The Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open – the three major golf tournaments held annually on American soil – are over. Now comes even bigger news. The PGA Tour has a new leader.
Brian Rolaff, a key member of the National Football League staff for 22 years, was named the first chief executive officer of the PGA Tour on Tuesday with commissioner Jay Monahan scheduled to remain on the organization’s executive board until his contract expires in 2026.
Rolaff’s views on the PGA Tour and its ongoing battle with the LIV Golf League will emerge in the next few weeks, during which time Chicago will host tournaments on both circuits.
The John Deere Classic, the only annual PGA Tour stop in Illinois, is coming up July 3-6 at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis with a most notable star, Rickie Fowler, joining the field, and the LIV Golf League will bring a tournament to Chicago for a fifth straight year from Aug. 8-10 at Bolingbrook Golf Club.
While only July’s British Open remains among golf’s majors, the heart of Chicago’s season tees off just as Rolapp’s leadership role begins. He was non-committal on the PGA-LIV issue, which rocked the sport in recent years.
“I’ll have a clean sheet on everything, including that,’’ said Rolapp, speaking from this week’s PGA Tour stop in Connecticut.
Meanwhile, the 54th playing of the John Deere Classic will be notable for one big reason: Fowler will be there. Fowler, one of pro golf’s most popular players, hasn’t played in the JDC since 2010 when he accepted a sponsor’s exemption just as he was coming out of the college ranks at Oklahoma State.
TPC director Andrew Lehman couldn’t be more pleased.
“We’re thrilled to have Rickie,’’ said Lehman. “He’s a fan favorite, particularly among younger fans who gravitate toward him. He’s had an exceptional career and has been playing well this year.’’
Fowler hasn’t been the player he once was, when he made five U.S. Ryder Cup teams. His 2014 season was most impressive, when he finished in the top five at all four major championships. The last of his six PGA Tour wins was in Detroit in 2023 but Fowler had top-20 finishes in three of his last four starts and his tie for seventh at the Memorial two weeks ago earned him a spot in the year’s last major, July’s British Open.
Early entries of Max Homa, Jason Day and Sungjae Im also give the JDC field a fresh look. Homa was ranked in the world’s top 10 last year. He’s struggled this season but did finish 12th in the Masters. Day, bothered by back problems in recent years, was once No. 1 in the world rankings. This year he has three top-10s.
Im, from South Korea, has become the PGA’s ironman. He ‘s played between 26 and 35 events per season in the last few years. Davis Thompson, a four-shot winner in last year’s JDC, will defend his title. He was the tourney’s 24th first-time PGA Tour winner. The purse this year is $8.4 million.
As is a tournament tradition, sponsor exemptions have been awarded to three elite college stars – NCAA champion Michael LaSasso of Mississippi, No. 2-ranked amateur Jackson Koivun of Auburn and No.3-ranked Ben James of Virginia.
THIS WEEK the Illinois State Women’s Amateur concludes its three-day run at The Grove in Long Grove. The 92nd annual event has a new format. Formerly a match play event, the champion this year will be decided in 54 holes of stroke play with the final round on Wednesday.
Kyle Donovan, of Oak Park Country Club, was the run-away champion in last week’s big local event – the 36-hole Illinois PGA Assistants tourney. He posted a seven-stroke victory at Chicago’s Bryn Mawr Country Club. The Illinois PGA also won the 63rd Radix Cup battle with the Chicago District’s best amateurs at Oak Park Country Club. The pros now lead that series 39-22-22.