Most NIL deals involve a bit of guesswork. A company looks at a college player and bets on where he’s headed. With Jacob Modleski and PING, there’s less guessing than usual.
PING announced Tuesday that the Notre Dame senior and 2025 Walker Cup player has signed on to represent the brand. I had to read Modleski’s résumé a few times to believe it, and I’ll do my best here to sum it up.
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 on a pro leaderboard. 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 this past spring. He was a Second Team All-American in 2025 and has been All-ACC the last two years.
Away from campus, he’s been just as busy. He won the 2024 Jones Cup after sneaking into the field as the first alternate, which is a great way to take advantage of a late phone call. He’s made the U.S. 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 picked up two points in the Americans’ Walker Cup win in 2025.
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Oh, and he’s also had the top GPA on the Notre Dame men’s golf team every semester since the fall of 2023. Not many guys are posting those scores in the classroom and on the course. The brains and the brawn, as some might say.
“That says a lot about his desire and talent to perform when the pressure is highest,” said PING president and CEO John K. Solheim, referring to Modleski’s Walker Cup play. “He’s 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, carry a PING bag and wear a PING hat during play, but nothing changes when he’s wearing the Notre Dame colors.
Modleski says the fit makes sense. He’s played PING gear since his junior golf days and has visited the company’s Phoenix campus. He pointed to the brand’s engineering reputation and its custom-fitting 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 equipment, 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 it’ll be keeping a close eye on his progress as he gets ready for the next step. Based on what he’s already done, that next step probably isn’t far off. Walking into your rookie season as a pro with a club deal from one of the Big 4… that’s a pretty nice get.
For me, this says a lot about where PING is headed. PING has always been a company that’s very methodical, very driven by their engineering teams and known for staying away from the noise. NIL has been thrown in with that “noise” over the last few years, but PING is taking very pointed opportunities to take advantage of some respected names outside of their Tour staff for both the men and the women. A perfect example is their recent signing of golf creator Ben Hadden. Signing with PING is typically taken as more of an honor than an opportunity, and it’s no different for Modleski.
This also isn’t the first NIL signing for PING this year. Just a few months ago in September, PING signed another Walker Cup player, 2025 NCAA Player of the Year Kihei Akina.
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