SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. — Michelle Wie West of The United States plays her third shot on the first hole during the second round of the 2022 U.S.Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club on June 03, 2022. | Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Wie, the 2014 U.S. Women’s Champion, will bid farewell to professional golf next month at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.
Michelle Wie West has signed an endorsement deal with Casa Azul and its tequila soda, per Sports Business Journal.
This partnership comes less than two weeks before Wie West calls it a career at Pebble Beach. The 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, which will take place July 6-9, will be her last professional tournament.
Just because her playing career will be in the rearview mirror does not mean Wie West is stepping away from golf altogether.
She now hosts an LPGA Tournament, the Mizuho Americas Open, which Rose Zhang won in her professional debut at Liberty National on Jun. 4.
Before Zhang defeated Jennifer Kupcho in a playoff in New Jersey, she signed a sponsorship deal with Delta Airlines. Wie West signed with Delta too, as the two female superstars now represent the world’s largest airline.
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Yana Wilson, Michelle Wie West, and Rose Zhang pose for a picture after the final round of the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club on June 4, 2023.
Wie West has had endorsement deals lined up for almost two decades—ever since she busted onto the scene as a teenage phenom in the mid-2000s.
These days, she focuses on those sponsorship deals and endorsements, hoping to pave the way for female athletes in the future.
“When you shift your mindset into being an investor, you really look at the cap table, the profit, and the idea behind it,” Wie West said to Sports Business Journal. “You start to kind of shift your mindset into not just accepting what is given to you, but also believing that my time and effort in this is important.”
Wie West’s deal with Casa Azul came to fruition when she and her husband Johnny ran into Lance Collins at their country club in La Quinta, California.
Collins is the founder of Casa Azul, and the two sides felt that this would be a perfect partnership.
Other celebrities have inked deals with Collins and Casa Azul, namely Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
