Most NIL deals involve quite a bit of guesswork. A company looks at a college player and bets on where he goes. With Jacob Modleski and PING, there is less guessing than usual.
PING announced on Tuesday that the Notre Dame senior and 2025 Walker Cup the player signed to represent the brand. I had to read Modleski’s resume a few times to believe it, and I’ll do my best here to summarize it.
Start with 2024-25. As a sophomore, Modleski set Notre Dame’s single-season scoring average record at 68.5, a number that wouldn’t look out of place in a professional ranking. That same year he became the first Fighting Irish player to win the ACC Championship, and the first to make a Walker Cup team. He also won the Johnnie-O at Sea Island as a freshman and the Schenkel Invitational last spring. He was a Second Team All-American in 2025 and was All-ACC the last two years.
Away from campus, it’s been just as busy. He won the 2024 Jones Cup after sneaking onto the field as the first alternate, which is a great way to take advantage of a late phone call. He made the American Amateur quarterfinals twice. He played for Team USA at the Arnold Palmer Cup in 2025 and 2026, going 7-2-1 as an individual. And he took two points in winning the Walker Cup of the Americans in 2025.
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Oh, and he’s also had the best GPA on the Notre Dame men’s golf team every semester since the fall of 2023. Few guys have posted those scores in the classroom and on the course. Brains and brawn, as anyone might say.
“That speaks volumes for his desire and talent to perform when the pressure is on,” said PING President and CEO John K. Solheim, referring to Modleski’s Walker Cup play. “He has shown remarkable consistency in his four years at Notre Dame.”
As part of the deal, the 21-year-old from Noblesville, Ind., will play PING clubs, wear a PING bag and wear a PING hat during the game, but nothing changes when he wears Notre Dame colors.
Modleski says the fit makes sense. He has played PING equipment since his junior golf days and visited the company’s Phoenix campus. It pointed to the brand’s engineering reputation and its tailored expertise. “They take a very personal approach to every relationship,” he said.
That kind of familiarity counts for a lot. It’s hard to fake confidence in your gear, and it’s a lot easier when you’ve been playing the same brand for years.
Modleski still has a senior season ahead of him, and PING says he will be watching his progress closely as he prepares for the next step. Based on what he’s already done, that next step probably isn’t far off. Going into your rookie season as a pro with a club deal from one of the Big 4…that’s pretty good.
To me, this says a lot about where PING is headed. PING has always been a very methodical company, very driven by its engineering teams and known for staying away from noise. NIL has been thrown around with that “rumor” in recent years, but PING has taken the very timely opportunity to take advantage of some respected names off its Tour staff for both men and women. A perfect example is his recent golf signing creator Ben Hadden. Signing with PING is typically considered more of an honor than an opportunity, and it’s no different for Modleski.
This isn’t even the first NIL signing for PING this year. A few months ago in September, PING signed another Walker Cup player, the 2025 NCAA Player of the Year. Kehei Akina.
