Rory McIlroy signs DP World sponsorship deal with personal fitness trailers
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The gist
Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy signed a DP World sponsorship deal including two personal fitness and recovery trailers.
The deal comes as he chases a record-tying eighth Race to Dubai title.
Background
Rory McIlroy is a Northern Irish golfer, six-time major champion and co-founder of TMRW Sports, who has won the DP World Tour's season-long Race to Dubai four years running and seven times overall. DP World, the Dubai-based logistics company, has increasingly stretched into golf in the 2020s and is now his sponsor. The announcement came less than two weeks after TMRW Sports renewed its deal with ESPN, and ahead of the DP World India Championship, an event McIlroy had never played and which did not exist a year or two earlier.
How it unfolded
- Dec 24, 2022Patrick Reed's lawyer subpoenaed McIlroy, an early flashpoint in their long rivalry.
- 2023The two had a chippy exchange on the driving range in Dubai.
- 2025McIlroy won the Masters at Augusta National.
- 2026 -04He won a second consecutive Masters green jacket, becoming only the fourth golfer to win the Masters in back-to-back years.
- Oct 13, 2026McIlroy announced a partnership with DP World including two personalized fitness and recovery trailers wherever he plays.
- Oct 14, 2026Ahead of the DP World India Championship, he called LIV Golf "half a good idea, executed poorly" and said he would welcome LIV players back to the DP World Tour.
- Oct 17, 2026Reports named Eugenio Chacarra as another obstacle to McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, alongside leader Patrick Reed.
Who’s saying what
- McIlroy
- He said consistency matters when competing around the world, and having the same training and recovery environment each week gives him and his team one less thing to think about.
- McIlroy
- He said he decided to get a fitness trailer when Justin Rose won in Memphis last year, noting Rose is 45 and playing great, and that at 36 he wanted to play well for the next ten years.
- McIlroy
- He said LIV Golf is no longer a threat to the traditional game as it tries to relaunch after filing for bankruptcy, and that he would welcome its players back.