Wyndham Clark arrived for the final round of the 126th U.S. Open on June 21 in his typical Sunday soft pink as he continues to honor his mother, Lise, who passed away from breast cancer in 2013.

The wire-to-wire winner also showed up at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in style in the new 2026 Lexus GX.

Clark, a Lexus ambassador since June 2024, wasn’t the only one pulling into the parking lot at the Southampton, N.Y.-based club behind the wheel of a Lexus. As part of its long-term partnership with the USGA dating back to 2006, Lexus said it supplies a fleet of approximately 250 courtesy vehicles for all U.S. Open participants as well as USGA staff to use throughout the week. A source confirmed Lexus pays the USGA an additional $2 million to the cars they let them use.

“Courtesy” vehicles by name only, the fleet of shiny, new cars flooding the streets around Shinnecock are strategic advertising opportunities for luxury auto makers like Lexus to make their products and brand as visible as possible at one of professional golf’s most significant events.

“We want to make sure every athlete is taken care of, but also that there’s a high likelihood our newer product is on broadcast,” said Nicole Peterson, Head of Experiential Marketing & National Partnerships at Lexus. “We’re planting these little seeds along the way so that you keep seeing this new product. 

“We’re breadcrumbing our audience throughout championship week and then hopefully they’re like, ‘Scottie Scheffler looks really great in that new GX, maybe I should look into that.’”

Whether it’s Lexus at the U.S. Open, Mercedes-Benz at The Masters or BMW, Cadillac or Genesis at their respective PGA Tour events, luxury automakers have been driving golf sponsorships for more than 60 years. 

Not only was Buick the first automaker to serve as title sponsor of a PGA Tour event in June 1958 by organizing and sponsoring the Buick Open at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich., it also marked the first corporate sponsorship of a PGA Tour event.

Today, the auto category is one of the most highly coveted in professional golf as luxury manufacturers race to engage affluent audiences within the sport.

But are the game’s rising sponsorship costs worth the investment? One veteran automotive marketing executive doesn’t think so.

“If you look at the U.S. Open last week, what does Lexus really get out of it?” the exec questioned. “Rory McIlroy parks his car in the parking lot, they see a Lexus and they walk in. Is that worth 10, 15, 20 million a year? Personally, no, I don’t think so.

“... But there’s a saying I have and it’s FOMO, but with two Ms—Fear Of Marketers Missing Out. There’s an element of FOMO that because everyone else is doing it, we need to do it too.”

Auto sponsorships in golf typically fall into one of two categories. Umbrella deals like Lexus has with the USGA (since 2006) and PGA of America (since 2024) are typically cheaper and involve multiple tournaments and properties, offering auto makers the ability to showcase products via courtesy fleets, on-site activations and hospitality hosting. 

There’s also title sponsorships like the Genesis Invitational or BMW Championship tied to a single event that are more expensive given the increased opportunities for branding, marketing and exposure; you can’t talk or write about the tournament without mentioning the title sponsor.

While exact figures aren’t public, reports estimate luxury auto brands like BMW, Genesis and Cadillac pay an estimated $15-20 million per year as title sponsor of their respective PGA Tour events.

That financial investment has only increased as the Tour designates eight tournaments per year as limited-field Signature Events featuring top-ranked players competing for more money and more FedExCup points than its other events. It’s no coincidence Honda ended its 42-year sponsorship of the annual Tour stop at PGA National in 2023 when the event wasn’t deemed a Signature Event.

Arguably, the leader of the pack, at least in terms of value and ROI, is Mercedes-Benz, one of four Champion Partners of The Masters since 2008.

The final round of the 2026 Masters averaged nearly 14 million viewers on CBS as McIlroy won his second consecutive Green Jacket, marking the network’s most-watched Masters final round in 11 years. Buoyed by limited commercials and The Masters’ prestige, professional golf’s first major doesn’t need to rely on on-course drama to still garner interest. Final rounds averaged approximately 11.2 million viewers over the past decade.

“You cannot equate what Mercedes-Benz gets at Augusta with what Genesis gets in California or what Cadillac gets in Florida or BMW gets wherever they are year to year,” the automotive marketing exec continued. “It’s not equivalent, but there’s this inherent pressure—if you want to be a luxury player to have some positioning in golf and that’s when the Tour gets their hooks in you and it’s all over.”

