Tyler Dennis will co-lead day-to-day operations of the PGA Tour

DETROIT — A little more than two weeks ago, on June 13, Tyler Dennis officially became a person of interest when he was named to co-lead day-to-day operations of the PGA Tour along with COO Ron Price in the absence of Commissioner Jay Monahan, who is recovering from an undisclosed medical situation.

So who is Dennis and why was he selected for this lofty role?

Dennis, 46, serves as the Tour’s executive vice president and president of the PGA Tour. Before being asked to handle this critical new role, Dennis’s duties included being responsible for the day-to-day operations of Tour events and overseeing the areas of Rules/Competitions, Membership Services, Tournament Operations, ShotLink, Tournament Business Affairs and Agronomy.

“He’s one of the smartest if not the smartest person I’ve ever met,” said Stanford men’s golf coach Conrad Ray of his former Stanford teammate.

Growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, Dennis learned the game at the nine-hole par-3 Cottonwood Club. There, he also developed a keen and unusual interest in the rules and longtime pro Brad Beutler took him under his wing and showed him the basics of operating tournaments. At 16, Dennis posted a perfect score on the U.S. Golf Association rules test and helped administer his first professional event at his local Korn Ferry Tour event.

“He’s got a photographic mind,” said former PGA Tour vice president of competitions Mark Russell.

One summer later, Dennis signed on as an intern with the USGA at the 1994 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Eagle Bend Golf Club in Bigfork, Montana. He assisted Ron Read, then USGA Western Region Director, in placing holes early one morning. At breakfast, he confided in Read that the pro shop guys had invited him to the bar the previous night. There was a tuba on the wall and a sign that said, ‘Blow the bugle and win a pitcher of beer.’ Dennis kept telling the guys at his table that he could blow the instrument. But the guys ignored him. Finally, after he told them he played trumpet in the band, they encouraged him to go for it.

Dennis grabbed the tuba, blew hard and out popped a cloud of five pounds of baby flower. When the pitcher arrived, he was an instant hero.

Dennis begged Read not to tell the USGA’s director of competitions Tom Meeks, who he feared would punish him and potentially spoil his future career aspirations working in the game. Just then Meeks called to speak to Read.

“I told Tyler that Tom had read (about him) in all the…