⛳ Weekly Brief: Rory's Empire & Tiger's Secret

On September 25, 2016, Rory McIlroy clinched the FedEx Cup and banked $10 million — a career-defining moment for most pros, but barely a top-five highlight for Rory.

Fast forward to April 2025: he completed the career Grand Slam with a dominant Masters win, finally slipping on the green jacket and silencing a decade of doubters.

Since turning pro in 2007, Rory’s dominated more than just leaderboards— he’s built a business empire.

He made over $20M in prize money in both 2022 and 2023 without a major win, proving golf’s riches go well beyond trophies.

Factor in a $20M/year Nike deal, TaylorMade, brands like Omega and Workday, plus $15M from the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program— you’ve got a golfer who’s monetised fame as well as he’s navigated a back nine.

Then there’s the real story: Rory, the investor. Through his VC fund Symphony Ventures, Rory’s been busy off the course.

His portfolio?
A mix of healthtech, insurtech, and golf-tech— including Golf Genius and Drive Shack’s Puttery concept, where he pockets 10% of venue revenue.

And then there’s Tomorrow Sports—
Co-founded with Tiger Woods.
Built to launch TGL, a high-tech golf league backed by ESPN and a lineup of billionaire owners.

Why didn’t Rory take LIV Golf’s rumoured $300M offer? Simple. He’s building something bigger.

At 35, McIlroy isn’t just planning for the back nine of his career— he’s reshaping the sport’s future.

Tradition, reimagined.

Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth just wrapped up a $25 million course renovation, restoring its legendary 1941 U.S. Open layout with a modern twist.

Tasked with the transformation: Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner reimagined the entire course from tee to green.

This wasn’t just a cosmetic makeover. Major infrastructure work tackled Colonial’s long-standing flood issues. Deepened drainage channels and restored creek beds now manage rainfall more efficiently.

And the tech upgrade? 🔧

A PrecisionAire hydronics system now runs beneath the bentgrass greens — delivering temperature-controlled turf management year-round. Colonial is now one of only 12 courses worldwide with this level of green-keeping tech.

This is just Phase One. In 2022, members signed off on a $75 million club-wide renovation, including a new-look clubhouse — all set to finish by 2027.

💰 Why it matters:
The Charles Schwab Challenge brings:

Colonial’s not just honouring history — it’s investing in legacy.

Katsuhiro Miura— founder of Miura Golf and known in Japan as having “the Hands of God”— originally trained as a sword-smith. He applied the same metal-folding techniques used in crafting samurai swords to forge golf clubs, resulting in blades with unparalleled grain consistency and feel.

What most golfers don’t know?

Miura’s clubs were so precisely engineered that Tiger Woods once used Miura-forged irons— secretly. His famous “Nike blades” were reportedly designed by Miura but kept under wraps due to sponsorship deals.

Miura's legacy continues through his sons, Shinei and Yoshitaka and his grandson, Kokuse, who uphold the family's dedication to excellence in golf club manufacturing.

Watch the story behind the business.

65.9%

Improved directional control, even while increasing club head speed and carry.

For years, adding distance was seen as a dangerous game -

The numbers now say otherwise.

Using Arccos data from thousands of golfers who increased their median driving distance by 5% or more, we discovered:

Even more impressive: among players who gained 10%+ in distance, 99.8% improved their strokes gained off-the-tee. That’s nearly universal.

Fairway percentage dipped slightly for many— yet it’s a stat often overvalued.

Distance isn’t the enemy of accuracy. In fact, when trained correctly, it’s a powerful ally.

In the high-stakes world of professional golf, the spotlight and the sponsorship deals typically gets rewarded to the players.

Will Davidson, a caddie with over a decade on tour, is flipping that model on its head.

After looping for pros like Smylie Kaufman and Andrew Johnston and weathering the brutal economics of missed cuts, Davidson saw a gap no one else dared to fill: caddies pay their own way.

Flights, hotels, rental cars — all out of pocket. When their player misses the cut? No payday.

