Titleist and J.Lindeberg cut ties with Scott Piercy in wake of controversial Instagram story

Acushnet, the American holding company that owns Titleist and FootJoy, and Scandinavian fashion brand J.Lindeberg, have severed their ambassador agreements with four-time PGA Tour winner Scott Piercy in the first known public consequence for Piercy in the aftermath of two controversial Instagram posts he included in his “story” earlier this week.

One post made reference to far-right conspiracy theory group “QAnon,” which accuses the United States government of orchestrating a massive criminal enterprise, while the other was a meme that mocked the sexuality of former Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, who is openly gay.

Piercy quickly backtracked after he was criticized on social media, and issued an apology.

“Whenever i [sic] post my intent is NEVER to offend,” Piercy said in a follow-up Instagram story post. “I want to apologize if any of my recents [sic] story posts have been offensive. I will do better!”

Apparently, the mea culpa was not enough for Piercy’s public partners.

“As a global lifestyle brand, we strive to support and show our love and compassion for all demographics around the world,” J.Lindeberg said in an emailed statement. “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.Lindeberg, 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.”

Titleist and FootJoy, both longtime Piercy sponsors, did not release an official statement but confirmed to GOLF.com that they severed their contract with Piercy in the immediate aftermath of the controversy earlier this week.

Piercy was one year in to his endorsement deal with J.Lindberg. The brand’s current roster of Tour ambassadors includes Viktor Hovland, Matt Wallace and Jonas Blixt.

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