When playing in Rivals mode, save your profile every time you exit to the main menu. Sometimes you will get offered a sponsorship when you have done something great, such as defeating Tiger in one of his challenges. If it is early in the game and EA Sports, Nike, Nike TW Collection, Adidas, or Under Armour offer you a sponsorship, decline it. Then, reload your profile, go into Rivals mode again, and do not save your profile. Exit to the main menu again. Most of the time you will be offered a different sponsorship. This is done so that you can get the aforementioned sponsorships later in the game to have many more items to choose from, with larger payouts. If you take a Precept, TaylorMade, Bridgestone, etc. sponsorship early, you will get small payouts, but only on a few items.