Michael Phelps the most celebrated Olympian is making his way from the pool to the fairways. The eight part series is set to air Feb 25th on the Golf Channel’s The Haney Project, where renowned golf coach Hank Haney will train Michael Phelps to stay away from water hazards and other traps around the course. Phelps is diving in deep with new sponsorships. The golf industry is gearing up to capture the energy and drive that Phelps will bring to the golf course. Ping announces a sponsorship for the Olympic swimmer, the company will provide a custom-fit set of clubs, that he’ll debut at the Waste Management Phoenix Pro-Am Open, where he will be play with Masters Champion Bubba Watson, who is also sponsored by Ping.
Dedication isn’t foreign to Phelps who started swimming at the age of 7 and was a national record holder by 10, battling ADHD Phelps has been able to stay focused with his determination to become the best that he can. “I have a goal with everything I do” said Michael Phelps, “I have friends who are single handicaps and scratch golfers, and I would love to be able to challenge them and compete without them giving me 15 strokes.” Where does Phelps see himself with Golf? It is way too early to predict or expect anything, even from a Superman. Give the guy a little break he needs time to become great. A little insight to where his head is at Phelps said “you can’t put limits on anything; there’s so much I could do. Phelps’s goal is to play golf at the 2016 Olympics in Rio where for the first time golf be part of the Olympic games.
Phelps got a tour of Ping’s Arizona facility where his 6’4” long armed; big handed swimmers body was fitted for probably the most technical sports of all. Phelps added, “It’s crazy to think this sport is so technical, a lot of sports are very technical, one of the Ping guys said there’s 50 something different shafts they can put on the clubs. I’m used to having a pair of goggles, a small, medium or large swim cap and a jammer to put on, and that’s it.” Phelps' Ping G25 irons were made one inch longer than standard and 3 degrees upright. His grips are 1/32-inch over standard size. Phelps also will play the company's G25 driver (9.5 degrees), 3-wood (15 degrees) and hybrid (20 degrees). Ping Tour Gorge wedges and a Ping Scottsdale TR Senita mallet putter. Ping added some custom clubs, including red, white and blue paint fill on the irons as well as "Phelps22" on the irons, wedges and putter with the number 22 in gold paint.
“His global presence as a golfer will bring Ping tremendous exposure and just as importantly, shed additional light on the game in general.” Said John A. Solheim, Ping’s chairman and CEO, what can we hope for from Phelps, “being a golfer at the Olympics would be kind of fun.” Michael Phelps jokes, well joke or not, we are rooting for you Michael, best of luck and be the Champion that you are.
