Where will they go?

The amount of money that Nike Golf spent on endorsements is into the millions of dollars. In my opinion the one day it all was worth it was when Tiger's Nike tour ball and its swoosh emblem fell into the hole at the Masters tournament that Tiger eventually won.

Players wanted to play that ball and bought it as if it was the last ball far or near to be had. Nike had a smile on its face from ear to ear. But then the wheels started to come off. I have not totaled up all the tour members playing Nike equipment and balls, but it is a considerable number.

So now the two major Nike endorsed players have switched for the most part to Taylormade equipment. Tiger is playing a Bridgestone ball and Rory a Taylormade. Nike still has its fingers in the golf industry with clothing and other incidental golf items.

Taylormade and Callaway seem to be the most aggressive currently, but even they might be gun shy. Rory needs to have his hand held the most. Who is willing to put that much effort into it? Changing endorsements is like musical chairs to the tour players. Is it because they love a certain manufacturers equipment better then another? No, it all comes down to money. Tour players are walking billboards. I always look to see who has changed equipment at the outset of the new year. One thing I do know however is that these players all pay attention to statistics. Which driver is leading the pack. Length is not the only important feature of the driver, but it is way up there. But money is still the main issue.

At the test center where I had the privilege of working with a number of pros, driver day brought out the most interest. The players would hit hundreds of balls, before perhaps settling on one particular model. Then on the practice range, quite often they might ask their fellow competitor if they could try their driver. It is not uncommon for a tour player to hit another brand although he is endorsed by another company. I recall one tour player who was endorsed by Ping and was playing a driver I had made for him. He had it written into the endorsement contract that he reserved the right to play another brand driver. But soon Ping came out with a titanium driver which was long overdue.

It is rumored that within this decade that equipment companies will be far and few with perhaps only 3 or four surviving. We will see.