HOW TO A FUTURE STAR
Michael Weston investigates how equipment manufacturers go about trying to find and sign up the next big thing
very season there’s a new ‘next big thing’. They’re fitter, stronger and, as we often hear, “ready to win”. Feeding the top tier, there’s a never-ending conveyor belt of young hopefuls among the mini tours jostling for a breakthrough, all looking to take that next step – and perhaps even score a career-changing sponsorship deal with a manufacturer which could help kick-start their journey. The brands are watching; they’re always on the lookout, searching for fresh talent and assessing potential. There’s a certain strategy involved – and it’s not simply about splashing the cash.
In the NBA or NHL, when players go to Combine – a scouting exercise in front of top coaches – they are put through all manner of tests, designed to determine where they are at with their game. These aren’t just physical trials but mental ones, too, which reveal more about their attitude and how they view life. Formal trials like this don’t exist in golf – not in front of manufacturers, at least – but these same personality traits are taken into account. For manufacturers, they offer a clue as to how much potential a player has and how, even, someone might represent the brand.
“You walk down the range now and everyone hits the ball so well,” says Alex Thorne, tour manager and product manager for golf
clubs, EMEA, Mizuno. “Where the game’s advanced so much, the guys have become so much bigger and stronger. Everyone’s hitting it so well and so consistently. It’s more mental attitude that we’re looking at. It’s about process and preparations – what kind of process
“You’ve got to have a player who’s presentable on camera, who’s able to carry out a live chat on Instagram”
they go through on the range and before they get to the range and how they address the whole week.”
Everyone knows who the best players are, and everyone can see who’s impressing on the stats front: scoring averages, driving, scrambling, putting... it’s all easily accessible. Thorne and his colleague, Matt Mcisaac, keep tabs on the amateur scene and feeder tours, and typically attend 20 tournaments a season, “keeping their finger on the pulse” in terms of who’s hot. The trick, though – as Thorne’s opposite number in the States, Jeff Cook, says – is “to find players who are just as good and possibly better that not everyone wants”.
Keith Mitchell is a good example. The 28-year-old
American demonstrated his potential in winning the Honda Classic last year, his first PGA Tour title. It came as no surprise to Cook, a former pro who has a keen eye for talent spotting. “Keith was in college, went to Georgia right by our office, so we’d looked at him and once he became available and was trying to progress through the levels – when he got to the Web. com Tour – we knew he had huge potential and hadn’t tapped it yet,” he says.
“There’s no perfect formula to figuring out if it’s going to happen, but you could see that if he kept progressing, it could be huge for not only Keith but whichever manufacturer he worked with. Luckily for us that was Mizuno. Keith has the potential to go even further. As time goes on, I see him becoming a multiple [PGA Tour] winner, hopefully a Major winner.”
The right fit
It’s not about throwing big money at the better, more established players. Scott Gregory may have had his struggles since winning the Amateur Championship in 2016, but like Frenchman Adrien Saddier and the Isle of Man’s Tom Gandy, he’s seen to have the potential and, crucially, a certain character that fits the brand – young, engaging and enthusiastic, not just about the game but equipment, too.
This is very much the brief for Thorne and Cook. David Matthews, western global golf brand marketing manager at Mizuno, puts it like this: “Go find young players who are prepared to work with us and put our products in the bag and
actually like the equipment. Then we can talk about a deal.”
It’s also a two-way relationship. Brands are looking at what players can bring to the table. What is ‘X’ number of pounds going to get you? What’s your return on investment likely to be? “Gone are the days where you’re given a contract and it’s like, ‘See you on the tele at the weekend’,” says Thorne. “You’ve got to have a player who’s presentable on camera, who’s able to carry out a live chat on Instagram, for example. You want a brand ambassador to do any and all roles that will be beneficial to the brand.”
Luke Donald is one of those ambassadors, as was Sir Nick Faldo. Renowned for their scrupulous attention to detail, they’ve been the perfect fit for a manufacturer whose reputation has been built on precision. Over the years, they’ve played a key role in product development, too. As Matthews says, “The brand had been built on Nick’s quest for perfection – a lack of tolerance on anything less than perfect.” So, when you join the team, feedback is encouraged; it’s part of the job of an ambassador.
“We like to work with the players who say, ‘here’s what I felt’, ‘here’s what it didn’t do’,” says Chris Voshall, golf club engineer at Mizuno. That’s not to say Mizuno designs bespoke clubs for specific players – contracted or otherwise.
Donald once played with a slightly modified version of the MP-32. There was also a time when Brooks Koepka was up for grabs when
Voshall and the team designed a club in the JPX line that they thought he would like, only for the American to sign for Nike before they had the chance to speak. This is not, however, how they “tend to roll”. As far as Mizuno’s line-up of clubs is concerned, what you see is what you get – and the players tend to come knocking.
Free agents
As it happens, Koepka is now one of those, a free agent who chooses to play Mizuno irons without being on a contract; they were in the bag during all four of his Major victories. Mizuno is happy to send out clubs when someone asks for them, although it’s not typically a brand that distributes boatloads of clubs in an effort to lure players. “Our first step is never a discussion with an agent about who is available,” says Voshall. “It’s try our clubs and if they are working for you let’s continue our discussion.”
Koepka is one of a growing number of top players opting against putting pen to paper with one brand. Tommy Fleetwood is another who has the freedom to try the latest gear. Why bother signing a contract – albeit a very lucrative one – when you’re earning vast sums of prize money on tour each week? Why tie yourself down to a 14-club deal?
In years gone by, contracted Mizuno players could go out and play with whatever driver they wanted. Matthews says it became “normal, expected almost”, which gave the public the impression that they didn’t take the driver seriously. That, he says, was not down to the product, but because players just had the freedom under their contracts. That has changed, and from this year contracted players are required to play the driver.
It’s not proving to be a sticking point. Donald, who in the past tended to switch between drivers, has a new favourite in the ST200G. The 14-club contract is no longer so much of a deal breaker, especially when younger players join the team and are open to trying new product. Many, such as Mitchell and Gregory, were playing Mizuno long before
“It’s much easier to work with younger guys who haven’t made their minds up already”
they even signed a contract. “It’s much easier to work with younger guys who haven’t made their minds up already and their minds are a blank canvas,” says Matthews.
Landing a contract with a manufacturer is certainly not easy; they’re not handed out the moment a player turns professional. For anyone who signs a deal, it’s a real feather in the cap. Aside from the financial boost a player can receive – which is so often crucial for those just starting out – winning a contract offers something more: recognition of having great talent and potential and the desired attitude. It gets noticed – and it can take a player far.