Not because he's a fellow Northwesterner. Not because I think he looks cool with a beard and dresses like a skater. I'm a Ryan Moore fan because of his willingness to forgo a lucrative endorsement deal in return for his personal freedom. He plays golf without the restraints that sometimes come with being rep'd by a major corporation.
Now, this doesn't mean I disparage those who do have sponsor labels on their left chest, hat, bag or so on. More power to them. If it were me, I'd probably sell out to Pepto Bismol and wear that putty-pink color every day, if the price was right. ($50 a day sounds like enough.) Actually, that's not a bad idea...Are you listening, Sergio?
But once in a while it's refreshing to see a player, who for whatever reason, dismisses the idea of endorsing someone else and instead hones in what matters most--his golf game. Crazy? A little. It's not exactly free money, since players often have to not only play certain golf clubs they are also required to partake in certain events, promo/advertisements etc., for their respective endorsement companies. Sometimes, the big chunk of money players make from sponsorship outweighs what's made on the golf course, and if they do become successful and win on tour, there are often sponsor rewards for that too. But that's not usually the case. Most guys have sponsors to offset the costs of living on the road.
Seeing Ryan Moore win a couple weeks ago reminded me of a time when golf was just golf. When golfers wore regular shirts, pants and so forth without the need to bankroll their time-shared corporate jets, twin sports cars (his and hers, of course) and McMansions in Florida and Arizona. You never saw Bobby Jones wearing a hat with a logo, did you? How about Palmer, Nicklaus? Sure, maybe later in their careers, but early on, endorsements were fulfilled off the course, not on it.
Guess it's just the way things are, with the advent of television came more endorsements which thankfully, hasn't spread to other professional sports jerseys (with exception to soccer) yet. God forbid the day comes when my favorite baseball team has a fat nasty logo on the front.
But anyway, I'm losing my chain of thought. Back to Ryan Moore. Golf.com estimated the lack of sponsorships/endorsements that Moore passed up was around $300,000. Whoa. That's a nice wad of cash.
Imagine how many skateboards Ryan Moore could buy with that.
Not everybody is going to make it to Turnberry for this year's British Open (Phil Mickelson included), but that doesn't mean you can't score some great golf gear representing golf's oldest and most historic golf event.
