The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
McIlroy eyes role as game ambassador
Four-time major champion helps launch Golf Pass.
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIF. — Rory McIlroy can’t imagine what his life would be like without golf, and now he wants to cultivate his joy of the game with as many people as possible through a partnership with NBC Sports Group.
McIlroy on Tuesday launched GolfPass, a directto-consumer subscription program that will deliver more than just exclusive content from the four-time major champion. The idea is to get customers more involved by using the vast resources at NBC Sports Group with tee times, instruction, its video library, travel and shopping.
“Whenever I started to talk to guys with Golf Channel to do a partnership to try to make people’s experience in golf better, I was all for it,” McIlroy said before a media blitz in New York. “I’ve had nothing but good times and good experiences playing this game.”
GolfPass costs $9.99 a month or $99 a year, and there are plans to make it available in the U.K., Ireland and Australia. The membership is built around five pillars — play, learn, watch, travel and shop. One of the immediate perks for members is a free round of golf each month at any of the 7,000 golf courses in 26 countries that are part of the “GolfNow” program at Golf Channel. Those courses include Royal Portrush, Pasatiempo Golf Club in California and the TPC Deere Run.
Members will have access to more than 4,000 on-demand instruction videos involving elite coaches and players, a video library at Golf Channel that ranges from David Feherty’s golf shows to competitions that NBC originally broadcast, along with deals for travel through “Golf Advisor” and discounts in equipment and apparel through TaylorMade, which is a GolfPass partner.
“We’re creating a product that’s going to make it easier and more fun to play the game,” said Mike McCarley, president of golf for NBC Sports.
McCarley said the discussions began two years ago when McIlroy’s management team had a technology-based idea, and before long officials figured out how to interconnect Golf Channel properties like GolfNow (a tee time service), Revolution Golf (video instruction) and Golf Advisor, which involves rating golf courses and travel destinations.
‘To try to carry forward what Arnold (Palmer) started 25 years ago, bring it into the 21st century with GolfPass ... you can never fill shoes that big, but to try to carry the torch in some way is a great honor. It’s about me trying to give something back to a game that has given me so much.’
Rory McIlroy world’s 9th-ranked golfer
What impressed McCarley was how the 29-yearold from Northern Ireland made a connection between this product aimed at consumers and Arnold Palmer’s vision of starting Golf Channel in 1995.
“To try to carry forward what Arnold started 25 years ago, bring it into the 21st century with GolfPass ... you can never fill shoes that big, but to try to carry the torch in some way is a great honor,” McIlroy said. “It’s about me trying to give something back to a game that has given me so much.”
Palmer left indelible memories with McIlroy when he first played at Bay Hill in 2015 as No. 1 in the world. McIlroy approached The King’s table at lunch, and Palmer asked if there was anything he needed. McIlroy replied, “Mr. Palmer, thanks to you, I have everything I could ever need in my life.” According to those at the table, Palmer began to get tears in his eyes.
McIlroy won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last year.
It’s the second time in two months that a prominent player began a direct-toconsumer product. Tiger Woods signed a deal with Discovery’s “GolfTV” for exclusive access to Woods and original content.
McIlroy is doing a docu-series called “My Roots” on his rise in golf, and he plans to co-host a podcast with Carson Daly. But it’s not all Rory all the time. Other content includes players, analysts and celebrities discussing how they play some of the toughest holes in golf, along with other athletes talking about their daily routines.
“I’ll be on there a lot,” McIlroy said. “It will be hard to miss me.”