[Photo: Alex Slitz]
The PGA Tour’s event in Austin, Texas, has a new sponsor in wake of the Good Good fallout.
Overnight, Australian time, Compliance Solutions was announced as the presenting sponsor of the inaugural Austin Championship, which begins next week. Compliance is an accounting and tax service provider based in Longwood, Florida, and has an existing relationship with the tour, sponsoring Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Champions events.
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“We are proud to have their commitment and support as we prepare to bring this new event online,” said the tour’s executive vice-president Dan Glod.
The move ends a whirlwind lead-up for the tournament. Last October the tour announced it was partnering with the YouTube influencer brand Good Good, a popular YouTube channel and apparel company with a sizeable following among younger golfers, to host a late-season event. This would coincide with Golf Channel reviving the TV show “The Big Break”, which would confer a spot in the Austin field to the winner.
However in August Good Good released a promotional video that showed a man shoving a woman to the ground in a fight over a new Callaway driver. The ad, intended as a parody of the movie “Obsession”, drew immediate, far-reaching criticism, and was further inflamed by delayed apologies that many felt lacked accountability. PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp called out the video during a press conference at the Tour Championship. “What we saw was concerning,” Rolapp said. “It is clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values.” He later added the company’s response was “a bit defensive and late”.
The PGA Tour ended Good Good’s sponsorship of the event while Golf Channel cancelled its planned reboot of the “The Big Break”. Retailers including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy and PGA Tour Superstore removed Good Good–Callaway merchandise from stores and their websites. Callaway later ended its partnership with Good Good, while Good Good’s top two executives were pushed out.
The Austin Championship begins next week at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s Fazio Canyons course in Austin. It is the penultimate stop on the FedEx Cup Fall schedule, with the season wrapping up the week after in Sea Island, Georgia.
