It’s a well-known fact that Nike kills it when it comes to the advertising game, for golf in particular (well, not golf clubs). It helps having Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka as the guys starring in the ads, but you still have to execute, and Nike always does.
A personal favourite that would seem applicable to this week is “Ripple,” which tells the story of a young Rory growing up and idolising Tiger. Talk about FEELS:
Still might be Nike’s finest work, though the latest ad produced by the Swoosh ahead of the Open Championship may be in the conversation as well. Though it’s not an ad as much as it is a mini documentary, one that stars McIlroy, who relives his incredible, course-record 61 at Royal Portrush that he shot as a 16-year-old during the stroke-play qualifying portion of the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur Open.
As a native of Northern Ireland, it doesn’t get much more special than that, which you can clearly see in the way McIlroy emotionally describes that day in his life. This one is worth all two minutes and 24 seconds of your time:
Shooting a course-record 61 at age 16 🤯 because crazy dreams don’t wait. @McilroyRory pic.twitter.com/lMWaZipDi5
— Nike (@Nike) July 15, 2019
If you already liked McIlroy’s chances this week (he is the favourite after all), then you really like them after watching that. It’s going to take everything in my power to not empty the bank account on the 30-year-old after all those goosebumps. Few players on earth get in the “zone” he speaks of in that video quite like McIlroy himself, and if he can capture some of that oblivious magic, he may be a hard man to beat on his home turf.
This will mark McIlroy’s 11th start in the Open Championship, his 10th as a professional. He won the event in 2014 at Royal Liverpool and has finished inside the top five four other times, including his last three consecutive Opens.
