Rich Beem Took It Upon Himself to Find Sponsors and It Worked

Before 2002, Rich Beem was best known for his role in the incredible golf book, "Bud, Sweat, & Tees" by Alan Shipnuck. Beem had won the Kemper Open in 1999, but nothing really of notoriety until '02, when he reeled off an International victory, which was followed by an improbable PGA Championship win that memorably included a little shimmy when his final putt dropped.

You remember that PGA. He beat a guy named Tiger Woods, who famously told his caddy Steve Williams something to the degree of, "If we can birdie these last four holes we'll win." Woods then Tiger-ishly pulled it off, only to lose by a shot to Beem.

Those were Beem's good days. Since then, mostly bad.

Beem has found himself in such a tough spot after his 140th place finish on the money list last season, that he went and found all the business cards he's accumulated over the last few years on tour and started calling anyone that might be interested in a sponsorship. This was the moment he wasn't doing a shimmy.

"As soon as I got done, I just got on the phone," Beem said. "I called up people I knew, either CEOs of their business or high enough up and said, 'Listen, you had talk about doing something with golf, would you like to get into it?"'

The plan worked out and now Beem is sporting logos like Guggenheim Properties and Nelson Financial Group. He's rocking Oakley sunglasses, golf clubs by Callaway and even has something with Mars, a parent company of Uncle Ben's rice.

It might not sound like a bunch of home-run deals, but they are buying him time to travel around and get his game back into shape. For a three-time winner on tour, your next high finish could be one ball-striking (or in Beem's case, hot-putting) round away.

What has this taught Beem? Well, when you've reached the lowest of lows, just be yourself.

"The best salesperson for anybody is yourself, especially in this game," Beem said. "You can sell yourself in pro-ams. How many people do we play golf with? Every week, someone gives me a card, a phone number. They tell you, 'Anytime you're in town, if you want to get together for dinner,' or 'Anything I can do to help you out."'

Maybe a little celebratory dance is in order after all.