That’s when Davidson built The Looper Life — a platform he launched in early 2025 with a simple mission: fund the backbone of professional golf by unlocking the untapped real estate on caddies’ apparel.

Right sleeve, left sleeve, hat, collar — each a billboard for brands hungry to reach golf’s loyal, affluent audience.

Davidson has already signed up 57 caddies from the PGA, LPGA, and DP World Tours — and he’s just getting started. His end goal? Extend sponsorship access to club caddies and loopers at the grassroots level, where the hustle is just as real and the need even greater.

Davidson is rewriting the rules of golf sponsorship — a financial foundation for the caddies who grind behind the scenes.

For more information on The Looper Life - email [email protected]

By Drew Hinesley, B9B Resident Caddie

Hey, I’m all for tech.

We’ve got lasers. Break-mapping tools. Massage guns that hit your back, chest, and legs before you even hit a ball.
But when it comes to making decisions on the golf course — real decisions, the kind that win or lose championships — data alone doesn’t cut it.

Take the 12th at Oakmont. It’s 667 yards of pure chaos. The green runs away from you like it’s trying to escape.
You could ask AI for a game plan, and it might give you a line, a number, maybe even a confidence score.
Unless that algorithm’s stood over that approach shot with 20,000 people watching — it’s got no idea.

There was a back-middle pin there during the U.S. Amateur. Normally? That’s an attackable spot.
At Oakmont? It’s a trap.
Go long, you’re in thick rough.
Come up short, and you’ve got a lightning-fast downhill putt that might roll off the green.
You’re not just playing the yardage — you’re playing the slope, the bounce, the fear.

That’s why we still carry yardage books and talk with players.
Knowing the number isn’t the same as knowing the shot.

You want to land it left, use the slope, and let the fairway feed you down.
That’s not AI.
That’s experience. That’s dialogue.

At the pro level, we’re not aiming at flags.
We’re managing risk. We’re playing wind.
We’re trying to give ourselves an uphill 15-footer instead of a downhill nightmare.

No offense to AI, but it can’t read the greens with its feet.
It doesn’t know what 2% break feels like.
It doesn’t stand on the tee with you and say, “Breathe. Trust the shot.”

So yeah — tech is cool.
But conversation? That’s still a necessity.

For now, the game is still human.
Thank goodness for that.

Watch the full video on My Side Of The Bag

The PGA TOUR heads to Fort Worth for a return to Colonial Country Club — a classic shot-maker’s test with narrow fairways and a fresh 2023 restoration that blends history with modern challenge.

📆 Date: May 22–25, 2025

📍 Location: Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

⛳ Par / Yardage: Par 70 / 7,209 yards

🎟️ Defending Champion: Davis Riley

💰 Prize Pot: $9.5 million

💸 Winner’s Share: $1.7 million

🔍 Players to Watch:

📺 Thursday Feature Groups Schedule (BST):

🎯 Winning Odds (via Bet365):

By Miles Taylor, PGA Professional at Liphook Golf Club

Sidehill lies demand precision. Nail the setup, and you'll gain strokes where others lose them.

📊 Did You Know?
Even a small slope — just 2 to 3 degrees — can mess with your shot.

TrackMan and Arccos data show it can cause you to miss by 5 to 10 yards left or right. That’s the difference between hitting the green… or the bunker.

Watch the masterclass in addressing lie of the ball

📖 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 Highlights from PGA Championship – From early drama to Scheffler’s surgical back nine, watch how the world No. 1 turned Quail Hollow into his personal playground.

🎧 Listen: “The Best Shot I’ve Ever Witnessed” - Listen to Drew Hinesley our Resident Caddie, share insider stories, on-course insights, and what it’s really like walking inside the ropes with the pros.

📊 Trending Stat: Steve Jeffs sprinted 18 holes in just 24 minutes and 37 seconds — with only one club.

🏆 1 Referral → Unlock Back Nine Brief’s Corporate Golf Guide
🏆 5 Referrals → Prize draw to win our Partner’s merchandise
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