History of enduring support
Quest for perfection and excellence – factors consistent with Rolex and golf
THE history of sport, spanning more than a couple of millennium, is laden with stories of joyous celebrations and great agony, supreme triumph and abject defeat.
Others shed light on immense sacrifices and uncontrolled intimidation, fairy tale-like achievements and unscrupulous cheating driven by unbound greed.
Individual spell-binding success and the collective pride of riveting team comradeship have had their fair share in the spotlight.
But the best of these, for some of us anyway, are those with people at the centre of them – people have a genuine quest for perfection, excellence and sportsmanship.
Another chapter is being written into the annals of sports history and it is that of Rolex celebrating an association of 50 years with golf.
Indeed, Rolex’s enduring 50-year relationship with the game of golf began in 1967 with the now late, great Arnold Palmer, who soon was joined by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
Known as The Big Three, these legendary players’ connections with Rolex marked the beginnings of a partnership based on the ideals of perfection, excellence and sportsmanship.
Since then, the affiliation between Rolex and golf as a whole has grown into one with a global reach.
Across nearly two decades, Arnold Palmer won seven Major titles, while Gary Player captured nine Majors and Jack Nicklaus accumulated 18 Major championship crowns – a feat that remains unsurpassed at the very summit of the game.
Rolex is now part of the very fabric of golf and supports the game at all levels – from elite players and legends of the game, men and women’s Major winners, the foremost professional Tours, and the world’s leading team formats to global amateur tournaments, international federations and organisations representing golfers of all ages, from juniors to seniors.
This is especially true of those who have led their sport throughout their playing careers and have extended their legacy as captains at the game’s most compelling team events – the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Solheim Cup.
Marking its golden jubilee this year, the association between Rolex and golf has been steeped in quality, reliability and pioneering spirit.
From the epicentres of golf, the R&A and the USGA, through to the Masters, the US PGA Tour, the European Tour and the LPGA to the Asian Tour, Rolex is there.
This led USGA’s executive director Mike Davis to note: “I can’t think of a company that is more globally and passionately associated with golf. Rolex support permeates the core of golf, beyond championships and players, to the Rules, history and etiquette.”
From The Big Three to the New Guard, the continuity was seamless and its history will continue to be built upon for the next 50 years and counting.
Today, we have what has becomeb kknown as theth “RRolexl NNew Guard”. This is a new generation of golfers – who, like The Big Three before them, are a burgeoning young group of aspiring golfers asserting their authority on the sport and in doing so, are inspiring future generations of athletes to follow them.
They are a group of young golfers who confidently go about their business with integrity, maturity and respect as well as displaying skill, precision and ambition.
Born in the 1980s and 1990s these prodigious talents include Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, the Canadian winner of the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (aged 18), Justin Thomas, who won back-to-back CIMB Classics, is the PGA Tour Player of the Year, 2015 Players Championship winner Rickie Fowler,
Hideki Matsuyama of
Japan, Daniel Berger, Thomas Pieters, Jon Rahm, 2015 US Amateur champion Bryson DeChambea and US
Open champion Brooks Koepka.
“Golf goes through cycles and through generations,” said Annika Sörenstam, former Rolex Rankings world No 1.
“Jordan, Rickie and Jason are fun personalities and powerful players as well as quality individuals. There is certainly a new generation emerging and I feel golf is in good hands.”
And over five decades, Rolex’s connection with the game has onlyl grown stronger, d deeper and d more integral.
Sharing golf ’s values, supporting its ambitions, helping to develop its future growth and well-being, Rolex is a passionate supporter of the game. And there is promise that it will be there long into
the future.