Across its nearly-century-old history, one standard that the PGA Tour has strictly held itself to is its modest and conservative image. However, in hopes of attracting new fans, the organization hasn’t held itself back from trying new things. One of its latest moves was to shake hands with the rising golf content creator Good Good Golf.

Ahead of the premiere of Big Break x Good Good, the reboot of the popular golf reality series returning after an 11-year hiatus, the YouTube brand released an ad promoting a new Callaway driver to set the stage for the highly anticipated premiere. But the ill-conceived advertisement has now put the PGA Tour’s partnership with the brand into question as well. Here’s all you need to know about what has happened since then:

The root of the problem

In the now-deleted ad for their co-branded driver released by both Good Good and Callaway on their respective social media accounts, Garrett Clark, one of the co-founders of Good Good, was playing golf with his friends. Right then, Alexis Miestowski, a fellow Good Good talent, was seen reaching for Garret’s driver.

As soon as he saw her, he ran towards her and shoulder-checked her into the ground while saying, “Don’t touch my driver.” Nicola Rae, the senior director of social media at Skratch, an account focused on golf and culture, didn’t hold back.

“They so don’t get the point. They didn’t just create an ad that makes golf non-inclusive to women, but it endorses violence against women in the scariest and most threatening way. This is a horrible look for them and for Callaway. Wildly disappointing,” she said via her X account on August 22.

Violence against women became the focus as the discussion evolved into exclusion in golf. Fans dubbed the ad ‘sexist’ and controversial. The backlash grew to the point that both Good Good and Callaway deleted the ad from their official social media accounts. Then, on Tuesday evening, Golf Channel released an official statement announcing that the premiere of Big Break had been postponed to September 1.

But that was just an inevitable consequence. Good Good tried to ameliorate the situation, but everything has fallen flat.

PGA Tour CEO doesn’t hide his disappointment

Good Good Golf’s official social media accounts acknowledged the mistake. In the statement, the company said that the ‘depicted actions are not aligned with the brand’s values.’ It also reaffirmed its commitment to keeping golf inclusive as part of its mission moving forward.

But Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour CEO, wasn’t convinced by their initial response. He called it lackluster and reluctant, giving a clear signal that he wasn’t happy with Good Good’s handling of the situation even though they are now the title sponsor of a PGA Tour event.

James Corrigan, the Daily Telegraph’s golf correspondent, reported that the PGA Tour is under significant pressure to drop Good Good as a title sponsor. Good Good Golf, which grew from a YouTube channel to a big business, is also the title sponsor of the PGA Tour’s upcoming Good Good Championship, scheduled for November 12-15 at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas.

During his press conference Tuesday morning, Rolapp was asked whether he believed Good Good had taken enough accountability for its mistake. His response was blunt.

“I think what we saw was concerning and is clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values. We take it very seriously. I think their initial response was disappointing. It was a bit defensive and late. But I think the responses are getting better. I think we’ve seen some things this morning, we’ve had some conversations with them, so we’ll continue to monitor and work with them going forward. But no, we were disappointed with what we saw.”

Naturally, the controversy raises an important question: What happens to the tournament now? Has the PGA Tour made a decision?

When asked if the video and the response would affect the tournament in November, Rolapp said, “It’s a bit of a fluid situation.”

Good Good Golf now faces consequences of its decision

Things were bound to get complicated for Good Good Golf as the controversy continued to grow. It didn’t help when NUCLR GOLF added another layer to the story.

“JUST IN — Golf Galaxy & Dicks Sporting Goods have now removed all Good Good products, golf equipment and apparel from their online stores as the fallout from the driver video continues,” the social media account posted on Tuesday.

A screenshot attached to the post appeared to show that Good Good products were no longer available on Golf Galaxy’s website.

Adding to the uncertainty, multiple reports have claimed that Golf Galaxy may have requested that its branding be removed from the Big Break reboot. Golf Channel’s official announcement said that one of the show’s sponsors had objected, but it did not identify the sponsor.

Meanwhile, Callaway’s CEO had to release a statement after initially distancing themself from the ad. They admitted it was a mistake on their side as well.

Callaway CEO announces next step into ad approval 

On August 25, Callaway CEO Chip Brewer released an official statement on social media addressing the controversy. Brewer confirmed that the ad had been created by Good Good and “approved by Callaway prior to posting.” He also revealed the next steps as the company navigates the situation.

“As we deal with the consequences of our mistake and complete our investigations, I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video. The content was inappropriate and does not reflect our values,” Brewer said. “We are also conducting both internal and external investigations and have already made changes to our approval processes aimed at ensuring this will never happen again.”

Interestingly, even the comments on Callawaygolf’s Instagram post were skeptical, with fans believing that the statement ‘doesn’t fix anything’ alongside many asking questions around the initial approval. Meanwhile, Good Good also released a statement after realizing their mistakes.

So, plenty of questions remain unanswered. And amid all the uncertainty, the PGA Tour CEO’s comments can’t be overlooked.

With the controversy continuing to unfold, more developments could follow in the coming days. For now, the future of Good Good’s partnerships remains one of the biggest questions surrounding the story. And so does the question of whether the new internet world really gets along with a rather traditionalist like the PGA Tour.