Equipment contracts, who has switch lately on tour

[Tiptx1122]

Im not on the band wagon for LIV but it's golf as who cares if its LIV, Champions tour LPGA, Asian tour korn ferry tour.  With the Pro's I would like to see what players used to play a certain brand and now have switched to something else due to cancellations with their previous equipment deals. All I have heard was Phil's contract with Callaway was on hold but he still plays them despite his poor play, which I know has nothing to do with his equipment. Then there is Brooks as what is his deal with Srixon as he has not gave them a good showing as his prime was with Mizuno's.  

[Tiptx1122]

Ok well nothing to mentioned I guess as I was more concerned who is playing anything different from when they were with the PGA tour to the LIV tour

[lc1342]

I don’t think players start changing until January. 

[Tiptx1122]

Right but then that must mean all the sponsors  are still paying their players to use their equipment as I thought Phil contract with Callaway was on hold. If someone contract ison hold then they should be able to play whatever they want without any repercussion. It sure would be interesting if the players didn't receive any brand sponsorship money and they went out and played whatever they wanted too. 

[Cali_Stinger77]

I think we'll see tour trucks at LIV events next year.  

 

[Holy Moses]

Tiger got Bridgestone to dump Bryson. It will be interesting to see what the major equipment companies do with their LIV players in the coming months. I believe their contracts said they have to play a certain number of PGA Tour events or they could be dumped. So far, LIV's media appeal has been terrible compared to the PGA Tour. Even yesterday's Youtube broadcast had 700,000 viewers, millions less than CBS and NBC broadcasts. LIV appeal is growing, but still OEMs are getting a fraction of the media eyes that the PGA Tour had brought them. I'm guessing that OEMs are waiting to see if LIV gets a Fox or Apple TV or Amazon media deal next year and if not I wonder if players will be dumped. You can't continue to pay Brooks and DJ and Bryson and Niemann and Smith all the money they are getting with significantly less media time. I've seen DJ on some TV ads, but is it just me or have many of the LIV guys been scrubbed? You aren't going to show them during PGA Tour events, so what's left - just Golf Channel ads? 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Holy Moses

[lc1342]

35 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

Tiger got Bridgestone to dump Bryson. It will be interesting to see what the major equipment companies do with their LIV players in the coming months. I believe their contracts said they have to play a certain number of PGA Tour events or they could be dumped. So far, LIV's media appeal has been terrible compared to the PGA Tour. Even yesterday's Youtube broadcast had 700,000 viewers, millions less than CBS and NBC broadcasts. LIV appeal is growing, but still OEMs are getting a fraction of the media eyes that the PGA Tour had brought them. I'm guessing that OEMs are waiting to see if LIV gets a Fox or Apple TV or Amazon media deal next year and if not I wonder if players will be dumped. You can't continue to pay Brooks and DJ and Bryson and Niemann and Smith all the money they are getting with significantly less media time. I've seen DJ on some TV ads, but is it just me or have many of the LIV guys been scrubbed? You aren't going to show them during PGA Tour events, so what's left - just Golf Channel ads? 

It would be wild to see TM move from DJ. I thought he signed a deal similar to Bubba with Ping. 
 

Cobra with Bryson and all the OL irons, would be interesting to see if they gave it up. 
 

Brooks, I can see that ending. 

[Cali_Stinger77]

3 hours ago, Tiptx1122 said:

Right but then that must mean all the sponsors  are still paying their players to use their equipment as I thought Phil contract with Callaway was on hold. If someone contract ison hold then they should be able to play whatever they want without any repercussion. It sure would be interesting if the players didn't receive any brand sponsorship money and they went out and played whatever they wanted too. 

 

Callaway put Phil on hold because it was super toxic to be associated with him after that Shipnuck interview. Whoever Phil's PR person is smart AF because he didn't post a single thing social media for 3 months and all his media interactions have been very cut/dry.

