Rarely have the logos on a golfer’s apparel garnered as much interest as Tommy Fleetwood’s have this spring, but much of that was earned. Fleetwood has been repping a wide array of golf course logos at basically every Tour stop he’s played this season.
There was Pebble Beach, Discovery Dunes and Riviera hats throughout February and March. Even a lid with the gold boy logo during the Players Championship. And while his weekly shifts will continue for parts of his get up, the logo on his hat has found some permanence.
Blackstone is in.
Fleetwood has locked in the investment giant Blackstone as a hat sponsor one week ahead of the Masters, perhaps the most visible week on the calendar. He’ll wear the logo on the front of his cap for the rest of the season, marking Blackstone’s first spend in the golf space, and marking Tommy as its first global ambassador.
“I’m at that place in my life, where any new partnership that comes up, there’s a bunch of things that go into it,” Fleetwood said over the phone earlier this week. “Sort of have to have shared values. Being able to help each other either way. Like I guess people that I can learn lessons from and gain experience from, things like that, I think that’s always very, very important.”
By that Fleetwood very literally means the relationship he has with Joseph Barrata, the head of Blackstone Private Equity. Their friendship stems from the Dunhill Links Championship — a favourite of Fleetwood’s, held in St. Andrews every fall — where they’ve played together multiple times. Fleetwood says he has often found himself inspired by his various Dunhill partners — feeling the least successful in his group — and is always picking their brains to see what he can apply to his trade.
Fans will see Fleetwood wearing the Blackstone logo this week at the Valero Texas Open, but that doesn’t bring an end to the fun apparel journey he’s been on. More than any other pro, he’s been very public about his apparel free agency and that will continue next week at the Masters. Rest assured, he’s planning to wear some Augusta National logos on his person next week, keeping the tradition going from shoulders-to-toes.
“It’s going to carry on,” Fleetwood said. “I’m wearing a Blackstone hat, but I still have all the freedom of wearing my own clothes. So far this year I think I’ve been a mix of golf fan, like wearing a lot of golf merchandise, but also wearing clothes and fits I would wear not on the golf course, if you like, or figuring out what I like when I play.”
Beyond learning what feels good from a playing-clothes perspective, Fleetwood said he’s come to understand his visibility much better. He’s leaned into the story a good bit, even filming this simple pro shop promotion, playing off the idea that he’s been buying all his gear off the rack. After 20 years with Nike, this experience has taught him things about how he may want to move forward with apparel sponsors in different ways than the past. How that shakes out, we will have to wait and see.
Blackstone also recently made its first splash in sports at-large, buying into a new ownership group of Indian cricket champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
This article originated on Golf.com
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