PGA Tour Confirms 56 Job Cuts In Right-Sizing Move

The PGA Tour is set to lay off 56 current members of staff, that's around 4% of it's 1,300 global workforce, as it goes through a right-sizing operation for the new era as a for-profit organization.

Along with the job cuts, the PGA Tour will now not fill 73 job vacancies that had been posted and open, as new CEO Brian Rolapp begins a big restructuring process.

Although 56 current full-time staff members have been told they're being laid off, the PGA Tour is going to create around 30 different new roles within the company.

The job cuts were first reported by the Sports Business Journal and later confirmed to Golf Monthly by the PGA Tour.

The SBJ also reported that Rolapp had sent a memo to staff calling the moves a “difficult, but important, step” as the PGA Tour moved into a new era as a for-profit business.

The restructuring process comes after a review of the PGA Tour by a business consulting firm of the size and structure of the company to prepare for life as a for-profit entity.

Rolapp is set to meet with staff in May to explain the decision to cut these 56 jobs and the proposed creation of 30 new roles.

The PGA Tour is already streamlining the output on the course with the new proposed season calendar set for a later start, with fewer events and a more understandable play-off finale.

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There will be no regular PGA Tour events staged in Hawaii next season for the first time since 1965, barring a one-year hiatus of the Hawaiian Open back in 1970.

While Rolapp has been outlining his plans for future he has spoken about a streamlining process and a more modern way of operating, which seemingly involves how it works as a business as well as a sporting competition.

Golf's finances are big news at the moment with LIV Golf's future under discussion amid reports of the Saudi PIF being set to withdraw funding at the end of the season.

Rolapp recently praised the competition LIV Golf provided for exposing where the PGA Tour was lacking and what it could do better to attract more fans - and now raise more money.

The $20 million Signature Events were created in a direct response to the size of the prize funds on LIV Golf, but it seems that neither tour can sustain such huge outlays on player prize money without making some changes.