McIlroy urges PGA Tour to spend its $1.5 billion on golf tech

Rory McIlroy has a plan for the $1.5 billion sitting in the PGA Tour's bank account, telling reporters Wednesday at Bellerive Country Club that the league should use it to buy deeper into the golf technology and recreational-play markets rather than let it sit idle.

Where did the PGA Tour's $1.5 billion come from?

The Tour has held the money since January 2024, when it created a new for-profit entity and sold a 12 percent stake to Strategic Sports Group, with another $1.5 billion possible later. Commissioner Brian Rolapp said in March that the league has ideas for deploying the capital toward the Tour's long-term value, without offering specifics then.

What does McIlroy think the Tour should buy?

McIlroy pointed to the Tour's weekly television reach as the asset that makes an acquisition strategy worth pursuing. He suggested the league buy back into the tee-time booking business it exited during the COVID-19 pandemic, when reserves ran low, and pursue shot-tracking and simulator companies the way Versant, which McIlroy is involved with, bought Full Swing for $530 million.

I think if they could spend that money and try to own more of the golf space.

McIlroy framed the strategy as a way to grow the Tour's enterprise value now that players themselves hold equity in the league, tying the recreational golf boom directly to the Tour's own balance sheet.

The LoopGolf angle

McIlroy's pitch, that the recreational tee-time business is worth owning again, is the same bet LoopGolf and its booking partners are already making on public and resort golf. If the Tour follows through on buying into that space, it would be competing directly with the platforms golfers already use to book rounds rather than just sponsoring the players who play them.