Patrick Cantlay reveals Tiger Woods urged him to join new PGA Tour committee

Patrick Cantlay has revealed he was specifically asked to join his new future competition committee on the PGA Tour.

News emerged on the eve of this week's season-ending Tour Championship that Woods, 49, had agreed to serve as chairman on the new committee.

The purpose of the committee is to maintain "competitive parity" moving forwards on the PGA Tour.

It's understood according to the PGA Tour's new CEO Brian Rolapp that the circuit wants to look at how best to get more of their best players competing together in the same events more often. 

Rory McIlroy missed three of the eight Signature Events on the PGA Tour this season. 

Next year there will be nine. 

Cantlay, 33, confirmed at the Tour Championship that he was specifically asked by Woods to join the new PGA Tour committee.

Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell have also stepped forward.

Liverpool's principal owner, John Henry, has also joined the board as a business advisor along with Fenway Sports Group part-owner and baseball executive Theo Epstein.

Rolapp, who began his tenure earlier this month, will take over the running of all PGA Tour matters when current commissioner Jay Monahan departs at the end of 2025.

Cantlay has been heavily involved in all PGA Tour matters in recent seasons, and he continues to sit on the board of directors at the PGA Tour.

Many critics have argued the position has had a detrimental effect on Cantlay's golf game having remained winless since August 2022. 

But with a Ryder Cup captain's pick on the line, Cantlay has turned his game around at the Tour Championship and he enters the weekend just three shots off the pace in a tie for fourth at East Lake. 

Cantlay was asked by one reporter what made him want to get involved with another PGA Tour committee, to which he replied he was urged to join by 15-time major champion Woods.

"Tiger asked me to be on the committee, so I said yes," revealed Cantlay. 

Newly-appointed PGA Tour CEO Rolapp spoke more about the introduction of the future competition committee during his press conference at the Tour Championship earlier this week. 

"One of my first acts we're going to have is the formation of the Future Competition Committee," said Rolapp. 

"The purpose of this committee is pretty simple. We're going to design the best professional golf competitive model in the world for the benefit of PGA Tour fans, the players and their partners. It is aimed at a holistic re-look of how we compete on the Tour.

"That is inclusive of regular season, postseason 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 that 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.

"There will be additional members to the committee, nine in total with six players, including Tiger. The other players will be Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell.

"The committee makeup was deliberate and thought through. Clearly it's player-led, and the player input to this is extremely important. Some, including Maverick and Keith, serve on the player advisory committee.

"All are deeply experienced, and all are in different places in their career. So that diversity of viewpoint will be very important. The others have deep experience in the sports world and deep experience in commercial matters.

"That's the committee. There will be a few guiding principles of this committee that I will ask them to do, and these principles are key characteristics of what I think will be a successful competitive model going forward."