Golf Channel postpones 'Big Break' premiere after sponsor pulls out over Good Good Golf video

ATLANTA (AP) — Golf Channel postponed Tuesday night’s scheduled premiere of the reality show “Big Break x Good Good” by one week because one of the sponsors wanted out, as pressure increased on popular content creator Good Good Golf for its video that showed a man shoving a woman to the ground as she reached for a new Callaway driver.

Golf Channel said postponing the show to Sept. 1 “will allow for necessary production updates following a request from one of the show’s sponsors to remove its branding from the series.”

Although Golf Channel did not identify the sponsor, multiple reports said it was retailer Golf Galaxy, which had been listed as a presenting sponsor of the show.

The video — an ad for the Callaway driver — was deleted by Good Good late Friday, a day after it first was posted and immediately drew negative reaction for portraying violence against women. The characters in the ad are both with Good Good.

Good Good apologized Saturday in a statement, saying the “depicted actions are not aligned with our values.” Callaway said it was disappointed by the video and “appreciative of Good Good addressing this.”

Good Good is the title sponsor of a new PGA Tour event in Austin, Texas, this fall, and the tour quickly expressed disappointment. Stronger words came from CEO Brian Rolapp on Tuesday when he was asked if Good Good took enough accountability.

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

Asked if it would affect their title sponsorship, Rolapp described it as a “fluid situation.”

“We’ll continue to monitor the situation and see how it develops,” he said.

Callaway added another layer of apologies, this one from CEO Chip Brewer, who acknowledged that while Good Good produced the video, Callaway approved it before it was posted.

“The approval never should have happened. Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter very seriously,” Brewer said in a statement posted on Callaway’s social media channels. “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.”

See AP’s full golf coverage here