ate last summer, Brett Falkoff, a golf agent with the sports and marketing agency GSE Worldwide, learned by way of colleagues that Dick’s Sporting Goods, which owns and is the exclusive seller of Maxfli golf balls, was looking to increase Maxfli’s exposure by partnering with a PGA Tour player.

The timing wasn’t right for any of the male players on GSE’s roster, but, Falkoff was asked, might 11-time LPGA winner Lexi Thompson, who Falkoff has represented since 2020 and whose ball deal with Bridgestone was set to expire at year’s end, be interested in exploring an agreement with Dick’s?

“I said, ‘Absolutely not,’” Falkoff told GOLF.com in a phone interview Monday.

Falkoff knew of Maxfli’s rich legacy of Tour pros playing its balls — the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Fred Couples all have endorsed the brand — but in more recent times Maxfli has had little to no presence in the game’s elite ranks. At first blush, Falkoff felt the prospect of Thompson gaming Maxflis was a non-starter.

Still, as he and his client scoped out options for a new ball partner for 2024 and beyond, they agreed to test Maxfli’s Tour Series model as part of the discovery process.

Then they saw the results.

“We were all in shock,” Falkoff said. “The golf ball was better than anything else she tested. It became a nice match, and we were able to work out a nice agreement.” That one-year arrangement will include Thompson playing the ball for the 2024 season and also wearing a Maxlfi logo on the right side of her visor; she also will provide feedback to Maxfli as it develops its 2025 models.

Falkoff knows how it might look: an established and highly marketable star signing with a relatively low-profile brand. “People look at a deal like this and say, ‘Oh, it must have been a money grab.’ [But] if you really looked into it, this late in her career, why would she do something that is just a money grab? At the end of the day, she’s just looking to play something that performs the best for her.”

He added: “I made it clear to Lexi that you’re not going to sign with a golf-ball company only because you’re getting paid a good amount of money. At this point in your career, you’re going to play whatever’s best for you.”

While Thompson saw excellent results during testing — she said she has picked up ball speed without losing any feel or control — Falkoff acknowledged that the switch wasn’t driven only by launch-monitor data. Though Thompson began to find her form toward the end of 2023, last year was largely a struggle for her. In her 11 starts before the Solheim Cup, Thompson made just three cuts and broke 70 only four times.

Change was needed, and it came, in the form of some mid-season swing tweaks and a caddie switch. In January of this year, Thompson announced that she had hired a new full-time caddie, Colton Heisey, with whom Thompson had begun working toward the end of 2023.

Then came a new ball.

“Whenever you’re struggling, you’ve got to realize that you need to change some things up,” said Falkoff, whose other clients include Bryson DeChambeau and Sam Burns. “She’s been with Bridgestone for five years. She always loved their golf ball, but sometimes when you’re struggling, you need to make a change, and she’s looking at all areas of the game, and the golf ball was one of them knowing this was going to be a contract year.”

The terms of the partnership were not disclosed, but it’s safe to say that Thompson, who also endorses, among other brands, Cobra Puma, Rolex, UKG and Club Champion, will be paid handsomely for becoming the first LPGA player to endorse and exclusively play a Maxfli ball. (The only other Maxfli-sponsored player on a major tour is nine-time PGA Tour Champions winner Fred Funk.)

“Lexi makes an ideal partner as an established presence in golf,” Aimee Watters, VP vertical brand marketing for Dick’s Sporting Goods, told GOLF.com by email. “She provides instant name recognition and further legitimacy to the Maxfli brand.”

When asked whether Dick’s is actively seeking other Tour pros to beef up its staff roster, Watters said, “Right now, we are laser focused on our deal with Lexi and look forward to supporting her on tour this year.”

In Thompson’s first start of 2024 — the LPGA Drive On Championship, in Bradenton, Fla., last week — she tied for 16th. Following a second-round 67, she was asked about the latest addition to her arsenal.

“I’ve been testing the ball for the last month or two, especially in the wind,” Thompson said. “In the wind is the most important [for] ball testing, and I’ve seen nothing but a little bit lower spin, which is great in the wind, and it does even better in the crosswind. That’s super-important for me, and I’m looking forward to playing it.”

Lexi Thompson is one of the most compelling figures in golf. A 13-year veteran of the LPGA Tour, Thompson has won 11 LPGA Tour titles including the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship and 2018 CME Group Tour Championship. Starting in 2024, Thompson has signed an exclusive arrangement with Maxfli to play its ball, a move sure to raise some eyebrows as the 28-year-old LPGA star can clearly play any ball she chooses. In this exclusive interview with Golf Digest Equipment Editor, E. Michael Johnson, Thompson discusses her reasons for the switch, her process for testing and the biggest mistakes amateurs make when it comes to their golf ball selection.

Golf Digest: This is a really big switch, and obviously you could play any golf ball that you want. How long have you been testing the Maxfli ball?

Lexi Thompson: I’ve been practicing and testing with it for the last few months. I was just looking for a change in my game, and I’ve always known about Maxfli and the quality of product they make and the performance behind it.

GD: What was the primary impetus for making the change?

LT: I was like, you know what, I’ll give it a try and it just exceeded my expectations. I’ve seen my game around the greens improve and definitely some extra distance off the tee. I’ll take both those things.

GD: What’s your process for testing golf balls? Do you rely on launch-monitor data or is it more what you see and feel on the course?

