In a move that could be described as decidedly bold and daring by its own conventional standards, but incredibly fresh, entertainer and four-time Grammy-winner Justin Timberlake will be on the cover of Golf Digest's November issue, a source inside the magazine told www.styledtoatee.com.
Kudos to Digest. The guy has legit golf cred.
Timberlake, an avid golfer with a handicap that ranges between four and ten, will host the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, an official PGA Tour event, Oct. 16-19 at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
And he acquitted himself well enough when he shot 98 in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge earlier this summer on a Torrey Pines course groomed and set for the U.S. Open. He and Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo were the only two of the foursome to break 100 on the long, testing layout.
While Timberlake isn't the first celebrity to appear on Digest's cover -- Jack Nicholson was there just last December -- it's a sign that Digest is searching for ways to energize its own predictable but proven format. For years you could bank that a cover was going to be instruction-based, with how-to edit for curing your slice or launching your ball farther. And while many of those choices were driven by reader surveys, have you ever seen anyone on a range with a golf magazine?
Before Nicholson, you have to go back to December 2004 when Digest put Rudy Giuliani, Joe Pesci, Mark Wahlberg and Joe Torre on its cover.
Tiger is also a go-to staple in Digest's rotation, but with The Striped One on the mend and uncertain when he's going to begin play in 2009, going to the Tiger well would be less than timely.
In addition to his bona fides as a golfer, Timberlake is that rare guy who (along with Derek Jeter) is able to date, well, how can we say this...anyone he chooses. He's also incredibly fashion-conscious. Not only does he wear J.Lindeberg Golf on course as he did for the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge (and for the cover shoot for Digest), but he's a partner in Los Angeles-based People's Liberation, which announced earlier this month it will jointly own and operate, in a 50-50 partnership, the U.S. operation of J.Lindeberg.
Timberlake is also hands-on with William Rast, a fashion brand that he co-owns in equal share with People's Liberation and is designed by husband and wife team of Johan and Marcella Lindeberg. In July, People's Liberation announced that Timberlake would direct and star in a series of fictional film clips designed to promote William Rast. He also created the musical score for the marketing clips. -- Robert Lohrer
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