(l to r) Andrea Lee, Albane Valenzuela, Kevin Hopkins, Bronte Law and Sierra BrooksEXCEL
Excel Sports Management officially has launched a women's golf division, adding six new female clients, including LPGA winner Bronte Law and two-time U.S. Women's Amateur champion Kristen Gillman. Excel also signed LPGA rookies Andrea Lee, Jillian Hollis and Albane Valenzuela, as well as Symetra Tour rookie Sierra Brooks. All the golfers are represented by Kevin Hopkins, who joined Excel in '18 from IMG, where he was involved in the golf representation and event management space. At IMG, he served as Exec Dir of multiple LPGA tournaments, including the ANA Inspiration and the U.S. Women's Open. Excel has negotiated endorsement deals for the new clients, with both endemic and non-endemic companies, including TaylorMade, Ping, Callaway, Nike, Titleist, Levelwear, Morgan Stanley, Monster Energy, Progressive Insurance, Rolex, Foray Golf and Troon Golf.
GETTING OFF THE GROUND: Excel represents Tiger Woods and his niece, Cheyenne Woods, who currently plays on the Symetra Tour. Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, who started his career representing Annika Sörenstam, told THE DAILY the agency intends to build a division that serves the best women golfers in the world by providing them with opportunities on and off the course. There are a number of reasons why now is the right time to launch, including LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan's initiatives, Steinberg added. "Under Mike Whan’s leadership, the game has grown tremendously," Steinberg said. "He has done a phenomenal job, particularly with increasing sponsor interest around the world. Excel ... felt now is the right time to really increase our efforts and participation in the women’s game. The PGA Tour’s interest in the LPGA has assisted in the growth of popularity and that has been an intriguing factor."
RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB: Steinberg joined Excel as a partner in '11 from IMG, where he ran its golf division. Hopkins formerly worked for Steinberg at IMG. Hopkins' experience with events, as well as with the women's game, were both reasons why Excel hired him, Steinberg said. Hopkins in '18 was involved in "The Match" featuring Woods and Phil Mickelson, while quietly working on building a women's division. "When I came over, Mark asked me if this were something that we would be able to build, and I thought there was certainly room for another major player within the women's golf space," Hopkins said. "There was an opportunity to complement exactly what we do on the men's side, which is representing the most talented and most marketable women in the game, and I think that's what we are on the path to growing here." Excel also counts Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Gary Woodland and Matt Kuchar among its men's golf clients.