Going slightly off topic here, but I think a lot of guys on the PGA Tour don't have much of a problem with any of the LIV guys. I know the lawsuit pissed some people off but it seems like Phil/Rahm are still tight. Adam Scott said last week that Phil was right about a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.si.com/golf/news/his-delivery-may-have-been-wrong-but-phil-mickelson-message-was-right

 

[Murphy76]

57 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

Tiger got Bridgestone to dump Bryson. It will be interesting to see what the major equipment companies do with their LIV players in the coming months. I believe their contracts said they have to play a certain number of PGA Tour events or they could 

 

Where was that written?  

[Holy Moses]

15 minutes ago, Cali_Stinger77 said:

 

Callaway put Phil on hold because it was super toxic to be associated with him after that Shipnuck interview. Whoever Phil's PR person is smart AF because he didn't post a single thing social media for 3 months and all his media interactions have been very cut/dry.

Going slightly off topic here, but I think a lot of guys on the PGA Tour don't have much of a problem with any of the LIV guys. I know the lawsuit pissed some people off but it seems like Phil/Rahm are still tight. Adam Scott said last week that Phil was right about a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.si.com/golf/news/his-delivery-may-have-been-wrong-but-phil-mickelson-message-was-right

 

Rory, JT, Horschel, and Zalatoris to name a few have a problem with LIV guys. Even those who don’t hate LIV players, none want them back on the PGA Tour taking money away from them.

[Holy Moses]

Just now, Murphy76 said:

 

Where was that written?  

It’s in the press release where modern companies spell out all their reasons for letting go of their stars

[subrew]

TXG posted a bunch of "inside the XYZ Company Tour Truck" videos from The Open.  Phil still had a locker on the wall in the Callaway truck, and they were still building him equipment.  Same with Gooch.  All guys that had already played LIV events before The Open.  It seems most of the OEMs are staying kinda quiet until things work themselves out.

 

Sergio was just in a TM video (with Harry Higgs and Charley Hull) that was shot two months ago, after Sergio already joined LIV.  

[Cali_Stinger77]

35 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

Rory, JT, Horschel, and Zalatoris to name a few have a problem with LIV guys. Even those who don’t hate LIV players, none want them back on the PGA Tour taking money away from them.

 

I think there's a ton of guys on tour who don't really care. I 100% agree that the LIV guys should face the consequences of their actions as they clearly violated the guidelines of the tour. But at the same time hypothetically if Brooks or Phil say I wanna play the Honda Classic the tournament organizers would be tempted.

[sg91]

6 minutes ago, subrew said:

Sergio was just in a TM video (with Harry Higgs and Charley Hull) that was shot two months ago,

Pretty sure that would have been part of TMs content shoot in November last year. They just slow release it throughout the year.

Edited September 6, 2022 by sg91

[Cali_Stinger77]

1 minute ago, sg91 said:

Pretty sure that would have been part of TMs content shoot in November last year

 

Exactly. All OEM's do content shoots in the off-season and then release that stuff throughout the season. Rory and Tommy Fleetwood did a bunch of content with the barstool guys around the holidays last year and that stuff was on youtube around the time of the Masters

[subrew]

6 minutes ago, sg91 said:

Pretty sure that would have been part of TMs content shoot in November last year. They just slow release it throughout the year.

 

They specifically talked about filming this in the summer, just before the fall schedule.  

[sg91]

3 minutes ago, subrew said:

 

They specifically talked about filming this in the summer, just before the fall schedule.  

Ok, so the exact quote from Harry Higgs in the video is "literally two months ago before the fall season kind of kicked off and we started playing I grabbed a bunch of balls, went to just different gaps" (~6:50 minutes into the video). The fall season on the PGA Tour hasn't started yet so this had to have been recorded last year.

[Murphy76]

56 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

It’s in the press release where modern companies spell out all their reasons for letting go of their stars

 

So the press release said Tiger told them to kick Bryson to the curb??

