Under Armour founder Kevin Plank was understandably thrilled about Jordan Spieth, the face of his golf business, after this year’s Masters win.
“Thanks to Jordan, our company grew up today,” Plank told ESPN.com at the time. “He was challenged by the greatest players in the world on the biggest stage, looked them straight in the eye and never blinked.”
Spieth’s win at the U.S. Open this month didn’t come with the dominance of the Masters, nor did it have the element of surprise. But Plank is still gushing about his latest star.
“Pretty incredible,” Plank told WJLA’s Alex Parker, when asked about Spieth’s U.S. Open triumph. “I mean, going back to the Masters where there were all these questions — do you think he can do it? You know, Jordan Spieth’s a special human being. At 21 years old, he’s doing what no one’s ever done before. (Well, that’s not true, a few people have), but he’s showing why it can be done in this generation as well, in this century as well.
“He’s a special guy,” Plank said. “He’s going to win a lot of golf tournaments, and that’s going to end up costing us a lot of money at some level, but I’d say it’ll probably be some of the best money we ever spent.”
Spieth signed with Under Armour in January of 2013, shortly after turning pro as a teenager. He signed a 10-year extension with the Baltimore company earlier this year.
“They trusted in me, in my goals,” Spieth told CNBC this week. “And they were the one company from the get go that did so.”
Ryan Kuehl, the former Redskins defensive lineman turned Under Armour exec, said this week that Spieth’s success “allows us to get into new product categories. Footwear, gloves, women’s, that’s all on the table now. It’s not like that if Jordan Spieth’s not with us.”
And Plank, in the interview with WJLA, was similarly enthusiastic.
“Look, culture eats strategy for breakfast,” he said. “Culture isn’t something you just wake up and decide you’re going to be one day. It’s like trust; it’s built in drops and it’s lost in buckets. And you know the kind of people that will help add to that, that will add drops. And Jordan was one of those special, unique people who was a team sport athlete.
“When him and his father came up…two or three years ago, and we sat there having a conversation about how would you like to turn pro and be an Under Armour guy, he just said look I am an Under Armour guy. I am an athlete. He goes, ‘I’m your golfer.’ “