LT: Definitely a combination of both. I’ve gotten on the launch monitor just to see the spin numbers. I saw improvement there as I’ve dropped down in spin, but it’s gained me a little extra ball speed. That’s a pretty good combo and that’s really what I was looking for. As far as ball testing, I usually love to test in 30 mile-per-hour winds, which you can get in Florida and elsewhere on tour. It’s important for me to see how the ball reacts, especially in the wind if it’s going to move as much as I feel that it should when hitting a solid shot. And the Maxfli ball reacts the way I expect a shot to. That’s big. Once I see that, then there’s the feel around the greens. It reacts and feels just how I expect it would when hitting a pure chip.

GD: I’ve written a couple of pieces with Tiger Woods about his equipment and on golf balls, he’s always told me his final sanity check is the trajectory on chip shots, which I find remarkable. Do you have kind of a final sanity check before you say, “I’m good to go with this”?

LT: The chip shot is a big thing because you want it coming out in the window that you feel that you’re hitting the chip on. You want it to react on the green the way you expect it to when hitting a nip chip. But I would have to say how it reacts in the wind, that’s definitely the most important aspect of a ball for me.

GD: Maxfli has multiple models in its Tour series, with the Tour, Tour S and Tour X. Did you test all the models and if so, what were some of the noticeable differences you saw?

LT: I tested the Tour and the Tour S. I didn’t see too much of a difference. A little difference in spin and the Tour S came off a touch higher around the greens, so I settled on the Tour model. They were both very good, but the Tour lessened my spin off the tee and gave me a few extra yards.

GD: Are you a player who likes to know all about the technology of a product or do you simply focus more on how it performs?

LT: Honestly, I can’t say I get too involved with that. Of course, I like to know the performance behind the golf ball and just how it’s very trusted with the technology that’s involved with it. It’s always nice to have that in the back of my mind. So while I’m not super into all the technology behind it, it’s very important to have that trust.

GD: Have you made any equipment changes during this period?

LT: I haven’t as of now, but I am in the transition of changing into the Cobra Darkspeed driver. It’s super important to test if you change to a new driver, especially change to a new driver and new ball. The driver might have a little less spin off the face, and I need to see if that matches up with the new ball, too. So, I did test that as well and it was still good off the new driver.

GD: You say you’ve gained a few extra yards. Have you had to recalibrate any of your yardages or make any other adjustment?

LT: The yards off the tee you just take, but I also have to be aware I’m one or two yards longer with the irons as well. It’s also a little bit of a lower ball flight, which I really like. It not only behaves better in the win but comes out in a better window for me.

GD: You play in a lot of pro-ams. What’s one of the biggest mistakes you see everyday players make with their golf ball choice?

LT: It depends on the player. A pretty decent golfer, I feel like some of them don’t get the spin numbers matched up with their swing speeds and launch conditions, which is super important. I feel like a lot of people don’t take that into account and they should. You might feel like you hit a good shot and it doesn’t go the distance that you think it should or it moves a lot in the wind and that could just be a matter of a too high spinning golf ball. People don’t realize how important the golf ball is in golf.

Lexi Thompson is the new face of Maxfli. The 11-time LPGA winner has signed an endorsement agreement with Maxfli for the 2024 season and will play the Maxfli Tour ball. She will also take part in a series of marketing campaigns for the brand.

The Maxfli Tour Series is sold exclusively at Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy for $39.99 per dozen.

“I’ve been testing the Maxfli Tour Series for a few months now, and the Maxfli Tour ball exceeded my expectations,” Thompson said in a release. “The ball fits my game extremely well, increasing my ball speed without sacrificing control. I’m excited to be joining forces with a brand that has such a longstanding, proven reputation for high-quality and performance.

Thompson begins her 13th season on the LPGA at this week’s Drive On LPGA Championship at Bradenton Country Club in her native Florida. Last season, Thompson’s game took a nosedive as she struggled with her ball-striking.

A new swing thought from new instructor Tony Ruggiero, however, turned things around in time for the Solheim Cup in Spain. After a 3-1-0 performance for Team USA, Thompson went on to tee it up on the PGA Tour for the first time at the Shriners Children’s Open, where she carded a second-round 69. Thompson averaged 301 yards off the tee over two rounds in Las Vegas and tied for 13th in driving accuracy against the men, hitting 20 of 28 fairways.

She was back.

“Lexi is a remarkable golfer, and I can’t think of a better player to have join the Maxfli family as an exclusive partner for the Maxfli golf balls,” said Aimee Watters, VP Vertical Brand Marketing, DICK’S Sporting Goods.

“Becoming only the seventh woman to compete in a PGA event is so impressive, and we know there is more to come! We feel honored to have Maxfli be a part of her journey and are confident that she will continue to break records, while using our Tour series ball on the course.”

Thompson told Golfweek in Bradenton that she took one week off after the Grant Thornton Invitational and then got back to work.

“It’s definitely a big year with the Olympics and Solheim Cup,” said Thompson, who has a tattoo of the Olympic rings on her left wrist. “Anytime I can represent my country I want to be on those teams.”

Thompson also hired a new full-time caddie in Colton Heisey, who worked for her four times last season. Heisey, a six-year caddie veteran of the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, had previously worked for Thompson’s brother Curtis.

“We just make a great team,” said Thompson. “I just want somebody out here, obviously I depend on him a lot with numbers, don’t carry a yardage book, but big personality for me. To just keep me relaxed in between shots and have a good time.”

Heisey first caddied for Thompson at the Kroger Queen City Championship where she tied for 19th, her best finish of the season after eight missed cuts.

“She stripes it,” said Heisey. “It’s nice too because we’re the same age so we get along great. It’s refreshing for sure.”