Golf

US sports performance and fashion brand Oakley has entered into a two-year partnership to serve as the official eyewear and footwear sponsor of golf’s Asian Tour.

Extended live coverage of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open on American free-to-air broadcaster NBC was a major step in the brand’s drive to increase awareness in the US, Jill Maxwell, sponsorship and events manager for Aberdeen Asset Management, told Sports Sponsorship Insider.

European Tour golf tournament the Irish Open will return to the county of Cork for the first time in 12 years in 2014 after confirmation that Fota Island Resort will become an official sponsor, as well as host venue, of the event.

Airport retailer Dubai Duty Free has signed a deal with the Golf in Dubai organisation to extend its status as a patron of the Dubai Desert Classic European Tour event for another three years.

CME Group, owner of the world’s largest futures exchange, will be the title sponsor of the Ladies Professional Golf Association’s first ever points race, which is set to launch for the 2014 season.

The US subsidiary of Korean consumer electronics firm Samsung has been named as an official patron of the PGA of America golf organisation.

Watchmaker Rolex’s ten-year deal to continue as an Official Partner of the PGA European Tour will help the organisation recover from the blows its finances have taken because of the recessions in Europe, Tim Shaw, group sales director for the European Tour told Sports Sponsorship Insider this month.

The PGA Tour’s sponsorship renewal with brewer Anheuser-Busch last month is understood to have included an increased fee that will lift the organisation’s annual sponsorship income of between $550m (€401m) and $600m.

Emirates has extended its sponsorship of golf’s European Tour in a deal that expands its investment across an additional 10 tournaments from 2014 until the end of the 2017 season, along with granting it the status of the Tour’s official airline.

PC Financial, the banking service of the Loblaw Companies group, has secured the title sponsorship for the PGA Tour Canada’s new golf tournament at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

The European arm of Japanese consumer electronics company Canon has been announced as the official supplier of imaging solutions to the 2014 Ryder Cup golf tournament.

German luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss has extended its sponsorship agreement with golf’s PGA Championship at Wentworth for a further three years.

The Sports Authority of Thailand and automotive manufacturer Honda have signed up as presenting sponsors for the Asian Tour’s King’s Cup golf tournament.

Asset management company Amundi has agreed a deal to become a premier partner of the Hong Kong Open, the third tournament on the 2014 European Tour golf calendar.

Industrial company Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) has extended its sponsorship of the Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Ladies Masters golf tournaments for the next three years.

Consumer electronics giant Sony has agreed a four year extension to its title sponsorship of Hawaii’s PGA Tour golf tournament.

US telecommunications company AT&T has reached a deal with golf’s PGA Tour for a 10-year renewal of its title sponsorship of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament.

US brewing company Anheuser-Busch has agreed a multi-year deal for its Michelob Ultra brand to continue to serve as the official beer of golf’s PGA Tour.