NORTON — When her day’s prep work was done Alexa Pano stayed out on the course and played a few holes with a couple of important employees of one of her sponsors.
It’s not an uncommon occurrence. Professional golf is almost as much hand-shaking and hobnobbing as it is chipping and putting.
But this was a little different. The sponsor was the Patriots and Plano’s golfing buddies were Bryce Baringer and Marcus Jones, the starting punter and a key member of the defensive backfield.
Pano, a 20-year-old native of Westborough, has been sponsored by her favorite football team for three seasons now, but this week’s FM Championship will be the first time she has worn the New England logo in front of a gallery filled with likely Patriots fans.
Pano is the first LPGA golfer ever sponsored by an NFL team. At 20 years old, she is what the Patriots hope they have in abundance on their roster — a talented young star on the rise. She finished second at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to start the year in January and tied for 10th at last week’s British Open at legendary St. Andrews in Scotland.
Her affiliation with the Patriots started simply. At the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open, Pano had a new golf bag and vacant space available for an emblem that would usually go to a sponsor.
The daughter of season-ticket holder Rick Pano chose to fill it, just for a week, with a New England Patriots logo for pretty much the same reason most people wear team logos. She was a fan.
The Patriots’ social media team saw it and interviewed her for their social media platforms. She had fun but thought that would be it.
But then the team called back. From that interaction, a more traditional sponsorship arrangement blossomed that’s been in place for three seasons. The familiar Flying Elvis logo sits on the left side of her shirt like that of any other corporate sponsor. In fact, for any NFL-ignorant fans last week in Scotland, the logo wouldn’t look any more out of place than Antigua, the golf apparel company, whose emblem is on the right side.
“It’s pretty amazing. I’m very lucky to have such a great sponsorship and have a sponsor that’s so supportive of me and I’m also a huge fan of,” she said. “Definitely a dream sponsorship.”
Pano was born in Westborough but grew up largely on golf courses in Florida, where she and her father moved together when she was young. Still, she always felt connected to New England, especially in her sports allegiances.
“I was born here and obviously I grew up playing golf in Florida though,” she said. “I’ve always kind of had the support of people from Massachusetts, which is really cool.”
She’s been spending her recent summers back in the town where her father and coach Rick grew up and pledged her devotion to two things Bay State fans are fiercely proud of — ice cream and sports.
“My favorite spot in Mass. is probably this place called Uhlman’s Ice Cream in Westborough,” she said. “It’s a little farm that has I think the best ice cream in the world.
“Boston is the best sports town in the world,” she added. “When the fans really support you they’re really behind you the whole way.”
Including the Patriots.
“The organization is always supporting me. They text me after a lot of events and are always kind of watching how I’m doing. I’m very lucky to have a sponsor that cares about me the way they do,” she said. “They just want me to do the best I can and that’s a great thing and I’m very blessed to have that.”
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
