💰 LIV Golf's Banking Bet

July 9, 1977 – Tom Watson edged Jack Nicklaus by a single shot at Turnberry in the legendary ‘Duel in the Sun,’ with both men firing weekend rounds in the mid-60s that left the rest of the field in the shadows.

LIV Golf just secured its most influential partner to date— it’s not a flashy tech firm or designer label. It’s a global bank.

HSBC has signed a multi-year deal as LIV Golf’s Official International Banking Partner, marking a major strategic shift for one of golf’s longest-standing backers. The partnership spans all 14 LIV events in 2025 and debuted at LIV Golf Andalucía this past weekend at Real Club Valderrama.

This isn’t just a logo play. HSBC will sponsor two of LIV’s headline teams—Crushers GC (captained by Bryson DeChambeau) and Majesticks GC (co-captained by Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Henrik Stenson). They're also the presenting sponsor of “9 to Play,” a global broadcast segment reaching over 875 million households.

The bank’s involvement goes beyond branding. HSBC will support LIV’s grassroots initiatives—funding financial education and expanding access to the sport for emerging talent. It’s a move that fuses corporate reach with community impact.

For LIV, the partnership signals a shift from disruptor to legitimate player. For HSBC, it's a bold step into golf’s future. The bank, which already backs The Open, the AIG Women’s Open, and the Abu Dhabi Championship, is now straddling tradition and transformation.

Editor’s Take:
This is LIV’s biggest deal to date—by value and by message. A traditional blue-chip sponsor is buying into LIV’s global, team-based, made-for-TV model. Say what you will about the league, but one thing’s clear: the rebel tour now has a banker in its corner.

Read more about this here

Wins get headlines. In golf’s high-stakes economy, efficiency is the edge—especially when you look at the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings.

We crunched the numbers: total earnings divided by total strokes played in 2025 so far. The result? A leaderboard of ROI per swing.

🥇 Rory McIlroy leads with a jaw-dropping $4,933.89 per swing. Despite fewer rounds (just 46), his superb finishes in big events have made every shot count—literally.

🧮 Scottie Scheffler, who’s played more rounds (60), still banks an elite $3,920.84 per swing, proving consistency pays… and compounds.

From there, it drops. Sepp Straka and Justin Thomas hover just over $2,250, while Ben Griffin, despite sitting sixth in FedEx points, earns $1,496.14 per swing.

Here’s the top 10 breakdown:

⛳️ In the FedEx top 10, not all swings are created equal.

The Open Championship—commonly called The Open or the British Open—is golf’s oldest major, first held on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. Eight professional golfers competed over three rounds of Prestwick’s original 12‑hole links course, with Willie Park Sr. winning by two strokes over Old Tom Morris and claiming the Challenge Belt as champion.

In comparison, the three other men’s majors debuted significantly later: the U.S. Open in 1895 at Newport Country Club, Rhode Island, the PGA Championship in 1916, and The Masters in 1934.

From its humble beginnings as an eight‑man Scottish contest, The Open has evolved into a globally revered tournament run by The R&A, rotating striking links venues across the UK. Over 165 years later, lifting the iconic Claret Jug remains the pinnacle of golfing achievement.

By Jasper Miners

You can keep your stuffy English golf clubs with their blazers and handshakes. If you want to understand what links golf was meant to be—wild, elemental, and utterly unforgettable—you need to make the journey to Northern Ireland's dramatic coast where Royal Portrush waits among the giant sandhills.

This isn't just another pretty links course—this is the only golf club outside England and Scotland ever deemed worthy of hosting The Open Championship, and it's done so three times, with the next one coming in 2025.

From County Club to Royal Legend

Royal Portrush was founded in 1888 as The County Club, becoming Royal in 1895 under patronage of the Prince of Wales. From founding to first match took just three weeks, with Old Tom Morris extending it to 18 holes in 1889—the day after he laid out Royal County Down.

But it was Harry Colt's design work that truly made Royal Portrush legendary. After completing his masterwork, Colt remarked that it represented his best ever layout. Coming from the man who shaped Muirfield and Pine Valley, that's saying something.

In 1951, Royal Portrush hosted The Open Championship, the first time the event was held in Northern Ireland. It wouldn't return for 68 years, but when it did in 2019, the world remembered why this course deserves its place among golf's greatest venues.

A Course Shaped by Sea and Stone

What makes the Dunluce Links extraordinary isn't just its championship pedigree—it's how Colt routed the course through this tumultuous landscape of towering dunes and ocean vistas. Tom Doak notes the routing works brilliantly because it contacts the ocean in the middle of both nines rather than just at the beginning or end.

Before hosting The Open in 2019, architect Martin Ebert led a major redesign, creating two new holes (the 7th and 8th) on land from the Valley Links. The new 7th is a beast at nearly 600 yards, while the famous par-4 5th, "White Rocks," doglegs downhill to a green perched 50 feet above the Atlantic.

Then there's the infamous 16th, "Calamity Corner"—this lengthy par-3 requires a tee shot to a raised green with a steep drop-off short and right. Miss right, and you'll be playing from 50 feet below, if you find your ball at all.

For business golf, Portrush offers something increasingly rare: a course that impresses without intimidating. It's challenging enough to test scratch golfers but won't humiliate a 15-handicapper the way some championship venues can. The routing provides spectacular ocean views throughout both nines, creating those memorable moments that make for great conversation long after the round.

The Portrush Experience

There's something about the atmosphere here that's different from other championship venues—it's not stuffy or pretentious and feels more welcoming to visitors than rival Royal County Down.

When The Open was first held here in 1951, only two golfers managed to break 70. Rory McIlroy holds the course record with a 61 shot in 2005, while Shane Lowry's 63 in 2019 is the record on the redesigned layout.