[Cali_Stinger77]

8 hours ago, subrew said:

TXG posted a bunch of "inside the XYZ Company Tour Truck" videos from The Open.  Phil still had a locker on the wall in the Callaway truck, and they were still building him equipment.  Same with Gooch.  All guys that had already played LIV events before The Open.  It seems most of the OEMs are staying kinda quiet until things work themselves out.

 

Sergio was just in a TM video (with Harry Higgs and Charley Hull) that was shot two months ago, after Sergio already joined LIV.  

 

Callaway said the relationship with Phil was on hold. I wouldn't be surprised if he's still under contract with them and is just not apart of any promotional things until tensions cool down.  It'll be interesting if Sergio and Dustin are part of any of the Taylormade promotional videos next year. I think Rory/Tiger would say no to that given past comments on LIV.

[me05501]

It'll be interesting to see how the OEMs accomplish servicing LIV events, especially with the global schedule.

 

It seems like there was one small tour van at the first LIV events that was shared by anyone who needed repairs. That seems to have grown into a bigger van which is still shared. 

 

I can't imagine the OEM's outfitting an entirely separate fleet of tour vans just to service the 6-7 events that will take place on U.S. soil next year. More likely they'll use their PGAT vans to hit the events that aren't opposite PGAT events and make some other arrangements for the events abroad. 

 

It would make sense that guys on LIV would probably want to travel with more spares/backups than they did when they knew the tour vans would be at every event. LIV's model seems to center around making the players and caddies comfortable, so my guess is they've come up with some arrangement to accommodate players who want to have backup gear moved from event to event. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by me05501

[subrew]

11 hours ago, sg91 said:

Ok, so the exact quote from Harry Higgs in the video is "literally two months ago before the fall season kind of kicked off and we started playing I grabbed a bunch of balls, went to just different gaps" (~6:50 minutes into the video). The fall season on the PGA Tour hasn't started yet so this had to have been recorded last year.

 

Harry Higgs didn't get Dude Wipes sponsorship until December 2021.  And he's got Dude Wipes logo on the shirt he is wearing in the video.  

 

 

[jmcm87]

TM stopped listing the breakdown of Matt Wolffs bag as part of Team Taylormade. Not sure if there is something to that..... or if it's just because he is breaking everything and they can't keep up. 

 

https://www.taylormadegolf.com/tourplayers/matthew-wolff.html?lang=en_US

[carrier street]

4 hours ago, me05501 said:

It'll be interesting to see how the OEMs accomplish servicing LIV events, especially with the global schedule.

 

It seems like there was one small tour van at the first LIV events that was shared by anyone who needed repairs. That seems to have grown into a bigger van which is still shared. 

 

I can't imagine the OEM's outfitting an entirely separate fleet of tour vans just to service the 6-7 events that will take place on U.S. soil next year. More likely they'll use their PGAT vans to hit the events that aren't opposite PGAT events and make some other arrangements for the events abroad. 

 

It would make sense that guys on LIV would probably want to travel with more spares/backups than they did when they knew the tour vans would be at every event. LIV's model seems to center around making the players and caddies comfortable, so my guess is they've come up with some arrangement to accommodate players who want to have backup gear moved from event to event. 

 

This makes a lot of sense. Those trucks and the people who staff them are expensive. The whole reason they invest in them is because of the value they see in having guys play their stuff. Not saying it will never happen, but I imagine it will take a lot more eyes on the actual golf being played to justify that investment. 

[tssgj65]

It would seem that the guys that took the money will end up playing with whatever they want to and not have to care too much about more $$$$ in an equipment deal.  All the OEM's will send them clubs regardless if they have a deal or not.

[Dutch1008]

4 hours ago, me05501 said:

It'll be interesting to see how the OEMs accomplish servicing LIV events, especially with the global schedule.

 

It seems like there was one small tour van at the first LIV events that was shared by anyone who needed repairs. That seems to have grown into a bigger van which is still shared. 

