Lexi Thompson on the LPGA Drive On Championship final week.
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Late final summer time, Brett Falkoff, a golf agent with the sports activities and advertising company GSE Worldwide, realized by means of colleagues that Dick’s Sporting Goods, which owns and is the unique vendor of Maxfli golf balls, was seeking to enhance Maxfli’s publicity by partnering with a PGA Tour participant.
The timing wasn’t proper for any of the male gamers on GSE’s roster, however, Falkoff was requested, may 11-time LPGA winner Lexi Thompson, who Falkoff has represented since 2020 and whose ball deal with Bridgestone was set to run out at 12 months’s finish, be fascinated with exploring an settlement with Dick’s?
“I said, ‘Absolutely not,’” Falkoff instructed GOLF.com in a telephone interview Monday.
Falkoff knew of Maxfli’s wealthy legacy of Tour execs enjoying its balls — the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Fred Couples all have endorsed the model — however in newer instances Maxfli has had little to no presence within the recreation’s elite ranks. At first blush, Falkoff felt the prospect of Thompson gaming Maxflis was a non-starter.
Still, as he and his consumer scoped out choices for a new ball companion for 2024 and past, they agreed to check Maxfli’s Tour Series mannequin as a part of the invention course of.
Then they noticed the outcomes.
“We were all in shock,” Falkoff stated. “The golf ball was better than anything else she tested. It became a nice match, and we were able to work out a nice agreement.” That one-year association will embody Thompson enjoying the ball for the 2024 season and in addition carrying a Maxlfi brand on the proper facet of her visor; she additionally will present suggestions to Maxfli because it develops its 2025 fashions.
Falkoff is aware of the way it may look: a longtime and extremely marketable star signing with a comparatively low-profile model. “People look at a deal like this and say, ‘Oh, it must have been a money grab.’ [But] if you really looked into it, this late in her career, why would she do something that is just a money grab? At the end of the day, she’s just looking to play something that performs the best for her.”
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He added: “I made it clear to Lexi that you’re not going to sign with a golf-ball company only because you’re getting paid a good amount of money. At this point in your career, you’re going to play whatever’s best for you.”
While Thompson noticed wonderful outcomes throughout testing — she stated she has picked up ball velocity with out shedding any really feel or management — Falkoff acknowledged that the swap wasn’t pushed solely by launch-monitor knowledge. Though Thompson started to search out her type towards the tip of 2023, final 12 months was largely a wrestle for her. In her 11 begins earlier than the Solheim Cup, Thompson made simply three cuts and broke 70 solely 4 instances.
Change was wanted, and it got here, within the type of some mid-season swing tweaks and a caddie swap. In January of this 12 months, Thompson introduced that she had employed a new full-time caddie, Colton Heisey, with whom Thompson had begun working towards the tip of 2023.
Then got here a new ball.
“Whenever you’re struggling, you’ve got to realize that you need to change some things up,” stated Falkoff, whose different purchasers embody Bryson DeChambeau and Sam Burns. “She’s been with Bridgestone for five years. She always loved their golf ball, but sometimes when you’re struggling, you need to make a change, and she’s looking at all areas of the game, and the golf ball was one of them knowing this was going to be a contract year.”
The phrases of the partnership weren’t disclosed, however it’s secure to say that Thompson, who additionally endorses, amongst different manufacturers, Cobra Puma, Rolex, UKG and Club Champion, shall be paid handsomely for turning into the primary LPGA participant to endorse and solely play a Maxfli ball. (The solely different Maxfli-sponsored participant on a significant tour is nine-time PGA Tour Champions winner Fred Funk.)
“Lexi makes an ideal partner as an established presence in golf,” Aimee Watters, VP vertical model advertising for Dick’s Sporting Goods, instructed GOLF.com by e-mail. “She provides instant name recognition and further legitimacy to the Maxfli brand.”
When requested whether or not Dick’s is actively searching for different Tour execs to beef up its workers roster, Watters stated, “Right now, we are laser focused on our deal with Lexi and look forward to supporting her on tour this year.”
In Thompson’s first begin of 2024 — the LPGA Drive On Championship, in Bradenton, Fla., final week — she tied for sixteenth. Following a second-round 67, she was requested in regards to the newest addition to her arsenal.
“I’ve been testing the ball for the last month or two, especially in the wind,” Thompson stated. “In the wind is the most important [for] ball testing, and I’ve seen nothing but a little bit lower spin, which is great in the wind, and it does even better in the crosswind. That’s super-important for me, and I’m looking forward to playing it.”
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