PGA Tour Partnership: Why WHOOP is Golf’s Wearable of Choice

Becoming the Official Fitness Wearable of the PGA Tour

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Today, we’re proud to announce that WHOOP is now the official fitness wearable of the PGA Tour. It’s a fitting culmination to the long-time and ever-growing popularity of WHOOP among golfers, both pros and amateurs alike. Last summer when the PGA returned to play, over 1,000 WHOOP Straps were distributed to the Tour’s players, caddies and other essential personnel. Not only to optimize their training, but also to potentially identify increases in respiratory rate--an indicator of possible COVID-19 infections (Nick Watney shared his experience with this on the WHOOP Podcast). The partnership is a natural evolution of the collaborative efforts to find new solutions to support Tour athletes, including the PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour as well. Throughout the partnership, players and trainers will receive the latest WHOOP products and technology. Additionally, WHOOP and the PGA Tour will implement a WHOOP Live initiative for charity that will highlight players’ heart rates and other biometric data in real time during defining moments of the season. Golf fans will be able to follow these videos on social media at #WHOOPLIVE.

WHOOP and Golf: A Perfect Match

As mentioned above, WHOOP has a long history with the sport of golf. Two of the first pros to become avid WHOOP members were a pair of Scotts--Scott McCarron and Scott Stallings. In a 2017 interview, McCarron discussed how WHOOP sleep monitoring was huge for helping handle the frequent travel demands of playing on tour. He also spoke of winning a tournament after dialing back his workout routine based on his recovery (when his WHOOP data suggested his body needed rest). In Episode 39 of our podcast, McCarron said:

Also in 2017, Stallings told us WHOOP made travel much easier for him too. “Right from the start, I realized WHOOP is an unbelievable tool to evaluate your process to be ready to go each day,” he said. Stallings noted as well that WHOOP aided him with his offseason training by allowing him to better understand how to balance strain and recovery. In his podcast appearance in 2019, Stallings stated that WHOOP enables you to “wake up better the next day than you were the day before.” Over the past few years, Stallings has completely transformed his body and become one of the fittest players on tour.  

Hear From the World’s Top Golfers

As WHOOP rapidly gained popularity among golfers of all levels, many of the planet’s very best became members as well. A pair of world No. 1s, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, each joined our podcast in the spring of 2020. McIlroy explained that when he began to learn the value of monitoring heart rate variability, he knew it was time to get on WHOOP, saying “I just wanted to know more about my body and myself and how I recover.” He also discussed how it’s helped him avoid overtraining.

Thomas, who discovered WHOOP from McIlroy, expressed the value of individualized insights when it comes to health and training: “I’ve learned what works for Rory doesn’t work for me, what works for me doesn’t work for him, doesn’t work for you, doesn’t work for everybody. I wanted to figure out what was good for me … You wouldn’t need to wear a WHOOP if there was one formula. The reason I have it is because I want to know exactly what I can do to make me perform my best and feel my best.” Dylan Frittelli, who finished tied for 5th at the Masters last November, came on the podcast and discussed using WHOOP to track his activities, as well as the ability to see the effects of specific behaviors on his body by logging them in the Journal feature. Jessica and Nelly Korda, two of the top-ranked players on the LPGA Tour, spoke of measuring what you can’t feel, and also the enjoyment they get from competing and comparing data with each other and their friends via a WHOOP team.  

Improve Your Game with WHOOP

Below are some insights from PGA coach and avid WHOOP member Dave Phillips, Co-Founder of the Titleist Performance Institute. Dave discusses how golf is an excellent form of exercise (especially when making efforts to be socially distant), as well as the best workouts to give your game a boost. He also details how WHOOP heart rate and strain data are useful for quantifying the intensity of your warm ups and time on the course, both to prevent injury and maximize the quality of your play.   Back to Golf: A Great Form of Exercise Right Now Breaking Down the Basics of Golf Stretching vs. Warming Up Five Muscles to Strengthen for Golf and Workouts to Improve your Game