Posted April 2025
When Rory McIlroy sank the final putt in a Monday playoff to win THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass last year, the world saw a two-time major champion at the peak of his powers. What they didn’t see was a small handcrafted coin in his pocket — made in a garage in Melville, New York.
That marker belongs to Jon Millman, founder of Golf Life Metals (GLM). On one side: a Manchester United tribute. On the other: the words “You already know how to play golf” — spoken by McIlroy’s four-year-old daughter Poppy when Rory told her he was heading to see his swing coach. Her name sits in the center. McIlroy first appeared with the GLM marker at the 2023 WGC Match Play. He hasn’t put it down since, winning the Scottish Open, the Zurich Classic, the Wells Fargo Championship, and then THE PLAYERS — the richest event in professional golf.
“I don’t make equipment,” says Millman. “I make something personal. Something that means something to the person carrying it. That’s the whole point of GLM.”
Millman started Golf Life Metals during the COVID lockdown of 2020 with a set of stamps and a hammer. What began as a hobby became a business, and that business found its way onto the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf, and the Champions Tour — carried by dozens of professionals who trust what’s in their pocket when it matters most.
THE PLAYERS was another chapter. It won’t be the last.
Custom markers are available at GolfLifeMetals.com.