Significant schedule changes expected to start in 2028 will only drive sponsorship costs higher as PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp looks to create a two-track tiered system while prioritizing larger, untapped markets. Decreasing the number of events, and thus sponsorship and activation opportunities, creates a scarcity and bidding war for brands.

“Now he’s using this scarcity as kind of a weapon on the sponsors: ‘You’re going to miss out, guys. We only have so many events. If you don’t want it, then Lincoln will take it,’ or whatever,” the exec said.

Not only are Rolapp and the Tour benefitting from golf’s record popularity, but live sports are a brand marketer’s dream, offering the ability to engage with a highly engaged and emotional audience in real time. It’s why brands don’t blink twice at paying $8 million to $10 million for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl, which draws 100+ million viewers.

While golf viewership doesn’t compare to the Super Bowl or NFL, it offers sponsors from financial services to luxury automotive the ability to “reach a premium audience”—the words used on the advertising page of the Tour’s website. It goes on to explain: “This audience is high net worth, big spenders, highly educated, and brand loyal.” The numbers back it up with 52% of the Tour’s audience age 55+, 47% more likely to be a business decision maker, and 87% of its audience boasting a household income of 150K+.

While traditional and affluent golf fans and participants unsurprisingly are a target demographic for luxury auto brands, golf’s emerging categories leading the game’s expansive growth since the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted by youth, women and people of color are also becoming a priority for sponsors.

There were more than eight million female on-course golfers age 6+ in 2025, according to the National Golf Foundation. Since 2019, the net gain in female golfers is 2.5 million, a 46% increase. The 7.7 million Asian, Black and Hispanic golfers who played on a course in 2025 is a high-water mark for the industry, while their 26% representation among traditional golfers is also a record high.

That’s why brands like Lexus are leveraging a multi-faceted approach to increase brand desire and favorability to the growing spectrum of golf viewers and participants, utilizing on-site activations and experiences like a long drive contest at the U.S. Open and content series featuring Lexus golf and non-golf ambassadors.

“I don’t think luxury brands are won or lost on awareness,” Peterson said. “I think most consumers probably already know who Lexus is, so the real question is whether they aspire to own a Lexus or feel an emotional connection to the brand by way of the partnership.”

Cadillac returned to the PGA Tour as title sponsor of the Cadillac Championship in April 2026 after a 10-year hiatus, having previously sponsored the World Golf Championships (WGC) at Trump National Doral from 2011-16. Paying upwards of $20 million annually, Cadillac’s significant investment was quickly rewarded as the inaugural Cadillac Championship was designated a Signature Event in its first playing earlier this year.

One industry executive said Cadillac parent company General Motors is trying to buy influence with President Donald Trump who imposed a 25% tariff on foreign-built vehicles and many imported auto parts.

“Our investment in the Cadillac Championship continues our brand’s legacy with the PGA Tour, while connecting with luxury customers through culturally significant events, like Monterey Car Week, U.S. Open and Formula 1,” a Cadillac spokesperson said. “Through luxury sporting events, Cadillac creates experiences that celebrate performance, craftsmanship and innovation on a national stage.”

While Cadillac recently returned to the PGA Tour, BMW has served as the title sponsor of the BMW Championship, the penultimate FedExCup Playoffs event, since 2007 and a Worldwide Partner of the Ryder Cup since 2006.

Genesis, the luxury automotive subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, joined the golf sponsorship race two years after its founding in 2017 as title sponsor of the Genesis Invitational. The Korean company has also lent its name to the Genesis Scottish Open since 2022 and has been the Official Automobile Sponsor of numerous Presidents Cups. In June 2024, Genesis became the first Founding Partner of TGL, and in June 2025 became the first global Official Vehicle of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions through 2030.

Auto brands will say golf is synonymous with their values of prestige, luxury, performance and precision, but will that be enough to justify spending more money than ever before for one week per year?

“It’s a bit odd on the automotive (side),” the auto marketing exec said. “You can either say it’s great or you can say it’s a total torch of money because there are no ratings guarantees when you’re a sponsor.”