Targeted Victory

Over the last year or so there has been a new trend occurring among PGA pros.  It’s not a new and improved ball or driver.  It’s not a new look to sell more clothes.  It’s not even a new swing to make the ball go longer and straighter.  It’s joining Twitter.

This weekend 99 of the the world’s best golfers will tee it up at Augusta.  41 of them will be using Twitter to let their followers join them on the experience that many consider the greatest in all of golf.

Players such as Stewart Cink, Ian Poulter and Bubba Watson have really led the way in building and communicating with a following on this platform and it’s clear that the success they have achieved has been noticed and is being replicated by other golfers.  To have almost half of the field in this week’s Masters active on Twitter is a testament to these individual golfers understanding of the different ways to communicate with their fan base.

Let’s take a look at some of the top PGA pros on Twiiter.

By number of followers, Stewart Cink edges out Ian Poulter, with the two of them being the only ones to cross the 1,000,000 follower mark.  One thing to note is that this is definitely not just an American trend as only 4 of the top 10 in this list are Americans.

When looking at number of tweets, Bubba Watson is way out in front of the pack with almost five times as many as Stewart Cink, who comes in second.

Tiger Woods may have lost the #1 world golf ranking but he’s back in the top spot when looking at number of followers per tweet.  This list shows you some of the guys who have built up large followings because of their names but haven’t necessarily fully embraced the platform quite yet.  However, Stewart Cink and Ian Poulter would definitely be exceptions in this one.

So what does this mean? In terms of shooting lower scores and winning more tournaments this doesn’t really mean a thing.  In terms of being a greater asset to your sponsors and having the ability to more easily communicate with fans it could mean a lot.

These golfers are often talking about what clubs and balls they are hitting, taking twitpics of the new shirts and hats they will be wearing and even offering merchandise to their followers for answering or asking questions.

Stewart Cink and Ian Poulter now have over a million other people that they can promote their sponsors to.  That is a sellable item for them. Tiger Woods now has over 700,000 fans that he can talk to in a more personable way, something it seems he’s been working on.

Because of the nature of the sport, golfers historically have been seen as maybe a little more boring and reserved.  For 41 players teeing off this weekend at the season’s first major, Twitter has given them a way to show their fans that isn’t necessarily the case.

Want to follow these guys yourself this weekend? All of their accounts are below.  Enjoy.