PGA Tour veteran Scott Piercy, 41, lost two major sponsors on Thursday as a result of controversial posts he shared on Instagram. One was a homophobic meme of former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and the other referenced QAnon, an ultra-conservative conspiracy theory about a secret plot against President Donald Trump.
As first reported by golfdigest.com, Titleist and FootJoy, both owned by Acushnet, ended their sponsorship with Piercy on Tuesday. Apparel maker J. Lindberg also ended its relationship with the Las Vegas native.
Piercy’s name and image have been removed from both companies’ websites.
Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Piercy shot 1-under 71.
“We were made aware of Scott’s post and are disappointed in the lack of judgement used,” the PGA Tour said in a statement.
In a statement, a J. Lindberg representative wrote, “When we choose our ambassadors, we choose individuals we know will represent us well on and off the golf course. The claims from Scott Piercy were unacceptable and far from our views and beliefs. We have since terminated our contract with Mr. Piercy. We, J. Lindberg, as a company do not stand by the statements made by Piercy and we want to make sure our customers, employees and other ambassadors know we support all communities and have no room for hate or discrimination in our company.”
Piercy, who turned pro in 2001 and has won four PGA Tour events, posted an apology on his Instagram story that stated, “Whenever I post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologize if any of my recents story posts have been offensive. I will do better!”
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