Thanks to a unique partnership, Alexa Pano, a longtime fan of the New England Patriots, is actually sponsored by the team.
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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – You may have heard of Alexa Pano. She was on Netflix long before professional golfers were on Netflix. She was playing professional tournaments before she even started high school. She capped her successful amateur career with the Augusta National Women’s Am, winning her first professional tournament on her 19th birthday.
That’s all well and good, but on Sunday, Pano will make her mark like never before, having earned a late afternoon tee time at the AIG Women’s Open with a New England Patriots logo on her chest.
Pano sits at three under par after 54 holes on the Old Course, and while she may not be able to catch Jiyai Shin, who is four shots ahead, Pano is playing the best tournament of her young career. She hit every green in regulation on Saturday for her second consecutive 69, made all the more impressive by the strong crosswinds the Old Course has offered all week.
After suffering five bogeys in her first round, she has struggled through just two since then and is slowly climbing the leaderboard at St. Andrews. All of this means a lot of TV time. For her and the New England Patriots.
There are a number of reasons why Pano is the only female professional golfer to wear the emblem of an NFL team – and probably the only notable professional golfer in the world. She herself is a lifelong fan, born and raised west of Boston. Her father has been a season ticket holder for 40 years. But it all started two summers ago, as she struggled through the early stages of her professional career on the Epson Tour. Pano had carried a stand bag all season, but upgraded to a much larger Titleist staff bag when she qualified for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open. A larger bag means a lot of unused space for sponsorship. Many 17-year-olds would put the logo of their dream college in that empty spot, but Pano didn’t have a college. So she opted for the Pats’ blue, red and silver trademark.
“It was supposed to be a week-long ordeal,” she said Friday. “I did an interview with the Patriots about it that week and didn’t think anything of it, but I thought it was great.”
A week later, the Pats called again. This time they wanted to make it official. The logo has been on the bag and her shirt ever since.
“They support me in everything I do,” Pano says. “And it’s really cool when something you idolize and have seen on TV supports you.”
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Pano is not an isolated case. PGA Tour pro Patrick Rodgers was once sponsored by his favorite team, the Indianapolis Colts, and wore the blue horseshoe logo on his bag. But that sponsorship no longer exists, making Pano – ranked 109th in the world – the best golfer with such an interesting brand connection. And as far as the fan base goes, the relationship is clearly a good fit.
Mainly out of a sense of duty, Pano says her favorite player is Tom Brady. It would be hard to choose anyone else. “I met him once and was totally fascinated by him. He’s a really nice guy and I forgot for a moment that he can’t just live on my TV screen. But it was incredible, to say the least.” But she also calls herself a Julian Edelman girl. (Aren’t we all?)
Pano was content to explain their partnership with the Pats for what felt like the hundredth time on Saturday afternoon, but after hearing the basics of the agreement, we had to push for more. What attractive benefits are associated with supporting the Patriots?
“I’ve been to a couple of games,” she said. “Last year I was on the field before the game, the Chiefs game, and I met the Krafts a couple of times, which is really cool.”
She paused and then smiled.
“They helped me get some tickets for the Eras tour last year, so that was really cool.”
That’s true. Taylor Swift tends to be rated a little higher than everything else.
