Golf’s DP World Tour and luxury Swiss watch brand Rolex have announced a long-term extension of their long-running partnership.
Through the renewal, the watchmaker will continue in its role as the official timekeeper of the tour and title partner of the Rolex Series.
Rolex has served as the tour’s official timekeeper since 1997.
First launched in 2017 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the partnership, the Rolex Series is the DP World Tour’s premium event category and comprises five tournaments in 2026, with a minimum prize fund of $9 million.
The first Rolex Series tournament of the 2026 season, the Dubai Desert Classic, concluded yesterday at Emirates Golf Club.
The remaining four Rolex Series events this year are the Scottish Open (July 9-12), the PGA Championship (September 17-20), and two Playoff events; the Abu Dhabi Championship (November 5-8) and the DP World Tour Championship (November 12-15), where the 2026 ‘Race to Dubai’ champion will be crowned.
In addition, Rolex will also remain as the official timekeeper of the Challenge Tour, the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe.
Guy Kinnings, chief executive of the DP World Tour, said: “Rolex’s commitment to the game of golf is unparalleled. It has been championing golf since 1967, and over the past three decades, Rolex has been an integral part of the DP World Tour’s evolution as golf’s global tour with an unmatched international footprint.”
The Rolex renewal represents the second major commercial agreement for the DP World Tour this month, following a deal with brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) that makes its Michelob Ultra brand the competition’s first official beer sponsor.
The tour has been ramping up its commercial activity in recent months and, most notably, agreed a decade-long renewal of its title sponsorship deal with global logistics heavyweight DP World until 2035.
This new deal has been described as the largest in the tour's history and includes DP World continuing as its official logistics partner.
Amazon Web Services, the e-commerce giant’s major internet services business, also announced as the tour’s official cloud provider last month, while the partnership with cybersecurity firm Fortinet was also renewed.
The tour's sponsorship portfolio additionally features Emirates, BMW, Aldar, Buffalo Trace, Husqvarna, and Nexo.
The DP World Tour has also secured several broadcast deals across key markets this month, including Sky New Zealand, Sony Pictures Network (India), and Golf Channel (USA).
