The ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic has been a feel-good stop on the PGA Tour calendar since its 2024 debut at Dunes Golf and Beach Club. Tens of thousands of fans, a celebrity pro-am, and local charity payouts made it a natural hit. Now the PGA Tour’s newest event sponsor faces three federal lawsuits alleging a Ponzi-like scheme—yet the Tour has not moved to end the partnership.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Golfweek flagged the story on X and reported that “The PGA Tour title sponsor ONEflight is facing three lawsuits for running a Ponzi-like scheme.”
For context, ONEflight, the Myrtle Beach Classic’s title sponsor, is a Denver-based private jet company that sells prepaid flight hours. As per the company’s rules, the customers were required to pay a large deposit upfront and use them for flights later. However, according to a report on September 16, the company stopped all flights without warning. Moreover, the customers say the money they paid is gone.
In response, three lawsuits were filed in federal court in Colorado starting September 22. They named the company and its CEO, Ferren Rajput, and accused them of fraud and breach of contract. In simple terms, the customers say they paid for flights that were never delivered and have not been refunded.
The “Ponzi-like” label comes from how the money allegedly moved. California customer Jeremy Ricks claims ONEflight used new customers’ deposits to pay off older customers’ bills instead of holding the money for flights it sold. His suit says the company ramped up in mid-2026 when the company pushed harder for new deposits. Together, the suits say about $150 million in customer money cannot be paid back. The lawsuits, filed in September, remain in active litigation with no adjudication yet.
Rajput claimed ONEflight’s 2025 revenue hit $232 million, up 90%, crediting the sports partnership for part of the growth. He told a trade publication that ONEflight’s 2025 revenue had hit that number, up by 90%. He has credited the sports partnership for a part of the revenue. Notably, it is the company’s claimed revenue and not the value of its PGA Tour deal.
Moreover, the sponsorship in question here is the Myrtle Beach Classic, as ONEflight became the co-title sponsor in February 2025. It is on a three-year deal, and it puts it in place through 2027, set for May 13 to 16.
As for the response from the PGA Tour, Golfweek reported that the Tour has declined to comment, with no announcement surfacing to end the deal. They have also not hinted at finding a replacement. The event’s other co-title sponsor, Visit Myrtle Beach, said it will continue its own sponsorship in 2027.
Other Time the PGA Tour has faced this question.
The Tour has been near a sponsor scandal like this before. In 2011, a court-appointed receiver for Allen Stanford’s estate sued the Tour in Dallas federal court. The goal was to claw back about $12.9 million that Stanford-linked entities paid in 2007 and 2008. That money was tied to a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
Moreover, the suit did not stop at the Tour. Bloomberg reported that David Toms was pursued for $900,000 and IMG for $10.5 million in sponsorship-related payments. Stanford, however, denied the fraud allegations, and the Tour declined to comment on the filing either. It later was reported that the Tour publicly denounced the lawsuit.
But for now, the Myrtle Beach Classic itself is not a small event. The economic impact is rated in millions, with 45,000 fans in attendance. Whether the event continues remains to be seen.