Myrtle Beach Classic loses the jet firm that paid half its $4m purse

The PGA TOUR confirmed on 15 October that it had cut ties with ONEflight International, the private-jet company that paid about $2 million of the Myrtle Beach Classic’s $4 million purse, according to the Post and Courier. The split came a month after ONEflight stopped flying and customers began suing it. Visit Myrtle Beach, the tourism arm of the local chamber of commerce and a title sponsor since the event began in 2024, will now be the sole title sponsor.

SPORTFIVE, which runs the event, named Steve Mays tournament director in place of Darren Nelson the same day. “There’ll be no change to the purse or to the tournament,” Mays told WMBF News. He spent nine years as president of Founders Group International, which ran 21 courses in the area during his time there, and said it was too early to know whether another title sponsor would join.

ONEflight, based in Englewood, Colorado, signed a three-year deal as co-title sponsor in February 2025 and brought Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell to that year’s pro-am. On 16 September it halted all flights for at least 30 days, citing a “comprehensive evaluation of our current operation and status”, and it has given no update since. Nobody from the company attended the tournament’s charity cheque presentation at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club on 28 September, WMBF reported.

Seven federal lawsuits alleging fraud have been filed against ONEflight, three in September and four in October, according to the Post and Courier. The plaintiffs say it took prepaid, non-refundable deposits for flight hours it could not deliver, and court filings put the deposits it has not returned at about $150 million. A California customer’s suit, filed on 20 September, calls the arrangement “the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme”. None of the claims has been tested in court. The Post and Courier could not reach ONEflight for comment, and the company’s website carries only a message thanking customers for their patience.

The 2027 Classic is on 13–16 May at the Dunes Club, where Brandt Snedeker won this year at −18, one shot ahead of Mark Hubbard, and took $720,000. It is the last edition under the event’s current agreement with the PGA TOUR, WPDE reported. In May 2023 the tour announced a four-year deal to stage the tournament at the Dunes Club, starting in 2024.

Sources

• WMBF News: Myrtle Beach Classic official says event unchanged after PGA Tour splits with ONEflight
• Post and Courier: ONEflight is out. But Myrtle Beach’s PGA Tour event will continue, officials say
• Post and Courier: ‘Hallmark of a Ponzi scheme’: title sponsor of Myrtle Beach’s PGA Tour event faces fraud allegations
• WPDE: New director for Myrtle Beach Classic weighs in on goals and ONEflight controversy
• Golf Monthly: PGA Tour drops $4m tournament sponsor facing federal fraud allegations
• Wikipedia: Myrtle Beach Classic