What you'll remember most isn't the difficulty—it's the sheer drama of the setting. The Dunluce Links course is considered to be one of the best courses in the world, earning recognition on Top100GolfCourses.com's prestigious rankings.

A Place Apart

In a world where too many golf courses feel manufactured, Royal Portrush reminds you what happens when genius meets wild landscape. Colt didn't impose his will on this land—he found the golf course that was already there, waiting in the dunes like some ancient secret.

Whether you're closing a deal or celebrating one, Royal Portrush offers something no boardroom can: the humbling beauty of links golf at its most elemental. You'll leave with sand in your shoes, salt air in your lungs, and stories that will last a lifetime.

By Drew Hinesley, B9B Resident Caddie

Being a tour caddie isn’t just about club selection and reading greens—it's deductive reasoning, risk assessment, probability analysis… and sometimes rain-dodging and wind-whispering too.

So let’s use those caddie superpowers to break down who really has a shot at winning the 152nd Open Championship.

History first: Only two first-timers have won this century—Ben Curtis (2003) and Collin Morikawa (2021). That instantly rules out 38 hopefuls, including U.S. Open champ JJ Spaun, last week's surprise Chris Gotterup, and the early-week fan-favourite Ryan Peake. Great stories, but not great odds.

Now let’s talk tools. Fairways will be sacred ground at Royal Portrush. You want Iron Byron robots who can repeat a swing under pressure: Collin Morikawa and Sungjae fit that mould. Morikawa is a surgical striker; Sungjae’s short game? Currently 3rd in SG: Around the Green. You’ll want both on your card come Sunday.

The Open isn't won without resilience. You will miss fairways. You will get gusted. So who’s scrambling well and rolling it pure? Enter: Matteo Manassero and emerging Englishman Harry Hall—both top-tier in short game stats and both trending up with chances to win earlier this season.

Then come the heavyweights. The R&A served up brilliant pairings that could easily hold our winner. In Game 20: Lowry, Morikawa, and Scheffler—three major champs, two with Open titles. Scheffler, the most consistent player on Earth, is somehow still chasing his first Claret Jug. Could this be the week?

Games 45 & 46? Just the rest of golf’s A-list. Hovland is due. Spieth could paint a masterpiece around Portrush’s creative layout. JT will be scrapping for form beside McIlroy—home favourite, heartbreaker-in-chief, and forever a storyline. Don’t overlook Fleetwood, the people’s prince, back near the scene of his 2019 Open heartbreak.

The stats? They whisper Morikawa, Scheffler, McIlroy.

But stats don’t win you the jug.

Guile. Grit. A bounce your way when the wind doesn’t.

So when Sunday’s storm blows in off the coast, I’ll put my bet on this four-man shootout: Rory McIlroy, Matteo Manassero, Harry Hall, and Hideki Matsuyama.

Not on site this time, but I’ll be tuned in—stats circled, guesses locked, and ready to celebrate (or completely deny) everything I just wrote.

Drew sits down with Joakim Hilton, the most recent winning caddie on the LPGA Tour on ‘My Side Of The Bag’ podcast.

On July 15, Guinness and TravisMathew released a limited-edition golf shoe that sold out almost instantly—and turned heads across both fairways and collector circles.

Only 1,759 pairs were made, a nod to Guinness’s founding year of 1759. Timed perfectly with The Open at Royal Portrush, the drop was more than a product launch—it was a strategic masterstroke. Each pair came boxed with a Guinness-branded Odyssey putter cover and is already flipping for 2–3x the £180 retail price.

Built on TravisMathew’s Daily Pro Plus silhouette, the shoe combines waterproof performance with story-driven design: a deep brown upper, creamy outsole (think pint foam), vintage coaster insole art, and the iconic gold harp on the heel.

This collab wasn’t made for everyone—it was crafted for golfers who care about heritage, design, and status. It’s wearable storytelling. A textbook example of how scarcity creates value.

For Guinness, it’s a clean entry into golf’s lifestyle renaissance. For TravisMathew, it’s proof that premium partnerships can outperform any ad campaign.

As golf leans harder into the trend of exclusivity and limited-edition gear, which collaboration would you love to see hit the course next?

By Miles Taylor, PGA Professional - Liphook Golf Club

You might not be at Royal Portrush this week, but you can train like you are. Here's how to prep for your next tournament like a tour pro:

1. Plan Ahead (1–2 Weeks Out)

2. Train Your Mind

3. Week-of: Sharpen, Don’t Overdo

4. Tournament Day Execution

Pros don’t just play well—they prepare well. So can you.

Golf’s oldest major returns to Royal Portrush, reigniting Northern Ireland’s passion on a course carved by coastline and history.

📆 Date: July 17–20, 2025
📍 Location: Royal Portrush Golf Club
⛳ Par / Yardage: Par 71 / 7,381 yards
🏆 Defending Champion: Xander Schauffele
💰 Prize Pot: $17 Million
💸 Winner’s Share: $3.1 Million

🎯 Winning Odds (via Bet365):

Follow the tournament this weekend

📖 Read: “Links From The Road” - a captivating collection of short stories and stunning golf photography from 100+ courses across the U.S., offering a rare, soul-stirring glimpse into the game’s most scenic and storied landscapes.

🎥 Watch: “Final Round at 2025 Genesis Scottish Open” - Chris Gotterup taps in for par to win his second PGA Tour title.

🎧 Listen: “The Open Preview” - The Cookie Jar Golf crew sit down at the Open to preview the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush as they chat through the journey, course and the players.

📊 Trending Stat: The 2025 Open Championship will offer a $17 million purse, up from $16.5 million in 2023.

The best players don’t just know their yardages. They know their tendencies.

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