U.S. Open champion
Brooks Koepka is in the enviable and unusual position of having just won a major golf event while not being under contract to a golf club manufacturer.
“We can sign a new equipment deal at any time,” said Rocky Hambric, founder and CEO of Hambric Sports Management, which represents Koepka. “His value has gone up significantly from winning this major.”
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Brooks Koepka, a Hambric Sports Management client, won at Erin Hills.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES |
The Open victory June 19 at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis., was the first win in a major for Koepka, who has been on the PGA Tour since 2014. He finished 16 under par, tying Rory McIlroy’s 2011 record for most shots under par at a U.S. Open.
He did it with a mixed bag of clubs.
Koepka is a Nike athlete and renewed his Nike head-to-toe apparel and shoes and equipment deal in January 2016. But in the summer of 2016, Nike announced it was getting out of the golf club and ball business, which made Koepka an equipment free agent.
“If he finds equipment that he really likes enough of to satisfy the company — in the amount of equipment he can play — then I think we’ll do a really good deal this summer or fall,” Hambric said. But if Koepka isn’t comfortable with the clubs, he may forgo a deal.
“One of the reasons why he is so good and one of the reasons he differentiated himself at the Open from the crowd of players that were around him is he wouldn’t do a $10 million-a-year equipment deal just for the sake of the money,” Hambric said.
Since he is a Nike athlete, Koepka wears a swoosh on the front of his cap, which is the prime sponsorship position for a golfer. But the position on his golf bag is open, said Blake Smith, Hambric Sports Management executive vice president and Koepka’s day-to-day agent and manager. The clubs in his bag now include Titleist, TaylorMade and Mizuno, as well as Nike.
In addition to Nike, Koepka has endorsement deals with Rolex and Michelob Ultra.
Koepka was ranked No. 22 in the world before the Open, but the victory moved him to No. 10. Hambric Sports Management also represents Dustin Johnson, the world No. 1, who won last year’s U.S. Open.
Hambric Sports represents about 30 golfers, a little more than half playing in the U.S. and the rest in Europe.
“For a company that doesn’t strive to be the biggest, it’s nice to have players in the top 10 in the world rankings and back-to-back U.S. Open champions,” Hambric said.
Hambric, 68, in August will celebrate his 40th anniversary of representing golfers, and he has no plans to retire. “I am looking forward to getting 50 years in the business,” he said.
> OFF TO CAMP: Players who weren’t taken in the NBA draft last week may get another chance at playing professionally at the Worldwide Invitational camp, which will be July 9-11 at UNLV, near the NBA’s Summer League.
Coaches, scouts and other player personnel from basketball teams in Europe and Asia as well as the U.S. attend the camp, now in its sixth year.
This year, for the first time, the camp has partnered with BAM Testing, said Justin Haynes, founder of the event. BAM’s player measurements will include vertical leap, wingspan and three-quarter-court sprint.
> ICM SIGNS WILLIAMS: ICM Partners has signed ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams for representation in all areas.
Williams, a former point guard at Duke and in the NBA, has been an ESPN broadcaster since 2008. He will be represented by agents from several departments at ICM. He was formerly represented by Creative Artists Agency.
Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
