Want more from Front Office Sports
in your search results?
Scottie Scheffler won the Masters on Sunday, taking home his second green jacket and the $3.6 million winner’s check. Already ranked No. 1 in the world, the victory—his third in the last four tournaments he’s played—further cements Scheffler atop the golf world, and takes his earnings this season to more than $15 million. The Masters offered a tournament record purse of $20 million this year.
But don’t expect much to change off the course for the soft spoken and even-keeled Scheffler, whose endorsement portfolio is relatively simple compared to many other professional golfers who adorn dozens of different logos on their clothes while repping various brands. Scheffler’s current deals include: Nike (apparel), TaylorMade (clubs), Titleist (ball), Rolex, and NetJets. Even before this latest win at Augusta National, Scheffler has had ample opportunity to expand his sponsorship presence if he wanted to.
Scheffler has been a steady supporter of the PGA Tour ever since the emergence of LIV Golf. He’s not one of the seven players on the 13-member board of directors for the newly established PGA Tour Enterprises venture, but Scheffler has been fairly blunt in some of his comments about blaming LIV players for the fractured state of the sport.
Up next: Scheffler will be the betting favorite at next month’s PGA Championship, as he looks to win a third major championship, a feat that would put him halfway toward completing the calendar grand slam, and certainly stoke more mainstream interest in golf that often fades after the Masters each spring.
Thanks for the Memories
Legendary broadcaster Verne Lundquist ended his 40-year run calling the Masters on Sunday. Throughout the tournament, his peers at CBS and ESPN showered the 83-year-old with praise for his impact at Augusta National.
“I trust you’ll understand, I’m going to take a deep breath,“ Lundquist said on air as Scheffler’s group began walking toward the 16th green that the broadcaster has made so many famous calls at. As fans gave the eventual Masters winner a standing ovation, lead announcer Jim Nantz said, “Verne, that crowd could just as well be standing for you.”
Beyond golf, Lundquist is of course also famous for his long run calling SEC football games on CBS, which he stopped doing in 2016.
Long Road Ahead
With golf’s first major championship of the year now in the books, PGA Tour and LIV Golf players are set to compete at the same course just three more times in 2024 at the PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and Open Championship. With plenty of questions remaining about the future of professional golf, it would be a surprise at this point if any major resolution was reached before the PGA Tour’s playoffs conclude in August.
