While Se Ri Pak has played Callaway irons for the last
two years, she "wanted to keep them in the bag ... but only
on terms that kept other endorsement money flowing in, "
according to GOLF WORLD. But since her apparel, bag and hat
were "taken up by Samsung, Astra and Maxfli logos," Callaway
"saw no free space and offered no contract." Another
"complicating factor is the recent entrance of a dot-com
company into the endorsement hunt (see THE DAILY, 1/18).
Pak, who plays Maxfli balls, is now playing the company's
irons as well (GOLF WORLD, 1/21 issue).
AMAZING GRACE: GOLF WORLD's Lisa Mickey profiles last
year's LPGA "super rookie" and Korean native Grace Park, who
is "playing coy" regarding potential endorsements. Last
week, she played a pro-am with LPGA Teaching Division
President Kerry Graham "in an effort to attract LPGA
corporate sponsorships -- a rare and heady assignment for a
rookie, especially an international one." But Park's "camp
insists she won't sign" any endorsement or agency deals
"until June -- or ... until she wins" (GOLF WORLD, 1/21).
MORE NOTES: Nike Golf will unveil this season at least
four new golf ball ads, which will feature Craig Stadler,
Notah Begay III, Paul Lawrie and Paul Azinger. Azinger's
spot will debut next month (GOLFWEEK, 1/20)....GOLFWEEK's
John Steinbreder writes that some observers "argue that" if
companies -- such as Buick with Tiger Woods and Canon with
Davis Love III -- got their player endorsers to commit to
the events of which they are sponsors as "part of broader
endorsement deals, then they are, in fact, paying appearance
money." The U.S. PGA Tour does not allow "such
compensation." But Ernie Els "disagrees with the notion"
that Buick is paying Woods "creative appearance money." Els
said the Buick/Woods deal is "totally different" than
typical "appearance-fee deals" that are allowed on the
European Tour (GOLFWEEK, 1/15).
