Michelle Wie West and Togethxr Drive Women’s Golf Into 2026

Notte’s Notes

• Golf can be a team sport. If you’re trying to collaborate with a partner like Michelle Wie West whose mission is clear—grow women’s golf—show how you can do that. Can you stream tournament rounds? Can you create content around golfers? Can you build experiences around women’s golf events? If so, you may have not only an endorser, but also an investor.
• Hit them where they aren’t. Togethxr wants (to continue) to be a force within women’s sports, but both the company and Wie West saw that Togethxr needed to do more within women’s golf—with no athletes from the sport among its owners and advisors before her arrival. T-Mobile and Wie West, meanwhile, saw fans coming into golf through means other than standard broadcasts—like fashion and entertainment. If there are engaged fans waiting to be addressed, that isn’t a niche: It’s an opportunity
• Play the game they’re playing: If you recognize sports as existing at the intersection of various points of culture, then you understand why Wie West doesn’t have to step onto a course and swing a club for her partnerships with Togethxr and T-Mobile to work. The most prominent sports personalities rely on a font of existing knowledge, a few of the friends they’ve made along the way, and just a bit of humor to create great video, podcasts, and personal appearances. Two years into retirement, Wie West is showcasing all of the above for Togethxr, T-Mobile, and other partners.

Michelle Wie West

Togethxr has declared for the last two years that everyone watches women’s sports. Now, new ownership group member Michelle Wie West and her brand partners are carving out space for golf under that “everyone” umbrella.

Two years after retiring from her 18-year professional golf career, the LPGA star and 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champion, Michelle Wie West became the first new member of Togethxr’s ownership group since Sue Bird, Chloe Kim, Alex Morgan, and Simone Manuel founded the media and commerce company in 2021. She invested to give women’s golf a voice within the company and expand its coverage of the sport within Togethxr’s broader support of women’s athletics.

“After stepping away from professional golf, I’ve been intentional about staying involved in projects that have purpose and that push women’s sports forward,” Wie West said. “Whether it’s hosting the Mizuho Americas Open, working with brands like Nike and T-Mobile, or even running my first half marathon (as she did in June), everything I take on now has to feel meaningful. Togethxr fits perfectly into that.”

Co-founder Jessica Robertson—who helped build Togethxr after leadership roles at Rolling Stone, AOL Music, Fader, and Player’s Tribune—sees Wie West as an ideal teammate for a group that’s blended professional, Olympic, and World Cup success with expansion into media, wellness, fashion, and social justice.

“Togethxr, since our launch, has celebrated where sport and culture and lifestyle intersect, understanding that sport is a prism for culture, and we have these four incredible, iconic co-founders who have been lightning rods for their own individual brands, but for our brand and business as well,” Robertson said. “They're not just for the greatest athletes in the entire world—they are entrepreneurs, they're activists, they're creatives, they're producers, they’re so much more—so when we're thinking about expanding and also continuing to double down on athletes as our DNA, we're thinking about stories that transcend sport that serve as representation across the board… and Michelle Wie West is a great example of that.”

This year, Togethxr represents just one avenue Wie West has used to expand her sport’s reach and influence.

Through her partnership with Johnson & Johnson’s Acuvue brand, Wie West told The New York Post in September that content creators, YouTubers, Topgolf visitors, and TGL viewers embrace a “golf is for everyone” stance that brings the sport to larger audiences. Wie West later represented longtime partner Nike during the premiere of Netflix’s Happy Gilmore 2 with her former juniors partner, Adam Sandler. She also debuted an official partnership with T-Mobile at The Ryder Cup at Bethpage on Long Island—joining a panel discussion and helping fans take blindfolded swings in the brand’s Club Magenta on-site activation.

“From the start, she was an ideal collaborator: someone who’s both a trailblazer in women’s golf and a voice pushing the sport forward,” said Amy Azzi, VP of sponsorships, sports, entertainment, and hospitality at T-Mobile. “Her evolution from professional athlete to advocate, entrepreneur, and mom mirrors the evolution we’ve seen in fans and the game itself. Our shared goal was to make golf more connected, inclusive, and relevant to new audiences and Michelle has been instrumental in helping us do that authentically.”

Making golf buddies

Wie West joins Togethxr as it finds momentum in its backswing. After releasing the first of its “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” shirts in December 2023, Togethxr doubled its revenue year-over-year in 2024. The shirts alone brought in $6 million and made Togethxr a fixture at NCAA March Madness, the WNBA All-Star Game, the 2024 Paris Olympics (“Tout Le Monde Regarde Le Sport Femenin”), and other major women’s sports events.

Wei West with her take on the iconic “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” shirt

Togethxr reached profitability for the first time last year, partnering with brands including Aflac, Nike, Snap, and TJ Maxx while creating a WNBA documentary and women’s surfing series (with help from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine) on Amazon Prime Video and comedic series around basketball players Sydney Colson and Theresa Plaisance with Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort for FuboTV.

