This year of golf will be remembered for its historic and thrilling action, but off-course operations in 2025 will also have a very important legacy.
The new group of bosses is laying the foundations for a rapid evolution, if not a revolution, in professional gaming.
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We know that the world’s best players make for a fascinating sport, as Rory McIlroy’s dramatic Grand Slam Masters win, Scottie Scheffler’s ruthless dominance as PGA Tour Player of the Year, and Europe’s sensational Ryder Cup victory all proved in 2025.
Now it’s up to those in the most important government roles to make the most of the growing awareness that golf is suddenly cool again.
PGA Tour season from February to August?
Brian Rolup presents Tommy Fleetwood with the FedEx Trophy after he wins the Tour Championship in August (Getty Images)
Mark Darbon has just completed his first full year as head of the R&A, despite unprecedented turmoil with new bosses at the PGA Tour, PGA of America and LPGA.
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Guy Kinnings has been at the helm of the European Tour Group for less than two years, and the breakaway LIV Golf League is only a few months old, with Scott O’Neill replacing Greg Norman at the head of the Saudi-funded Disruptors.
And the presence of Darbon, O’Neal and new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolup at golf’s top table is most appealing. All three came from outside the traditional confines of the sport they currently operate.
Rarely, if ever, has there been such an influx of fresh perspectives into the golf world and how they’ve really taken off. This means that 2026 is a transition year, and that the professional game could change significantly by 2027.
By being in charge of the game’s premiere tour, Lolap became an important figure. He comes from the NFL, one of the biggest success stories in American sports.
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He argues that sport requires three key elements. Competitive parity, simplicity and scarcity. Right now, he feels, golf only includes one of those elements.
Competitive parity is a real strength, with more potential winners in any given tournament than in most sports. However, understanding the structure of golf is difficult and ubiquitous, with multiple tournaments held every week around the world.
“How can we make competitive models easier to understand?” Rolup said at a recent CEO Forum event in Florida. “So how do you create rare events that fans actually want to follow?”
There is already speculation that a future PGA Tour season could begin after the Super Bowl in February and end before the NFL restarts in August. “Yes, I understand that,” said Mr. Lorup.
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“It’s very difficult to compete with football (NFL) for media money and attention in this country,” the American said.
He has an outside perspective on how professional golf is structured. “It grew as a series of events that happened to be televised,” he said at the forum.
“So how do we organize these events into a model that is meaningful to itself and competitive?”
Fines and bans could lead to road closures
Scott O’Neal has worked with the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, Philadelphia 76ers, and New Jersey Devils (Getty Images)
Mr. Rolup has formed a Future Competitions Committee, chaired by 15-time major champion Tiger Woods. They are expected to report on a blueprint for 2027 and beyond in the coming months, citing “more questions than answers.”
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There appears to be little prospect of unification with O’Neill’s LIV tour or collaboration with the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
But the existence of breakaway tours, which still include some of the biggest names such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, doesn’t help Rolup’s desire for a calendar that’s easier to understand for casual sports fans.
It also has a negative impact on the pursuit of product scarcity to stimulate fan expectations.
But O’Neill has gotten off to a fast start to his LIV tenure. New backers such as HSBC, previously an avid supporter of the inaugural event, are an eye-catching addition to the sponsorship portfolio.
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His next priority is the same one at the top of Kinnings’ in-tray at DP World Tour’s Wentworth headquarters.
They have to solve the so far unsolvable problem of punishing DPWT players for playing LIV events. Ryder Cup stars Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are at the center of it all.
They are appealing the fines and bans. No hearing has been scheduled, which allowed both players to represent Europe at last September’s Ryder Cup.
But the can is off the road and can’t be kicked any further. Talk in the locker room is that it could be resolved by April.
But who would guess? And allowing LIV players to compete in DPWT events as members without approval will have a huge impact on the global game.
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How would Mr. Lorup’s European strategic partner react if he approached a rival LIV league golfer?
O’Neal has already made an important move to increase shotgun start tournaments from 54 holes to 72 holes. This may help LIV’s desire for official world ranking points.
Indeed, OWGR’s other new boss, Trevor Immelman, seems more docile than his predecessor, Peter Dawson. However, the duration of the tournament is not the biggest issue.
Mr O’Neill will need to convince the official ranking bodies that there are enough promotions and demotions within and outside of LIV to ensure that LIV is not a closed shop for people recruited on lucrative contracts.
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The move to 72 holes was intended to provide a format that would more effectively prepare players for the four major championships.
To use modern corporate parlance, these events will continue to be the “tent poles” of the game. The most important tournaments, the British Open, U.S. Open, Masters, and PGA Championship, cannot be ignored.
Open qualifying has been adjusted
Mark Darbon was a senior member of the team leading the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 (Getty Images)
At the R&A, Darbon has breathed a new dimension into the Open by introducing a last-chance qualifying tournament for a dozen players, held on the Monday of championship week.
One last berth becomes available. The field includes the golfers who lost in the final qualifying playoff, the runner-up of the amateur championship, and the top two non-exempt golfers.
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Darvon came to the R&A from rugby union side Northampton Saints, but the developments in the run-up to the 154th Championship, to be held at Royal Birkdale next July, show that some old traditions are being broken.
There is now an urgent need to announce the venue for the 2028 championship. Time is running out for the 156th edition of golf’s oldest major tournament, and a postponement date has not yet been determined due to a conflict with the Los Angeles Olympics.
This means open week starts on July 30th. The decline in daylight hours is two weeks later than usual, suggesting a Scottish venue would be the best fit. Muirfield, Carnoustie or Turnberry? Or return to England’s northernmost open outposts, Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s.
Turnberry would be the most interesting and controversial choice. With conflicting pressures due to ownership (US President Donald Trump) and infrastructure issues remaining (lack of transport and accommodation), the Ayrshire course is an outsider in every respect.
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But as the newcomers currently running the sport demonstrate, there is plenty of appetite for innovative thinking. For golf, looking outside the box is not as unusual as it once was.
