starting in 2028—assuming these whiners still have a Tour card by then—there are some parallel discussions from other sports worthy of a watch (or read).
Thanks to reader JB who sent this WSJ story by Jared Diamond and Tom McGinty about college baseball players and their metal bats routinely producing exit velocities that only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani can relate to. The story is fascinating in the golf context because of things done and not done in recent years, with surprising complacency thrown in given that a 115 m.p.h. line drive could kill a pitcher. Then again, golf’s authorities will never discuss the personal health and public safety issues created by modern distances, so maybe there is little reason to be surprised.
Also, thanks to read PB for this fantastic Athletic infographicvideothing about Wimbledon slowing courts around 2001. Written by Kaya Kaynak and illustrated by Philippe Fenner, the piece explains how tennis made the game better after becoming one-dimensional. Just don’t share this with Fairhaven lackeys addicted to shiny white (personalized) balls who will reply with something like, see, “just grow more rough and slow down those fairways.” Just don’t touch my (golf) balls!
Reads
💲 Money in Sport looks at Oakmont’s revenue and the 990’s of other top clubs.
🎶 Chris Allnut on the birth of the late Brian Wilson’s God Only Knows, its influence on the music world, and the song’s best covers.
God only knows what I’d be without you subscribers, and have a great weekend,
Geoff
"A sports/business executive is a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." Thank god for the (non-PGA) Majors. The rest of pro golf is mostly nauseating. As a West Australian I watched a lot of the Women's PGA to cheer Minjee. But it was like watching slaves die building the pyramids in the hope that the goodie survives. Small recompense. When and why did pro golf become so joyless?
As a believer in the Neil Howe "Fourth Turning" thesis that the world only revitalises following collapse and crisis - I kept thinking of TS Eliot:
“And the wind shall say: 'Here were decent Godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls.”
Roll on Portrush.
The sports psychologists have turned professional golf into a soulless sport. There is no joy emanating from these players. Sure the winner gets excited, we all do, winning a dollar from our buddies. When is the last time you saw a player gratefully acknowledge the fans(got to stay in the zone). These are no characters for the fans to identify with ( ignore the w. Clark asshat) .T. Hatton being an exception. Remember Harold Hennings wave? Tigers fist pump? Anyway just one observation. P.s. at least the women smile.