The average retirement age in the United States is 62. By that measure, the PGA Tour’s Jay Madara is eight under par. Madara, the Tour’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, has decided to retire, effective March 31. He is 54.
“Jay has been an instrumental leader during a period of significant change for the PGA Tour, and his financial stewardship helped position our organization for long-term growth,” CEO Brian Rolapp said in a written statement from the Tour on Friday. “We are grateful for his contributions and service and wish him and his family all the best in retirement.”
Madara joined the PGA Tour in 2021 and served as executive vice president and chief financial officer during a period of sweeping change in professional golf. In that position, he oversaw the organization’s financial operations, including budgeting, reporting and long-range planning across the Tour’s competitive and commercial businesses.
He also played a central role in shaping several of the Tour’s most consequential recent initiatives. Among them was the creation of the Tour’s player equity program, which allocated ownership stakes to leading players as part of an effort to strengthen long-term alignment between athletes and the organization.
Madara was likewise involved in the formation of PGA Tour Enterprises, the Tour’s for-profit commercial arm, and in securing outside investment from the Strategic Sports Group. The deal brought a consortium of U.S.-based sports owners and investors into the Tour’s business at a pivotal moment, providing new capital as the organization responded to competitive pressure from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league.
According to the PGA Tour’s most recent publicly available tax filing, Madara earned just over $2 million in total compensation in 2024.
Before arriving at the PGA Tour, Madara held senior finance positions in the corporate sector.
The PGA Tour said a successor has not yet been named. It has enlisted Korn Ferry, the global consulting firm that sponsors the Tour’s development circuit, to lead the search for Madara’s replacement.
