0

2017 Brings New Golf Deals

Ah, 2017 has arrived and with it a new golf season. Sorry PGA Tour, the calendar still dictates to me when a new year begins not the slew of fall tournaments that are (in)conveniently assigned to the next year…that doesn’t work for me.

This new year brings with it not only the fresh hopes of every golfer both pro and amateur but there have been a ton of new equipment and endorsement deals among the big names in the game.woods-balls

Tiger Woods, still the biggest name in the game regardless of his long hiatus from the course will be playing a new ball. With Nike folding its equipment business Woods was free to test any brand he wanted. Bridgestone won his ball competition and he did sign a new contract but he did say he was sticking with his old Nike irons for now. He was last seen at the Hero World Challenge using TaylorMade woods but hasn’t signed a new club deal yet.

World number one Jason Day will be returning from his layoff for a bad back with a new clothing deal. Day has joined Woods and Rory McIlroy in Nike’s house and will wear head to toe Nike clothes, shoes and hats. He had been wearing adidas and will continue to play TaylorMade equipment. But in a departure from its usually policy of not allowing any other logos on it clothes, Day has permission to wear the Lexus logo on his sleeve. Seems like everything is negotiable, even with Nike now.

Rory McIlroy is looking to continue his fine play at year’s end and will be doing it with an entirely new bag of equipment. And true to Rory’s independent nature he says he will not sign a new equipment deal in 2017. Instead, he’ll play and test equipment all season before he decides. But he’ll start the year with Callaway woods and irons, Titleist Vokey wedges, and a prototype Odyssey putter. He has made the choice of a new ball and will join the majority of tour professionals and play Titleist, he’ll use the Pro V1x.

Bubba Watson has also made a change this year as he just announced that he be switching from his Pro V1 to a Volvik ball. That’s right, the colorful ball that is widely seen on the LPGA Tour will be used by one of the most colorful players on the PGA Tour. It’s has to be pink to match his Ping driver, right?

Equipment changes aren’t limited to the men as LPGA stars including world number one Lydia Ko have made big changes. Ko, Brittany Lang, Christina Kim and Ryann O’Toole have signed new club deals with PXG. Parsons Xtreme Golf, headed by maverick entrepreneur, Bob Parsons continues to make a splash on the pro tours as it has signed more new players than any other manufacturer.

It takes a bit to get used to seeing a pro wearing a new logo but its an annual ritual this time of year. After all, it’s all about the Benjamins…always will be.

Share

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.