Bernhard Langer came to Augusta without a logo on the front of his visor. But after playing himself into contention, the 58-year-old, two-time Masters champion struck a deal late Saturday night with private aviation charter company Wheels Up for his final round on Sunday.
Langer has been a Wheels Up spokesman for a couple of years after being introduced to the company through Brad Faxon.
After seeing that his hat was blank, Wheels Up co-founder Bill Allard said he called Langer's agent, Ken Kennerly. Allard said Kennerly told him that Langer had several lucrative offers from companies.
"We just said that we've been there for him and that we hoped he would show some loyalty," Allard said.
At 9 ET Saturday night, Wheels Up was told it had a deal in exchange for more free miles in the air for Langer.
Allard said that he would get someone to put a German flag on the side of his visor for Sunday. So Sunday morning, an embroiderer was found in Augusta, and Langer got his hat for the final round at 11 a.m.
Eric Smallwood of Apex Marketing Group, a sponsorship evaluation firm, said that a logo on the front of Langer's hat for Saturday's round alone would be worth $2.21 million in equivalent advertising time.
Langer began his final round 2 strokes behind leader Jordan Spieth.
Wheels Up isn't a stranger to last-minute marketing. It closed a deal to be on the pants of jockey Victor Espinoza days before American Pharoah won the Triple Crown at the Belmont.