PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem expected to leave job in 2016
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said Sunday at the WGC-Dell Match Play that he expects to step down from the post at the end of 2016.
Perhaps it’s confusing, then, that Finchem was given a one-year contract extension, also announced Sunday, through June 1, 2017.
Finchem, who has been the PGA Tour commissioner since 1994 and been with the Tour since signing on as part of the management team in 1987, said he wanted to have the flexibility to remain on a little bit longer as he is working on several major projects he wants to see through before calling it a career.
“The length of the contract really is just a placeholder in terms of giving me a little more time to do some of the projects I’m engaged in now and I want to bring those forward,” he said Sunday. “I wouldn’t anticipate I’m going to stay that long.”
Finchem, 68, has overseen the Tour’s dramatic growth in pretty much every facet of the business, from reaching the $2 billion mark in total charitable giving, to the creation of the FedEx Cup, to increasing the Tour’s total annual purse by a factor of five.
Deputy commissioner Jay Monahan was promoted this week to add the title Chief Operating Officer. Finchem said Monahan more or less handles the day-to-day operations of the Tour. Finchem reiterated this is part of a long-term succession plan — one he orchestrated for the future of the Tour.
“I could probably go on another five or six years,” he said. “But I don’t think that is best for the organization. I don’t consider myself old. But I’m getting old.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
LISTEN TO OUR WEEKLY GOLF PODCAST! This week: Golf ball maker Dean Snell of Snell Golf
