Say what you will about this Brian Rolapp, who made his mark as an NFL executive, not being a quote/unquote golf guy. Whatever. The man’s a fast learner.
When Billy Payne, another football guy (wide receiver and defensive end at Georgia in the 1960s), became the chairman of Augusta National in 2006, he could tell you everything you needed to know about the life and times of Amen Corner. But he sounded like he was reading from a Wiki page.
When Rolapp, at a press conference on Tuesday, talked about the fundamental values of the PGA Tour, he sounded like a true believer. He offered a three-part mission statement on what it means to play the Tour and this is what he said:
“One, the PGA Tour is built on meritocracy. Every player, whether they are a member or want to become one, must earn their place.
“Two, we are a membership organization. We have rules and those rules exist for lots of reasons, including fairness and competitive balance. Rules matter and they must be enforced.
“Which brings me to number three: accountability and discipline. These are essential elements for any sports league and are certainly for the integrity of the PGA Tour and the sport. It’s what holds the Tour together.”
Those three things, he said, are “guiding principles.”
It would be hard to say more in fewer words. The whole problem with LIV Golf, from the perspective of tradition-based golf fan following a tradition-based sport, was that it did not have those guiding principles. For starters, it really wasn’t a meritocracy. It was a beauty contest. We want you, Charlie Howell. Jim Herman, ah — leave a message at the sound of the beep.
The people who run Augusta National and the Masters Tournament, through the years, do a good job of asking the same Talmudic question again and again and again: What would Bob do? Bobby Jones, the club’s patron saint. Sometimes, or more often than that, there’s a nod to Clifford Roberts, too. You have to stand for something in this world, if you want to endure.
Brian Rolapp, early on, talked about “significant change” for the PGA Tour, not incremental change. What we’re seeing is logical change, nodding to the roots of the game.
1. My three things this week are starting points to speeding up play on the PGA Tour. We’re talking about significant change, not incremental change, beginning with … nixing yardage books. Poof — they’re gone. Give every caddie a rangefinder.
2. You can mark your ball only once on the green, with logical exceptions. Once it’s down, it’s down. The world will not stop spinning.
3. Have a Tour ball that maxes out at 310ish for the longest hitters. Celebrate the return of the three-shot par-5 and many fewer waits for greens to clear.
(Have own suggestions? Hit me up at the e-mail below!)
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.