The company also expanded its investor pool beyond former Huffington Post executive Betsy Morgan, former Disney entertainment leader Susan Lyne, and their Magnet Companies and BBG Ventures firms. Former Vice Media executive Jesse Angelo’s Checker Media now backs the company, with former Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc joining as executive chair earlier this year.

Now, Robertson says Togethxr and its ownership group want to acknowledge how women’s sports stories encompass all areas of culture.

“Adding Michelle Wie West is about bringing in measurable relevance and also measurable reach…as we think about where the women's sports landscape is going, it' status as a commercial juggernaut right now, we think about the opportunity to reach new audiences that we haven't reached yet,” Robertson said.

Since joining Togethxr in May, Wie West has become a fixture of the brand’s content. She’s sifted through thrift-store golf clubs to help newcomers get started for less. She’s also critiqued the golf swings of Tom Holland, Caitlin Clark, Jessica Alba, Michael Phelps, Diana Taurasi, Charles Barkley, Natasha Cloud, Tyreke Evans, Celine Dion, and family friend Stephen Curry (her husband, Jonnie West, is the Golden State Warriors’ senior director of pro personnel and caddied for Curry’s shot).

1:00

Michelle Wei West critiquing the stars’ swings

Wie West has also begun the conversations with Togethxr’s ownership group about building “a platform that unapologetically celebrates women’s stories and strength.” During her brief time at Togethxr, Wie West has spoken most extensively with Morgan, who retired from soccer last year after scoring 125 international goals, winning two World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, and club championships in three leagues across two continents. While Morgan’s career included sports marketing endorsement deals with Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Nike, it also involved pushing U.S. Soccer for equal pay between men’s and women’s teams, lobbying the NWSL for player safety, and building her Alex Morgan Foundation to create sports equity, opportunities, and maternal assistance for women in San Diego.

Brands in the bag

Heading into her first year with Togethxr as both investor and advisor, identifying potential opportunities, relationships, and narratives within women’s golf, Wie West has strong partners helping her make the case for more stories and overall visibility around women’s golf.

While T-Mobile’s Azzi said Wie West “has been a close friend of the family for some time now,” the official partnership with the brand launched at this year’s Ryder Cup. Wie West met with fans at Club Magenta, spoke on panels about women in sports, and hosted private golf outings with executives. While T-Mobile hosts Club Magenta as a perk for its customers, Wie West sees it as an opportunity to create golf fans and players.

“When we collaborate with Michelle and her team, the conversations are always about creating meaningful experiences and lasting connection: ‘How can this moment empower fans or make the sport feel more inclusive and exciting?’” Azzi said.

T-Mobile started its relationship with the PGA of America in 2024, creating a presence at the PGA Championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and other events. For T-Mobile, the events present opportunities to show off 5G features like Roar Moments of AI-generated highlight clips, live streaming coverage of featured groups at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and data-enhanced broadcasts. They also highlight golf’s expansion into various corners of culture by bringing in endorsers including Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost and Marcello Hernândez.

Wie West resonates not only with players and fans who appreciates the features T-Mobile has built around the game, but also with women, younger fans, and new players entering golf for the first time.

“Michelle bridges so many communities: She’s an icon on the LPGA Tour, a Major Champion, a mother, an advocate for women in sports, and someone who’s grown up with the game while reimagining it in real time,” Azzi said. “She’s inspired the next generation to dream big. That ability to expand the tent around golf is exactly what we look for in partners.”

When it comes to women’s golf, Wie West wants that tent to be as big as possible. Since retiring, Wie West has served as host of the LPGA’s Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J., and just signed a five-year extension with the golf-equipment provider. Her work with the tournament and the Mizuho Americas DrivHER Summit, and its charitable partner Girls Inc. has grown interest in women’s golf on the course. But as Wie West discovered with T-Mobile, more growth may lie elsewhere.

The National Golf Federation found that 32.9 million of the 45 million people who played golf in the U.S. in 2023 did so at off-course facilities including simulators and establishments like Puttshack and Topgolf. Last year, the number of golfers playing only at off-course facilities rose from 18.4 million to more than 19 million.

Those off-course golfers skew more diverse, with women accounting for 43% of all golfers at such facilities, and Black, Hispanic, and Asian golfers representing 45%—compared to just 28% and 25% of all players at U.S. golf courses.

Given Togethxr’s position within various points of sports culture, it could give Wie West’s message greater reach beyond the green.

“Golf has always had a powerful presence in the business world, but right now women’s golf in particular needs to take advantage of the boom in women’s sports,” Wie West told The 4th Quarter. “I think Togethxr has an incredible opportunity to help amplify that momentum, to tell more stories from the LPGA, highlight the personalities, and make the sport more accessible and inspiring for the next generation.

“If we can help more girls and women see themselves in golf, whether that’s playing, watching, or working in the game, that’s a huge win for everyone.”