“This guy’s coming in, he’s like Keyser Soze, you know, from ‘The Usual Suspects.’”
That was how four-time PGA Tour winner Billy Andrade described new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp.
Speaking to Golfweek, the 61-year-old was one of several PGA Tour Champions players who are upset with the reduction of their pension pool.
Sports Illustrated’s Free Golf Newsletters. dark. Sign Up Now. SI Golf Newsletters
“[Rolapp’s] just slashing stuff and, you know, everyone’s taking a pay cut except the PGA Tour players,” Andrade said,
Golfweek reported that the senior tour’s player pension has been cut by 20%, from $10 million in 2024 to $8 million this year.
“It’s disheartening,” Peter Jacobsen said. “The PGA Tour clearly has a lot of money right now and they’re spending a lot of money keeping players from going to LIV, and we’ve kind of slowly become LIV. I think we are giving way too much money to way too few players on the PGA Tour and the players on the Champions Tour live by the decisions made by the PGA Tour.”
In 2024, the PGA Tour struck a deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG)—a group of prominent American sports owners, such as Steven Cohen and Arthur Blank—to contribute nearly $3 billion to its new for-profit company.
The pension slash is apparently not due to the senior tour’s struggling finances, however.
“The venture capitalists are doing what they like to do. They get rid of the waste, make it look more profitable. The [Tour] is working to get SSG their 11 percent return on their money,” said Tom Pernice, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions. “So anytime that you go for a profit and you have venture capitalists, things change. You ask any business guy, they’re going to tell you that.”
But some players would have liked to see an increase, rather than a decrease.
“This is the same pension that 25 years ago was $10 million,”Andrade said. “So, it’s like, wait a second, our pension should be like $20 million to $25 million, not $10 [million] going to $8 [million]
“But we don’t have control of that big board and they’re going to do whatever this new guy wants to do, I guess. It should be up higher in my opinion, but nobody’s going to listen to us or me.”
The player pension plan began in 1985 with $250,000. This year, the PGA Tour Champions, which essentially gives a second career to Tour stars after turning 50, awarded $70 million in prize money.
In recent years, questions have emerged regarding the future of the PGA Tour Champions. Sponsors have pulled back and attendance has shrunk. That could change, though, if Tiger Woods, after turning 50 in December, tees it up on the circuit next season.
More on Sports Illustrated
