Tiger Woods gets new job aged 49 as golf legend's appointment confirmed

PGA Tour chief Brian Rolapp revealed Tiger Woods will take on the role of chairman for a newly established committee that has been charged with driving "significant change." Rolapp stepped into the position of CEO earlier this summer following an extensive career with the NFL.

During his media briefing on Wednesday at East Lake before the Tour Championship, he announced the creation of a Future Competition Committee. This group will be chaired by 15-time major winner Woods. Other players selected for the panel include Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell. They will work alongside PGA Tour Enterprises chairman Joe Gorder, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) investor and Liverpool FC owner John W. Henry, and FSG senior advisor Theo Epstein. The development comes just after the Tour released its 2026 calendar, which features the return of Donald Trump's Doral course to host a new signature event, the Miami Championship.

"The purpose of this committee is pretty simple," Rolapp told the press in Atlanta. "We're going to design the best professional golf competitive model in the world for the benefit of PGA Tour fans, players and their partners. It is aimed at a holistic relook of how we compete on the Tour. That is inclusive of regular season, post-season and off-season.

"We're going to focus on the evolution of our competitive model and the corresponding media products and sponsorship elements and model of the entire sport. The goal is not incremental change. The goal is significant change.

"I'm also pleased to announce as the chairman of this committee, Tiger Woods has agreed to serve as chairman. The PGA Tour is certainly fortunate to benefit from his experience and his time and his dedication. That will be important to this effort, and I'm personally grateful for Tiger for offering to take this on."

Woods expressed enthusiasm about the new role, writing on social media: "I'm honoured to serve as chairman of the Future Competition Committee. This is about shaping the next era of the PGA Tour - for our fans, players and partners. Thanks to Brian Rolapp for his vision and leadership, and grateful to the committee members for their willingness to participate."

Rolapp emphasised that the choice of participants was "deliberate and thought through," explaining that they were selected for being "deeply experienced" yet representing different career stages. He added that the group would provide a "diversity of viewpoints."

The committee is expected to address topics such as play-off formats, scheduling and long-term structures for the Tour. Rolapp said their work would be anchored by three "guiding principles," explaining: "The first one of those characteristics is competitive parity. All sports, all sports chase competitive parity.

"The PGA Tour has incredible competitive parity and balance among its players today. We're going to lean into this while also maintaining another key characteristic of the PGA Tour, meritocracy. Anyone on Tour who's a good enough golfer should have a shot at winning, and we're going to lean into that and preserve that.

"The second key characteristic is scarcity. A focus on the Tour's top players to compete together more often in events that feel special for fans and feel special for the players.

"Finally, the third principle will be simplicity. Competition should be easy to follow. The regular season and postseason should be connected in a way that builds towards a Tour Championship in a way that all sports fans can understand. Those are the three principles. From this point forward, we're certainly focused on the future. We're excited about the future and excited about the opportunity ahead."