Scottie Scheffler and Pickleball: A Winning Formula for PGA Tour Success?

Scottie Scheffler and Pickleball: A Winning Formula for PGA Tour Success?

Here’s what we got for you today:

• Scottie Scheffler and Pickleball: A Winning Formula for PGA Tour Success?

• The Economic Upside for Businesses Investing in the Pickleball Craze.

• Jorja Johnson Gets Her First Triple Crown.

Let's pickle our way into the action! 💥

Scottie Scheffler and Pickleball: A Winning Formula for PGA Tour Success?

PGA Tour star Scottie Scheffler dominated this past weekend's Arnold Palmer Invitational outside of Orlando.

In fact, he won the event by five strokes – which was the event's largest margin of victory since Tiger Woods won it by five in 2012.

But why on earth would we care about what the world's top-ranked golfer is doing?

This isn't just any pro golfer. Scottie Scheffler is an investor in the Texas Ranchers MLP team and a huge pickleball fan.

You may even recall the attention he got when he "absolutely worked over" Ben Johns in a hands battle.

Cue eyeroll. It's good to know hyperbole isn't dead.

Last week Scottie did an interview with the PGA Tour leading up to this week's Players Championship (where he's the defending champion) where he once again talked about his love for pickleball.From the PGA Tour article:

PGATOUR.COM: You’re a big pickleball player and will play it even at tournaments. What’s the appeal for you?

SCHEFFLER: I just like competing at stuff, and so in order to get my mind off golf, I can't just sit around because I'm obviously going to start thinking about it, and so I have to put my mind on something else. And so recently it's been pickleball. I took it up, it's probably been about a year and a half now, and it was fun. I started playing with some of my buddies at home, and then I just got into it. I think it's fun for everybody because it's such an easy sport, and you can have guys that are at slightly different (skill) levels and still have a lot of fun. Since pickleball is pretty easy, you can get fun games going with a lot of different people.

Geesh, the guy wins one hands battle and just happens to be the top-ranked golfer in the world and he just gets to call pickleball easy?

Sarcasm aside, congrats Scottie! You're a great representative of our sport, and we appreciate the attention you bring to it.

Now, if we can only get some of these tennis pros to recruit more of their friends.

The Economic Upside for Businesses Investing in the Pickleball Craze.

Amer Sports, Inc. (AS), a Finnish sportswear company renowned for brands like Wilson tennis rackets and pickleball equipment, saw heightened investor interest upon its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 1st of this year.

This attention stemmed from the booming popularity of pickleball, which continues its run as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. for the third consecutive year.

Participation in pickleball surged from 4.8 million players in 2022 to 8.9 million in 2023, with forecasts indicating it could exceed 20 million in the current year. Amer Sports’ Wilson brand capitalized on this trend by offering pickleball-specific gear, including paddles, athletic wear, bags, and shoes.

While Amer Sports' stock initially opened at $13.40 per share, it shot up 36 percent to $18.23 on March 4. However, it has since retreated by approximately 15 percent following its first earnings report as a public company.

The IPO for Amer Sports priced its shares at $13.00 each, raising $1.37 billion and valuing the company at $6.3 billion. This valuation fell short of management's expected initial range of $16 to $18 per share, which would have valued Amer Sports at up to $8.7 billion. Despite missing this mark, the IPO surpassed the $5.2 billion Anta Sports spent on its Amer Sports acquisition in 2019.

Amer Sports' significant reliance on China presents a notable concern for investors. The company's key suppliers and manufacturing hubs are located in China, leading to apprehensions about escalating trade tensions that could result in future tariffs or restrictions on its ability to market goods produced or sourced from China in the United States. 

Despite these concerns, the company's fourth-quarter results did not meet investor expectations, leading to a more than 5 percent drop in the stock following the report's release.

However, despite the stock's recent decline, Wall Street analysts have a positive sentiment regarding Amer Sports' future prospects. Analysts see the current downturn in the stock as a potential buying opportunity, suggesting that now could be a favorable time to purchase shares at a discounted price. This optimistic outlook may stem from the company's strong position in the sports and outdoor industry and its strategic initiatives to capitalize on emerging trends such as the growing popularity of pickleball.

Now, excuse me while I try to remember my online brokerage account password.

Jorja Johnson Gets Her First Triple Crown

The biggest story from the APP Sacramento Open this past weekend was Jorja Johnson earning her first triple crown. 

The 17-year old from Florida got her first triple crown on the APP Tour. She is the youngest player to ever do so. It feels like Jorja is much older than her actual age because she has been a regular on the pro pickleball tour for a few years.

The APP played the women’s doubles Championships on Saturday night, so Johnson already had a gold medal going into Championship Sunday. Jorja played the left side with Jill Braverman in women’s doubles.

The first-time partnership got some big wins on their road to gold. First, they beat Emily Ackerman and Riley Bohnert, 11-5, 11-5. They followed that up with an 11-6, 11-4 victory over Susannah Barr and Megan Fudge. Lastly they beat Millie Rane and Yanna Newell, 11-1, 11-6.

In singles, Jorja had to beat Daria Walczak, Simone Jardim, and Judit Castillo, to make it to the finals. In the final match, Johnson and Megan Fudge played an epic three game match where the scores were 15-12, 14-16, and 15-13.

Lastly, in mixed doubles, Jorja and JW Johnson made quick work of Daria Walczak and Patrick Kawka, 11-5, 11-2. Triple Crown accomplished.

Thank you for being a part of the Pickleball Pulse community! Stay tuned for more exciting updates that will keep your pickleball pulse racing! 🌟