Will Patrick Reed Sign An Equipment Contract Now?

Elliott Heath

The Masters champion can now place himself on the top table with golf's commercial powerhouses, but will he sign an equipment contract?

Patrick Reed Sign An Equipment Contract
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Will Patrick Reed Sign An Equipment Contract Now?

When Patrick Reed holed the winning putt on the 18th green at Augusta, not only did he pocket a tidy sum of $1.98m, he also became a commercial powerhouse in the world of golf.

The Masters champion, with his steely competitiveness, his shhh’ing at the Ryder Cup and his mere talent to play the game of golf on the biggest stages, is now one of the game’s most recognisable faces.

And with that comes endorsements that can make him richer than most stars across other sports.

Reed visits Times Square on his Masters champion media tour

Of the top nine sporting earners in 2016, from endorsements alone, four were golfers.

Phil Mickelson took home £41m in off-course earnings. Tiger, just over £36m – in a year where he teed it up once.

Jordan Spieth made over £26m and Rory McIlroy was just shy of the £29m mark from sponsorships alone.

In fact, for 2016, McIlroy was the top-earning British sportsperson from endorsements.

According to the research conducted by London School of Marketing, golf is the third-highest sport dependent on endorsements with 75% of earnings coming from sponsors.

Golf is lucrative, we know.

And Patrick Reed could nestle his way up on that list rather soon if things continue to go the way they’re going.

What is rather odd about the Texan is the fact that he has no equipment sponsor.

Much of Mickelson, Woods, Spieth and McIlroy’s earnings came from their equipment – with these players sponsored by Callaway, Nike, Titleist and Nike. Remember, Nike still made clubs in 2016.

Reed’s contract finished with Callaway last year and whilst he took up a new one with Nike for apparel and shoes, he has the freedom to play whatever equipment he likes.

But will that change? You would think so. Especially considering the fact that he’s represented by the agency CAA – Creative Arts Agency.

Watch: Patrick Reed on Masters win and his hopes to win more majors:

CAA also look after clients such as Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Totenham stars Harry Kane and Dele Alli.

The agency have already netted some lucrative deals for Reed since they signed him up after the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, where the American played a starring role as the USA won back the trophy.

Reed has since signed deals with Nike, Hublot and Ultimate Software.

But will he now sign an equipment contract?

Well, the Masters champion still doesn’t fancy the idea.

“I wanted to try something different this year,” Reed said at CNBC today on his post-Masters tour.

“There’s so many great companies out there. When you go on these big deals like this, you kind of get stuck on, you have to use all of the same equipment.

“It’s hard to believe that there is one company that makes 14 perfect clubs and a perfect golf ball for every player.

“So what I did this year, with partnering up with Nike and going kind of more on the clothing side, it has freed me up to use whatever equipment I want.

“I’m able to put 14 clubs and a golf ball in the golf bag that I feel are the perfect fit for me.”

Reed seems to be against the idea. But then again, we heard Rory McIlroy saying similar comments last year and he signed with TaylorMade not long after.

McIlroy’s deal with TaylorMade was worth a rumoured £77m over 10 years.

Will Reed sign an equipment contract this year? Only time will tell.

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