The Loop
Tom Hanks, Bill Gates, Kate Middleton and...Jordan Spieth?
Stories of interest you might have missed…
"Ten days after winning the Masters, Jordan Spieth finds himself on a leaderboard of a different sort: that of pitchman. Dallas' golf phenom now ranks No. 5 when it comes to endorsement value among nearly 4,000 celebrities tracked by The Marketing Arm. And when it comes to I want to be like him,' only Tom Hanks, Bill Gates and Kate Middleton track higher than [Spieth]," Cheryl Hall writes in the Dallas Morning News.
Darius Rucker, Jake Owen and Jordan Spieth (Getty Images)
Lexi Thompson recently added Zurich to her endorsement portfolio and was on site at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, representing the company and hanging with brothers Curtis and Nicholas, who are are in the tournament field. "She's a rising marketing star who has some pretty good golfing skills and advertising deals with Zurich, EA Sports, Puma and Red Bull," Trey Iles of the Times-Picayune writes in this story on Thompson. "Though not yet on the level of Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova, Thompson is gaining ground."
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Jim Furyk, a singles hitter in a power game, continues to defy conventional wisdom, Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press writes. "The consensus was that Furyk wouldn't be able to hang on much longer as 300-yard drives were becoming the norm…he already was 40, and Furyk wasn't getting any longer. Or younger. Players can rely only so much on grit and a great short game. That conversation took place more than four years ago. From then until now, the 44-year-old Furyk has earned just short of $16 million, along with seven runner-up finishes and — finally — another PGA Tour victory."
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"It will be terrific for the Scottish tourist industry to see the iconic hotel [at Trump Turnberry] in its full glory…What golfing aficionados have been waiting patiently to discover, however, is what exactly did Donald [Trump] and his team have in mind for our beloved Ailsa Course…In my humble opinion I think they will enhance what was already a great test of golf," Martin Dempster of the Scotsman writes.
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It has been a memorable year for Laura Davies, notwithstanding her not winning. "I turned out really lucky to have been named a member of the R&A and inducted into the Hall of Fame during Open week. It doesn't get much better than that," she said in this story by Garry Smits of the Florida Times-Union about Davies first visit to the World Golf Hall of Fame nearby.