Pressel Flirts With Marketing Disaster

February 21, 2006

In her first LPGA Tournament, rookie Morgan Pressel expected to be the Belle of the Ball; instead she was almost the gamine.

She had lost her clothes. Or at least her shirts.

When Pressel got to Hawaii last week, she discovered that she had left behind fifteen shirts provided to her via her new deal with Polo Ralph Lauren. All ready for the ball, and nothing to wear.

Fortunately, her aunt was able to Fedex the missing prom dresses—err, shirts—in time for the tournament.

It’s a cute story, but the big picture here is how much corporate sponsorships have come to mean. If you or I had forgotten to pack shirts on a golf trip to Hawaii, we would have gone down to the local department store and bought some.

But Pressel couldn’t do that. She HAD to wear those shirts in her LPGA debut. And getting replacements off the rack—even Polo replacements—wouldn’t do. I’m sure that those shirts were specially selected by Polo representatives to show off their spring line. And to not have them would have been a major faux pas.

Not a criticism. Just an observation about the current state of the business of golf.