 

I can't imagine the OEM's outfitting an entirely separate fleet of tour vans just to service the 6-7 events that will take place on U.S. soil next year. More likely they'll use their PGAT vans to hit the events that aren't opposite PGAT events and make some other arrangements for the events abroad. 

 

It would make sense that guys on LIV would probably want to travel with more spares/backups than they did when they knew the tour vans would be at every event. LIV's model seems to center around making the players and caddies comfortable, so my guess is they've come up with some arrangement to accommodate players who want to have backup gear moved from event to event. 

Pretty simple solution for LIV, strike a deal with one of the brand agnostic club builders like Club Champion/TXG/True Spec. The PIF likes throwing money around and flashing wealth, they could build the ultimate tour trailer capable of supporting 48 players and all brands. Hell they could produce fancy youtube videos showing of the trailer in the same way that billionaires flaunt their mega yachts. You could probably even charge on site patrons a little coin to tour the facility during tournament play and even do custom fittings a equipment sales during the events, "get a custom driver built by the same craftsmen that build DJ's clubs!", not a hard sell.     

[reggus1]

Bryson has been practicing with the Titleist ProV1x Left Dash. Not sure if he has played it at LiV Boston but hes def tinkering with it after Bridgestone dumped him. Kyle Berkshire mentioned it in a YouTube vid.

[me05501]

1 minute ago, Dutch1008 said:

Pretty simple solution for LIV, strike a deal with one of the brand agnostic club builders like Club Champion/TXG/True Spec. The PIF likes throwing money around and flashing wealth, they could build the ultimate tour trailer capable of supporting 48 players and all brands. Hell they could produce fancy youtube videos showing of the trailer in the same way that billionaires flaunt their mega yachts. You could probably even charge on site patrons a little coin to tour the facility during tournament play and even do custom fittings a equipment sales during the events, "get a custom driver built by the same craftsmen that build DJ's clubs!", not a hard sell.     

 

That would be much easier if all the events were on one continent. 

 

I recently watched a logistics video showing how F1 teams coordinate the transport of their gear overseas. It was fascinating. Of course F1 budgets are enormous so they make it happen.

[Dutch1008]

9 minutes ago, me05501 said:

That would be much easier if all the events were on one continent. 

 

I recently watched a logistics video showing how F1 teams coordinate the transport of their gear overseas. It was fascinating. Of course F1 budgets are enormous so they make it happen.

F1 one is a good comparison. However, F1 has 10 teams, 2 cars a pop, and something like 22/23 events all over the world. LIV would only need to figure the logistics to transport one super trailer to 14 events and based on the 2023 schedule, 9 will be in the US with a 10th event in either Toronto or MX. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Hell pop stars do elaborate world tours with enough tech and equipment to fill multiple trailers. Setting up a LIV event is probably far simpler than coordinating a Beyonce concert.    

[mat562]

22 minutes ago, Dutch1008 said:

Pretty simple solution for LIV... they could build the ultimate tour trailer capable of supporting 48 players and all brands.

 

Mizuno did that back in the mid/late '80s on the European Tour, when they were the only game in town as far as on-site club work was concerned, and were happily able to provide brand agnostic services for entire fields week-to-week on the tour.

[me05501]

3 minutes ago, Dutch1008 said:

F1 one is a good comparison. However, F1 has 10 teams, 2 cars a pop, and something like 22/23 events all over the world. LIV would only need to figure the logistics to transport one super trailer to 14 events and based on the 2023 schedule, 9 will be in the US with a 10th event in either Toronto or MX. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Hell pop stars do elaborate world tours with enough tech and equipment to fill multiple trailers. Setting up a LIV event is probably far simpler than coordinating a Beyonce concert.    

 

Right. You mentioned building the "ultimate tour trailer" which put a specific picture in my mind. I'm imagining something that would be hard to fly overseas, but it wouldn't be impossible.