About Rolex
In 2021, Rolex marked another significant milestone in its long-standing association with golf, a partnership that dates back more than 50 years and is defined by a desire to advance the discipline, uphold its tradition and champion the quest for excellence.
We re-established our relationship with the PGA of America, regaining the role of Official Timekeeper and Official Partner of the organization and its three Major Championships: the PGA Championship, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. This agreement reflects how the brand has united its destiny with that of the sport by developing solid, long-lasting and prestigious ties.
The expansive partnership with the PGA of America also resulted in Rolex extending its support to Ryder Cup USA, thereby reclaiming its status as Worldwide Partner of the premier men’s team event. In late September, the biennial competition was staged at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin (US) where the home team defeated Europe in style.
The year delivered many outstanding performances, including those by our own Testimonees. Phil Mickelson made history as the oldest player to win a Major – the sixth of his stellar career – when triumphant at the PGA Championship. Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese golfer to claim one of the sport’s most coveted prizes with victory at the Masters Tournament while Spain’s Jon Rahm secured his own maiden Major title at the U.S. Open. In seniors golf, Germany’s Bernhard Langer clinched a record sixth Charles Schwab Cup, and on The European Tour – from 2022, to be known as the DP World Tour – we witnessed the latest successful Rolex Series, comprising the most elite events on the tour’s international schedule.
It was another momentous year for women’s golf, which Rolex has supported for more than four decades. At the Solheim Cup, the elite women’s team competition, Europe took a thrilling away victory at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, in early September. It capped a memorable spell for team member and Rolex Testimonee Anna Nordqvist, who entered the competition having captured her third Major title at the AIG Women’s Open just two weeks earlier.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome new LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who presided over a successful season that concluded with the best players being crowned during the Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony at the CME Group Tour Championship. Thanks to the commitment of CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy, and his vision to help grow the women’s game, in 2022 the event’s prize purse increases to $7 million, while the $2 million first-place prize remains the largest in women’s golf history.
On behalf of Rolex, I hope you enjoy reliving the best moments of 2021 captured here in The World of Professional Golf, which the brand has been presenting since 2006. We look forward to another year of fruitful partnership in 2022.
Jean-Frédéric Dufour Rolex SA
Chief Executive Officer
Rolex and Golf
Rolex is committed to the permanent quest for excellence in all its endeavours and has been a long-term supporter of golf in its pursuit of the same. The brand’s enduring relationship with the sport began more than 50 years ago, in 1967, when
Arnold Palmer, joined by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, became the brand’s first golfing Testimonees. Known together as The Big Three, these legendary players changed the face of golf forever, and their partnership with Rolex marked the beginning of a relationship based on the shared commitment to continuous improvement and unwavering precision. Since then, the affiliation has grown and flourished, permeating every level of the game worldwide. From elite players and golf legends, to all the game’s Major championships – where success represents the pinnacle of achievement in the sport – as well as the foremost professional tours and worldwide amateur championships, Rolex is ever-present. The Swiss manufacturer’s support for the game is built on a strong sense of integrity and respect for tradition that promote the continuity of expertise and transfer of knowledge, and an understanding of the importance of investing in the sport’s development for future generations.