PGA Tour Confirms Deal With $45M Brand Rory McIlroy Admitted He Didn’t Like

This season, the PGA Tour saw a few changes in its event sponsors. We saw Truist joined the lineup of brands to endorse a PGA Tour event, replacing Wells Fargo. Baycurrent Inc. also became the sponsor for their visit to Japan a few days ago. That didn’t particularly affect any players, except for changing the name of the title they added to their trophy cabinet. But a sponsor change in 2026 might have major implications for one particular golfer. Yes, Rory McIlroy and he is not fond of the industry they represent!

Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal confirmed that the PGA Tour will have a new sponsor for its event in Austin next season. He tweeted, “@goodgood_golf is the title sponsor for the new @PGATOUR event in Austin next year: The Good Good Championship.” Yes, the popular golf content creation channel that is worth $45 million will endorse a PGA Tour event. However, there is only one problem, and that is that McIlroy might not play in it.

The Irishman is not a big fan of YouTube golf. In an interview with Golf Digest in March, he had admitted, “Not really. I’m not of that generation. I’d much rather watch pure competitive—I’d much rather watch this tournament on Saturday and Sunday than watch YouTube golf.” With Good Good Golf sponsoring the event, there is a good chance that they might not be able to convince McIlroy to join the field. At least not in the near future.

But McIlroy’s disinterest in this stuff isn’t surprising at all. In that same interview, when he was asked if there’s any fascination with how many eyeballs are on the YouTube Golf? McIlroy was quick to respond, “I’m happy for the people that enjoy it, but I enjoy something else.” Interestingly, it’s not like Rory McIlroy is completely against the idea of content creation.

In fact, he himself has been involved in a few YouTube videos promoting golf content on other channels. Let’s look at what the Irishman has been featured in on YouTube.

Rory McIlroy’s connection with YouTube

Rory McIlroy may not be a fan of YouTube golf, but that doesn’t mean he has stayed out of the space himself. In fact, he has collaborated with some content creators in the past. The Irishman’s first appearance in the space was with Dude Perfect back in 2023. He did a few golf challenges with them while he was first exploring golf content creation. In January 2025, McIlroy also played golf with Grant Horvat on his YouTube channel.

Around the same time, he was also featured with Nikolai Savic in one of his videos. Other than that, Rory regularly collaborates with other brands of golf content. He has made multiple videos over the years with TaylorMade. Being endorsed by the brand for his equipment, the Grand Slam champion not only featured in their videos but also played alongside other popular pros like Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler, and Collin Morikawa.

So while Rory may be against the idea of YouTube golf, it’s not like he has completely ignored any opportunities that come from that space. So there is a chance that the 2026 Good Good Championship might still feature Rory McIlroy.