San Francisco could land marquee golf tournaments, PGA Tour CEO says Brian Rolapp, CEO of the PGA Tour, outlined his vision for the tour’s reshaped schedule at a news conference in Florida, emphasizing the potential for hosting major events in cities like San Francisco. The last PGA Tour event in the city was the PGA Championship at Harding Park in August 2020, and Rolapp highlighted the city’s strong fan base and media market as key factors in its consideration. “Today, the PGA Tour competes in only four of the top 10 largest U.S. media markets,” he said. “That is an opportunity.” San Francisco has a storied history of hosting high-profile golf events, including the Lucky International at Harding Park in the 1960s and five U.S. Opens at the Olympic Club. The Olympic Club’s Lake Course will also host the PGA Championship in 2028 and the Ryder Cup in 2033. Harding Park remains a top candidate for a regular PGA Tour event, having hosted four marquee tournaments since its renovation in 2002-03, including the American Express Championship (won by Tiger Woods in 2005), the Presidents Cup (U.S. victory in 2009), the Match Play Championship (Rory McIlroy in 2015), and the PGA Championship (Collin Morikawa in 2020). Rolapp did not specify whether the PGA Tour would move existing events to major markets or create new ones, noting that “each market is different.” However, he stressed the appeal of bringing annual events to cities with large populations and strong fan engagement. “The motivation to go to big markets is not that complicated,” he said. “We’re hearing that from partners and fans who live in those markets. There are plenty of people picking up golf for the first time since COVID who have not experienced professional golf. You need to go to where they are, and those big markets certainly have that.#san_francisco #pga_tour #brian_rolapp #harding_park #olympic_club
