Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss if PGA Frisco was too hard for the Women’s PGA, if Keegan Bradley should pick himself for the Ryder Cup team and the hiring of the PGA Tour’s new CEO.
Minjee Lee won her third-career major title Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship — or, put another way, she survived the fire-breathing test that was the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco more effectively than any other player. On what was one of the toughest major setups in recent memory (firm, fast, windy, sweltering), Lee, who finished at four under for the week, was one of just three players to break par. Earlier in the week, two-time major winner Stacy Lewis told Golfweek, “The issue of this all too is, make us look good. We’re trying to get more people to watch women’s golf, and to watch us play golf, and setups like this, they don’t help us …We’re making very good players look silly.” What say you? Was the setup too difficult?
James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): I think the U.S. Open at Oakmont proved beyond any counterargument that golf fans like it very much when the best players in the world look silly. Yes, there is a loaded gender connotation beneath this that shouldn’t be ignored: Female golfers fight for public recognition of their talent in a way men do not. But at its core, I say let the carnage reign.
Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): I understand what Lewis is saying there — birdies sell and bogeys don’t. Scottie Scheffler also said as much at the Travelers, where he said you don’t go to basketball games wanting to see fewer dunks or 3-pointers, or you don’t go to tennis matches wanting to see a slower ball. But there’s something also to be said for watching the best in the world get tested — and to use Scheffler’s example, one can also say folks go to football games to watch good defense. Would you say that last week’s U.S. Men’s Open was poor? The line should be rewarding good shots and punishing poor ones — if Fields Ranch East didn’t do that, change should be made, but if it did, then the course worked.
Jack Hirsh, associate equipment editor (@JR_HIRSHey): I’m in the pro-carnage camp as well, but totally agree with Nick, if the test was fair that’s all that matters. The moment you have pros making bogeys after what they thought were good shots, it becomes unfair. But honestly, I’m more compelled to watch a tournament where par is a great number than a birdie-fest, especially in majors. Lewis does make a good point that the PGA of America has typically set up golf courses to showcase its players, but there’s nothing wrong with showcasing their ability to make par when the going gets tough. A multiple-time major champion won, safe to say the best player in the field was identified this week.
On the PGA Tour, U.S. Ryder Cup captain and New England’s own Keegan Bradley won the Travelers Championship in electric fashion, making a clutch 72nd-hole birdie to pip Tommy Fleetwood and Russell Henley by one. The win was Bradley’s first of 2025, but marked his fifth top-10 finish and third in his last four starts. He has said he won’t expend one of his six captain’s picks on himself. But if Bradley (who started the week 17th in the U.S. Team Rankings) doesn’t auto-qualify, should he rethink his picks strategy?
Piastowski: I think so, if he’s somewhere in the top 10 range. If he’s somewhere higher, then no. But yes, the U.S. team would be served well by an energized, in-form Bradley. Should he be in line to be picked, though, he should vacate the captaincy — doing both would be detrimental to the team.
Colgan: Uhh, yes. The U.S. roster is a little light these days on players of Bradley’s recent form and energy. He should be on the roster.
Hirsh: Yes! Pick himself, then relinquish the captaincy to Tiger Woods. Then Bradley does all the PR and run-up stuff that Tiger didn’t want to do and Woods adds the shot of adrenaline to the New York crowd.
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour officially announced Brian Rolapp as its new CEO. Rolapp was previously with the NFL as its longtime chief media and business officer. Why does this hire matter, and what does it essentially mean for the league, players and fans?
Colgan: It matters because of the job title. Rolapp understands that modern sports leagues are media companies, and crucially, he understands that media is a positive-sum environment. More is more when it’s done right. $150 billion in media rights fees at the NFL prove he knows how to do it right.
Piastowski: Rolapp’s hire was a business hire. He himself said he has little golf background (though he once worked at Congressional). But he was, as Colgan noted above, instrumental in expanding the NFL’s reach, and one can imagine that was one of his selling points to Tour folks. Think about the changes we’ve seen in the NFL recently. Games all over the world. Games shown on different services. Games shown even on Nickelodeon. Rolapp promises not to be afraid to experiment in the hopes of growing. The players also seem excited by the hire. He’s an outsider. And the NFL background brings cachet.
Hirsh: It matters because the PGA Tour, which is not one of the four most popular leagues in this country, just hired away the heir apparent to the NFL Commissioner, which is the most popular sports league in the country. Clearly, the PGA Tour has been treading water the last few years with Jay Monahan as it battled LIV and this was a move to inject some much-needed new ideas.
Rolapp has spent the majority of his career with the NFL, even adding in his introductory open letter, “I’ve got a lot to learn about golf.” Are you surprised an outsider from a different sport was brought in? And do you think that was the right move?
Colgan: A little surprised, but I think the PGA Tour could use the new set of eyes. There’s been so much change in pro golf over the last 4 years, and yet I wonder if any viewer at home feels the week-in, week-out experience is improved from the time Bryson and Phil were still on the PGA Tour. I’m a proponent of the Tour’s changes over the last few years, but a fresh perspective at the top might yield something even better (and inclusive of ALL the best golfers).
Piastowski: I’m mildly surprised, but the Strategic Sports Group, the group that’s pledged billions to the PGA Tour as it fights LIV Golf, is also mostly non-golf, too. Pro golf has become big business, and the Tour hopes it’s found a businessman. He might not be able to tell you the proper approach to escape a bunker, but he’ll have thoughts on how to get you to tune in, buy tickets, or both.
Hirsh: I’m not surprised. Like I alluded to above, the PGA Tour hasn’t really done much to combat LIV aside from becoming smaller and increasing purse sizes. It still looks exactly the same. Rolapp was brought in from one of the most successful properties in the world (the NFL) to shake things up and that’s exactly what the Tour needs.
Like any incoming CEO, there’s a long list of items Rolapp needs to prioritize. What should be on the top of his list?
Colgan: LIV reintegration. The PGA Tour postseason. The broader PGA Tour schedule. The list goes on.
Piastowski: I like all of those. And I’ll add whether the PGA Tour takes its game more globally — Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America — or does it remain mostly in the U.S. Rory McIlroy has often brought up his wish of a global tour. I imagine this will be talked about.
Hirsh: All great points. Have to emphasize on LIV reintegration. Golf needs to be unified once again. I know Rolapp wasn’t there when the NFL and AFL merged, but he needs to bring some of that energy.
Our James Colgan reported the Tour plans to “sunset” commissioner Jay Monahan after an overlap period that should help bring Rolapp up to speed, which could last between six and 18 months. How would you sum up Monahan’s body of work — the good and the bad — over the last nine years?
Colgan: Monahan has navigated some important times very well, but his tenure as commish will be remembered forever for LIV and the framework agreement of June 6, 2023. However you feel about that is how you feel about Monahan.
