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When Sponsors Walk Away From Golfers

By: | Mon 07 Mar 2022


PHIL MICKELSON has had a high price to pay for his unguarded remarks about the regime in Saudi Arabia. The veteran American may well have won in excess of $70m in prize money but he has a lavish lifestyle to fund and will be feeling the pinch after news that both KPMG and Callaway have decided to step back.

Mickelson is not the first golfer to suffer because of injudicious comments. Sergio Garcia lost his deal with TaylorMade after comments made about Tiger Woods and just last year Justin Thomas lost sponsors after being heard to utter a homophobic comment after missing a short putt at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

Garcia and Thomas both realised they had made mistakes and were quick to issue grovelling public apologies to those they had offended. Mickelson did the same thing and announced that he was taking time away from the game, but it was too little, too late for two of his major sponsors, who decided that they did not want to be associated with an individual who accused the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed” and described the Saudis - his potential employers, remember - as “scary mother******s”.

Golf is a global game with a huge reach and sponsors know the value of publicity - good and bad.

Phil Mickelson

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Why did TaylorMade agree to pay $100m to Rory McIlroy to play their equipment? It’s not just about the associated success they enjoy when the Northern Irishman wins golf tournaments. 

Rory is one of the most quotable sportsmen on the planet and, much like Jack Nicklaus before him, when he speaks the world tends to sit up and take notice. His comments about the Saudis have been thought-out and reasoned. He always says the right thing at the right time.

And do you think that his sponsors were on his side when he broke down at the Ryder Cup last year, shedding tears in the aftermath of Europe’s humiliating defeat at Whistling Straits? Of course they were. It showed his vulnerability and his human side. It proved that this astonishing game can get to one of the world’s most gifted golfers in exactly the same way that it reduced you and I to tears!

Bryson DeChambeau did himself few favours at The Open Championship last year when he criticised Cobra for failing to provide him with a driver that was fit to do the job. This is a company that pays DeChambeau huge sums of money to use their equipment - clubs with which he has achieved tremendous success. It came as no surprise to anybody that DeChambeau was quick to withdraw his criticism, no doubt because his management team pointed out the folly of his ways.

And you can bet your last pound that Cobra have not enjoyed DeChambeau’s public spat with Brooks Koepka.

It remains to be seen whether KPMG and Callaway forgive Mickelson and renew their deals with him. It is safe to assume that if he does indeed finally decide to throw his lot in with the Saudis that he may still find himself in splendid isolation.


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Tags: PGA Tour FedEx Cup daily picks



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