Hasta La Creative!

Time does a number on all of us, but perhaps no one gets chewed up by the temporal gears and cogs quite like the professional athlete. Swagger gives way to a certain shuffling reserve; a “good walk spoiled” devolves into a languid excursion in a golf cart.

To that end, sponsors looking to align themselves with the vigor of the world-class jock are locking the sports world’s more bankable stars into long-term deals. In January, Under Armour reupped with squeaky-clean 21-year-old golfer Jordan Spieth in a 10-year pact that will keep the affable Texan clad in its apparel through what promises to be the most productive (and therefore visible) portion of his career. Mr. Spieth made a near-immediate return on the investment, securing his second PGA Tour win last month at the Valspar Championship in Florida.

Mr. Spieth is most everything a sponsor could want in a walking billboard. Like a supporting character in a CW show about a group of polite, but dedicated, teen detectives, Mr. Spieth is all shiny and fresh off the shelf. He’s also lethally competitive — in December, he beat Tiger Woods at his own charity tournament by a margin of 26 strokes — and many duffers expect him to make another run at the green jacket during this weekend’s 79th Masters Tournament.

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