The world’s best golfers are descending upon Royal Troon Golf Club on the west coast of Scotland this week for the Open Championship, which comes at a pivotal time for the professional sport.

When the tournament tees off Thursday morning, it will be the 10th men’s major championship since the launch of LIV Golf in June 2022. PGA Tour players have won seven of the nine so far, with Brooks Koepka (’23 PGA Championship) and most recently Bryson DeChambeau (’24 U.S. Open) as the only LIV members to claim a major title. But the real leaderboard watch is off the course, where negotiations continue between the PGA Tour and LIV’s financial backers at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

Time Management

Although Tiger Woods has made the cut at only one major so far this year, the Masters, he has yet to withdraw—something he did twice in the last two years. And as the 15-time major champion chases one more magical week on the golf course, he’s staying busy off it.

Woods is helping lead those PIF negotiations as a member of both the PGA Tour policy board and the board of the newly founded for-profit entity PGA Tour Enterprises. Those duties are so time consuming, in fact, that Woods had to turn down an offer to captain the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team when the event comes back to home soil at Bethpage Black in New York.

At the U.S. Open, Woods said that the PGA Tour and PIF were exploring ways they could reach an “endgame.” He’s set to address the media at the Open on Tuesday, when he’ll likely be asked about the Ryder Cup decision and any new developments in talks with the PIF.

Not Just the PGA Tour

Last July, just weeks after the original bombshell PGA Tour–PIF framework agreement was announced, the organizers of the Open Championship made headlines for their own interest in potential Saudi investment. “If I’m very open, we are and do and continue to talk to various potential sponsors,” R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said when asked about taking money from the PIF on the eve of the 2023 tournament.

PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan met with Slumbers during the final round of that Open Championship, and the two would later make a public appearance together, playing in the same group at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October.

Slumbers, 64, is stepping down as CEO of the R&A in November, when he’ll be succeeded by Mark Darbon, who is leaving his post as CEO of English Premiership Rugby side ​​Northampton Saints. The club was one of several linked to Saudi funding earlier this year when the PIF was exploring making seven-figure investments in rugby, according to The Telegraph. The Saints eventually said no contact with the PIF had taken place, and there have been no further developments since.

Should the PIF advance discussions with the R&A after a potential PGA Tour deal gets done, new funding could help grow prize money at both the Open Championship and AIG Women’s Open. This year’s purses have not been revealed yet. But last year, the Open offered $16.5 million, the smallest of the four men’s majors. The Women’s Open was third out of five women’s majors with $9 million. 

In professional golf, top players earn millions of dollars through contracts with companies that supply their clubs and clothes. Up until 2021, those sponsorship dollars would start hitting a golfer’s bank account only after they gave up their amateur status. But since the emergence of relaxed name, image, and likeness policies in college sports, that process has sped up.

Instead of recruiting top amateurs after they’ve proved themselves playing for a major university, brands now have the option of betting on young talent before they become household names. There are pros and cons to that strategy, though. 

“It’s hard enough, when they’re professionals, to really measure the ROI on some of these agreements,” says Jeff Lienhart, the president of Adidas Golf, which heading into last week’s Scottish Open sponsored three of the top 10 ranked men’s golfers in the world. “We believe in the system and we believe in having these partnerships with professional athletes. NIL is even that much more difficult to measure an ROI.”

Still, visibility is key for brands looking to sell shirts, shoes, pants, and more. So, striking an early relationship with a player who might one day be in the final group of a major, like this week’s Open Championship, is worth the investment. “It gives you a seat at the table, so that when they turn professional, you’re in a good position to negotiate what the future might hold,” Lienhart tells Front Office Sports.

Players Have Options

While NIL deals are great for college golfers’ wallets, they can make for some tricky situations. 

Michael Thorbjornsen earned his PGA Tour card by finishing first in the PGA Tour University rankings during his senior season at Stanford, which is a Nike school. But Thorbjornsen opted for an NIL deal with Adidas. “It was cool to be able to see what the other product looks like and what it feels like,” he tells FOS. “Obviously, it took a little bit of time to get used to it.” 

Wearing dueling brands during his college years didn’t have much of an impact on his decision upon turning pro last month, though. “I guess you could say Nike was there, but it never really was,” Thorbjornsen says. “They weren’t successful in that. I was kind of always stuck with Adidas.” Thorbjornsen followed in the footsteps of fellow PGA Tour University winner Ludvig Åberg (above), who also had an Adidas deal in college and now as a pro, currently ranked No. 4 in the world.

The New-Age Golfer

Apparel endorsements are just one piece of the puzzle for young golfers, though. Equipment manufacturers routinely shell out seven-figure paydays for players to swing their clubs, and all kinds of companies from banks and credit cards to insurance providers and airlines are willing to spend the same amount for nothing more than a logo on a shirt or golf bag. 

Now, that all comes before they even join a tour. “Nothing really feels that different,” Thorbjornsen says of his transition from college to pro player. He’s not alone. For most up-and-coming pros, that’s simply the new reality.