It’s starting to feel like an everyday occurrence to find something linking Lexus with golf, and today’s no exception. As part of their U.S. Open sponsorship, three commercials were made, one of which I’ve already posted about, and here’s another:

I’ll admit, at first this commercial confused me, as I searched for some connection between finding your inner golfer and selling cars. Seems it’s much more subtle than that — It’s all about the pursuit, right?

As for specifics, this commercial was directed by Rob Groenwald, with music by Nate Morgon of Elias Arts.

One commercial remains, which I’m obsessively trying to track down. My own pursuit, if you will…

Lexus will be the first sponsor of Cars.com Mobile, a new site created exclusively for car info on-the-go. While their involvement is seem to be limited to a simple banner ad directing visitors to the Lexus’ mobile offering, the actual site sounds like a very interesting service:

Visitors will be able to search Cars.com’s inventory of 2 million new and used vehicles and get more details on the cars that interest them, including photos. Other features allow shoppers to access Kelley Blue Book’s Used Car Values, calculate vehicle payments and read expert reviews and the latest automotive news via Cars.com’s blog, KickingTires. Mobile shoppers will also be able to quickly find a local dealer through the site’s dealer locator, which will also offer maps and directions to the dealership and click-to-call functionality.

No doubt, this would be a handy site, especially when shopping for used cars. Easier than keeping all the numbers in your head, I imagine.

[Source: CNN Money]

The U.S. Women’s Open is coming up, and in a mirror of their previous mens survey, Lexus quizzed women golfers about their commitment to the game. The results are surprisingly similar:

• Women are spending even more hours than men on the driving range (5 vs. 4 hours)
• Thirteen percent of women golfers would give up their hair for the perfect swing.
• One out of three women golfers say they prefer to play with golfers who are better than they are (38%).
• One out of four women golfers say they would rather have the perfect golf swing than the perfect marriage (27%)
• 52% of women golfers check to see how many bags of clubs can fit in the trunk of a car before they buy it.
• 43% of women who golf say the sport has improved their relationship with their significant other.
• More than six out of ten women golfers say their friendships have benefited because of golf (63%) and another 23% age 18-39 say their pursuit of golf has benefited their job performance.

[Source: Auto Spectator]

A new LS commercial debuted during last week’s U.S. Open, and it’s one of those posthumous pitchmen type of ads — Current PGA player Nick Watney picks up golf greats Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan for a round of golf:

A nice sentiment, I suppose, but this type of celebrity appropriation never sits too well with me.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has given us more insight into Lexus’ presence at the U.S. Open:

The U.S. Open at Oakmont marked the first time the USGA has used corporate sponsors in its history, and in the 107-year history of the Open.

“American Express was the only other sponsor,” noted Vince Salisbury, event marketing manager for Lexus. In the past, when players arrived at the airport they would just use a rental car, so every player was in a different car.

“There was no consistency and it was more complicated,” said Salisbury. “Part of the agreement with Lexus was that we would provide cars for all the players and USGA officials. The cars were prepared with decals on the front doors that say “Official car of the U.S. Open,” with that great squirrel logo.”

Also mentioned was an aspect of the car lending that I didn’t even consider:

The concept of the Lexus luxury lifestyle was clearly imparted because the company got inquiries all week about the cars. “People were asking for particular ones, especially if they were driven by particular players. Unfortunately our distribution doesn’t really allow for that. Of course they wanted us to leave the decal on!” [ Lexus event marketing manager Vince] Salisbury said, laughing.

Of course people would want cars driven by their favorite players in the event — Too bad Lexus couldn’t accommodate them.

The U.S. Open at Oakmont wrapped up today, and Lexus certainly did their part as the main sponsor of the event.

Not only did they provide LS 460’s to every golfer during their time in Pittsburgh (with the exception of Tiger Woods, who drove a Buick Enclave), they created an incredibly extensive website at myownpursuit.com that lets interested viewers to glean tips from the pros:

Featuring over twenty videos and articles from pro golfers, there’s plenty of proof that Lexus is taking their sponsorship very seriously.

One interesting service Lexus provided, and I would love to see an example if anyone feels like sharing, was creating a special area where people could have their photos taken on the course, which are then posted to their site for download. Pretty neat feature, it must be said.

UPDATE: I found an example of the Lexus photobooth while browsing the US Open site: