Oakley is known for its cool shades, but the company markets its eyewear as an important piece of golf equipment. Where did Oakley get the idea for that approach?
Australian golfer Brett Ogle was the first PGA Tour pro to win a tournament wearing Oakley sunglasses, in 1994. He was defending that championship the following year at the Hawaiian Open when he hit a wayward drive behind a tree on the 13th hole.
As Ogle tried to punch the ball back to the fairway, his club slammed into the tree and his iron snapped, causing the clubhead to fly toward his face. The head of the iron popped Ogle in the cheek and left a slashing mark across his Oakley glasses.
“If I hadn’t been wearing the Oakleys, yes, no doubt, I would have done some serious damage to my left eye,” Ogle wrote in an email last week. “I still remember it well. … It’s funny now because I laid on the ground for quite some time trying to figure out what just hit me. Meanwhile, my good friend John Daly was in the group behind and he hit his drive near where I lay. He thought he had me with his tee shot. Very funny stuff, actually.”
Oakley’s reputation in golf grew exponentially when David Duval wore the eyewear during his run as the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer in 1999. Duval began wearing Oakleys in college at Georgia Tech because he had allergies that made his eyes more sensitive to sunlight. Louis Wellen, Oakley’s sports marketing manager, suggested to Georgia Tech coach Puggy Blackmon that Duval wear the wrap-around Oakleys, and he stayed with the brand.
“When Duval won a major [the 2001 British Open] in a pair of Oakleys, that put us on the map,” Wellen said.
— Michael Smith
