Panasonic-Sponsored Ryo Ishikawa Makes His Mark On The Sony Open

Golfer Ryo Ishikawa “made for an incongruous Panasonic island in the vast Sony marketing sea Monday as he teed off in the Sony Dream Cup pro-am,” according to Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu STAR ADVERTISER. His white bag “prominently features ‘Panasonic’ across the front in blue lettering,” his red shirt had “a black and white ‘Panasonic’ tag on the right sleeve" and his black hat also carried the white labels. Ishikawa figures to be one of the biggest draws this week at the PGA Tour Sony Open "if the turnout Monday was an early indication.” A gallery “two and three deep came just to watch him at the putting green” and there were “47 Japan media members here to chronicle it all.” Ishikawa in Japan is the “most recognizable promotional face on those TVs” and he is behind only Mariners RF Ichiro Suzuki for “popularity among athletes and unsurpassed by entertainment figures for sponsorships.” Ishikawa signed an endorsement deal with Panasonic at “age 16 and now is said to have a record 17 sponsorship deals, the combination of which has been reported to bring him more than $10 million a year.” Meanwhile, when the earthquake and tsunami devastated northern Japan last year, Ishikawa “pledged his 2011 winnings and an additional $1,000 per birdie for a victims’ fund.” His donation totaled “more than $1.5 million” (Honolulu STAR ADVERTISER, 1/10).

SALT & PUTTER: GOLFWEEK’s Forecaddie notes golfer Kevin Na wears a "Na 11" logo on his sleeves and he “endorses the product not for profit but for his faith.” Na is the abbreviation for sodium on the Periodic Table, and its atomic number is 11. The connection was made with “the name, sodium, and a passage in the Bible.” The passage reads, “Jesus told his disciples, ‘You are the salt of the earth.’” Na said that the idea of putting Na 11 "all together in a logo ... came to him a week before leaving” for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Na started his ’12 season last week with the logo “modest and discreet” on his sleeve (GOLFWEEK, 1/13 issue).