Has Adam Scott really signed with Under Armour?

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Opinion – by Evin Priest

RUMOURS circulated by Secret Tour Pro are usually taken with a grain of salt.

However, when they relate to Adam Scott, it piques added interest given the 2013 Masters winner is the leading suspect to at least be one of the people behind the popular Twitter profile.

But just how far should we look into the account’s latest claim Scott has signed a multi-year clothing deal with apparel giant Under Armour and will don their gear starting in 2019?

Not far, particularly when it contains as many spelling and grammatical errors as that tweet does.

But it is worth looking into the merits, and flaws, of the rumour Scott would end his partnership with Japanese clothing company Uniqlo.

Why it could be true:

Timing … Five years is a nice, round number in the contracts world. It also happens to be the number of years since Scott switched to Uniqlo from Burberry, a British luxury fashion line. In a masterstroke of acquisition, Uniqlo actually signed Scott in early April 2013 – the week before his historic triumph at Augusta National.

Other Uniqlo ambassadors have moved on … Novak Djokovic, the former tennis world No.1 and winner of 12 time Grand Slam titles, once stood beside Scott as Uniqlo’s highest profile athletes. In fact, Uniqlo was the last apparel brand to have both the world No.1 golfer and tennis player under contract at the same time. But Serbia’s Djokovic moved across to Lacoste last year, leaving Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori and wheelchair tennis ace Shingo Kunieda as the faces of the brand.

Why it couldn’t be true:

Timing (again) … Scott participated in a corporate outing for Uniqlo only a month ago, during which he played golf with writers from outlets including Golf Digest (US) and Forbes, at Floridian National Golf Club – the week before the Masters. Not really the movements of someone jumping ship.

Secret Tour Pro has claimed this before … in February 2016, Secret Tour Pro tweeted this:

A clash of sensibilities … many Twitter users responded to this week’s claim by pointing out the obvious misfit of style between Under Armour and the polished good looks of Adam Scott. Previously a Burberry ambassador, Scott has always carried an air of sophistication and, for whatever reason, has avoided the megabrands such as Nike and adidas. It wouldn’t be wrong, just unusual to see Scott in Under Armour alongside Jordan Spieth.

Scott is key to Uniqlo’s push into the American market … Uniqlo has a relatively small footprint in the US, despite boasting a flagship store on New York’s iconic Fifth Avenue. Only 47 of their 1,900 stores are in the US. Scott is a fan favourite over here, having played on the US PGA Tour since 2003.  He is also in that elite fraternity of Masters champions and has always been generous with his time to American fans and media. It would be unusual for Uniqlo to let someone like that go without a fight.