As PGA Tour focuses on big markets, Denver should be on that list | Golf Insider
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is looking to make changes to the PGA Tour. And many of them are for the good of the game of golf as well as the golf fan.
He mentioned on Wednesday having a schedule that runs from late January to September. He wants the season to start with a marquee event on the West Coast so it can be seen in prime time. Having every event matter with the best players is also high on the new CEO’s to-do list.
One idea that could affect Denver: Rolapp wants tournaments in big markets.
“Today, the PGA Tour competes in only four of the top 10 largest U.S. media markets. That is an opportunity,” he said during the press conference prior to The Players Championship. “In a perfect world, we’d have a big market and an iconic course.”
Denver is not in the Top 10 of media markets. According to the Sports Business Journal, Denver ranked No. 17 in 2025, but as the 2024 BMW Championship at Castle Pines proved, Colorado loves pro golf.
“This is a great town,” Billy Horschel, who won the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills in 2014, said in 2024. “I’ve said this since 2014, that this is a big sports town. They love sports. They love to be outside. They love to be outdoors, being the great weather that they have, especially this time of year.”
For the BMW Championship, tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday were sold out in July, almost six weeks before the tournament.
“To have rounds sell out six weeks before the tournament shows just how excited the Colorado fans are for the return of the BMW Championship,” Vince Pellegrino, senior vice president for the Western Golf Association, said in July 2024. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for these fans to see the best players on the PGA Tour take on one of Colorado’s most iconic golf courses.”
There are no PGA Tour golf tournaments scheduled to land in Colorado. The Korn Ferry Tour will make its annual stop at TPC Colorado in July. The USGA is scheduled to return with the U.S. Junior at Colorado Golf Club in 2030 and the U.S. Senior Open is back at The Broadmoor in 2031.
Rolapp didn’t specifically mention Denver in his press conference. He talked about New York, Philadelphia, Washington, San Francisco and Boston as the major markets in the PGA Tour’s crosshairs.
Those cities have the iconic courses that Rolapp wants as part of the PGA Tour schedule. Denver has those courses as well. Cherry Hills and Castle Pines have hosted PGA Tour events. Colorado Golf Club and the soon-to-be-open Rodeo Dunes would be attractive as well.
Kevin Van Valkenburg of Fried Egg Golf mentioned Colorado in a podcast where he and his colleagues, Andy Johnson and Joseph LeMagna, tried to come up with a new PGA Tour schedule. Van Valkenburg advocated bringing the Tour Championship to the western United States and rotating the courses. Right now, the Tour Championship is played every year at East Lake in Atlanta.
“I think the Tour Championship should be at Shadow Creek (in Las Vegas),” he said. “But you could bring more courses into play and then always play in a major market. It could be at Chambers Bay one year and you could literally take it to Cherry Hills.”
Rolapp said East Lake will probably stay on the schedule, but he is considering all venues for the Tour Championship.
Denver and Colorado as a whole have proven they deserve a regular stop on tour. It may not be annually, but if the PGA Tour looks to rotate certain events around the west, Colorado must be part of that rotation.
Knowing the world’s best players are coming here every three or four years would be a significant win for Colorado and its golf fans.
“You know what doesn’t make sense? That we don’t get back to Colorado more,” Nathan Hubbard, who is the brother of PGA player and Colorado native Mark, said on The Ringer’s “Fairway Rollin” podcast after the BMW Championship. “I got texts all weekend from guys saying, this was one of the best setups, top-five setups of the year on tour.”
It may not be in 2027. But if Rolapp is making moves in the interest of golf fans, the Rocky Mountains should be on his radar.
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Wyndham Clark talks drivers and Broncos
Colorado native Wyndham Clark had some interesting and funny comments about his driver this week at TPC Sawgrass.
Clark on Tuesday appeared on FanDuel’s “Up & Adams,” which is hosted by Kay Adams. Adams brought up Clark’s frequent equipment changes.
“Sometimes it’s nice to have a weeklong girlfriend,” Clark said with a laugh. “I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding.
“You know, I haven’t found the right one. And when you find the right one, you lock it down, OK?”
Adams noted that Clark has had four different drivers this season.
“I’m a free agent, and you know, sometimes it’s nice to spice things up,” Clark said. “As you said, the honeymoon stage can be really nice.”
Along with making plenty of jokes, Clark also gave his thoughts on his favorite NFL team, the Denver Broncos.
“I mean, Courtland Sutton is a game-breaking receiver, but I want one more,” Clark said. “I said last year we needed a tight end. I thought (Evan) Engram was going to be that guy.”
He also mentioned he has played plenty of golf with Broncos kicker Wil Lutz.
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He said it
“The 17th hole. I think, I don’t know if there’s stats on it, but I guarantee there are. One year, I made an 8 and a 7.”
- Brooks Koepka on why he has struggled at The Players Championship
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Skins game
Odds to win The Players Championship
Scottie Scheffler +440
Rory McIlroy +1,600
Collin Morikawa +1,600
Si Woo Kim +2,000
Ludvig Aberg +2,200
Russell Henley +2,500
Tommy Fleetwood +2,500
Xander Schauffele +2,700
Wyndham Clark +12,500
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This week in golf
PGA Tour
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Course: TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium). Yardage: 7,352. Par: 72.
Prize money: $25 million. Winner’s share: $4.5 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, Noon-5 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (NBC).
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy.
LIV Golf League
LIV GOLF SINGAPORE
Site: Singapore.
Course: Sentosa GC (Serapong). Yardage: 7,406. Par: 71.
Prize money: $20 million. Winner’s share: $4 million.
Television: Thursday, 7-9:30 p.m. (Fox Sports app), 9:30 p.m.-Midnight (FS1); Friday, 7:30-8:30 p.m. (FS2), 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (FS2); Saturday, 7 p.m.-Midnight (FS1).
Defending champion: Joaquin Niemann.
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World Golf rankings
- Scottie Scheffler 15.87
- Rory McIlroy 8.53
- Tommy Fleetwood 5.24
- Collin Morikawa 5.02
- Justin Rose 4.85
- Russell Henley 4.65
- Chris Gotterup 4.60
- Robert MacIntyre 4.25
- Sepp Straka 4.19
- Xander Schauffele 4.13
- J.J. Spaun 4.12
- Hideki Matsuyama 4.10
- Ben Griffin 4.04
- Justin Thomas 3.84
- Cameron Young 3.62
- Harris English 3.61
- Alex Noren 3.58
- Viktor Hovland 3.52
- Akshay Bhatia 3.45
- Patrick Reed 3.43
- Ludvig Aberg 3.42
- Jacob Bridgeman 3.31
- Keegan Bradley 3.15
- Matt Fitzpatrick 3.06
- Maverick McNealy 2.96