Equipment
Sponsor Shuffling: Els, English and DeLaet
The start of the 2014 PGA Tour calendar has given a fresh look and some new clubs for Harris English, Ernie Els and Graham DeLaet, who have all signed new sponsorship deals.
Ernie Els’ new equipment contract with Adams Golf became official yesterday, settling the rumors about where he would end up for the 2014 season.
Els, who is currently ranked No. 27 in the Official World Golf Rankings, has bounced between several equipment sponsors over his hall-of-fame career, winning majors with three separate OEM’s: Lynx (1994 U.S. Open), TaylorMade (1997 U.S. Open and 2002 British Open) and Callaway (2012 British Open). He seems to have found a situation he is happy with in Adams.
In a blog post on the Adams Golf website, Els wrote that he is “so excited about joining Adams.” To answer the questions about what clubs he will game, he continued “Right now we’re working hard to finalize the configuration and exact specs of my set, focusing specifically on the Tight Lies fairway metals, XTD irons and hybrids.”
Since TaylorMade-Adidas acquired Adams Golf in 2012, it is also likely that Els will be swinging a TaylorMade driver. The public will see Els with his new set for the first time at the Qatar Masters later this month.
Harris English, a two-time PGA Tour winner in 2013 and four-time All-American from the University of Georgia, signed a deal with Callaway Golf, filling the void left by the departure of Ernie Els. He’s not yet a hall-of-famer, and has big shoes to fill, but a strong showing last year proved his potential to be a household name on Tour.
Callaway and Odyssey clubs appear in English’s bag this week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, and will comprise his set throughout the year. English is excited about his new sponsor, saying “I’ve been really happy with the new Callaway clubs. In a short period of time I’ve been able to take advantage of the resources they have and I’m excited about the start of the 2014 season.”
Graham DeLaet, ranked No. 36 in the world, is also making moves, signing on to wear Puma apparel for the upcoming 2014 season. He will not play the company’s Cobra golf equipment, however, as he recently signed a three year contract to continue to use Titleist’s golf equipment and golf ball and wear FootJoy’s gloves and shoes.
New additions are rare for Puma Golf, but the celebrated and always entertaining Canadian was a no-brainer to sport colorful Puma threads. DeLaet, a mainstay on the GolfWRX weekly feature “Tweets of the Week” keeps his fans amused on and off the golf course. He’s a spark to the already flashy group of Rickie Fowler, Jonas Blixt, Jesper Parnevik and Ian Poulter. DeLaet’s flair complements his talent, a successful recipe for the Cobra/PUMA team.
His 2013 bid included a second place finish at The Barclays, third place finishes at the Travelers and Deutsche Bank Championships, and 11 top-25 finishes.
Fully suited in Puma gear from the 2014 Spring/Summer Collection, DeLaet will make his 2014 debut on January 23 at the Farmers Insurance Open. Much like the Tiger Sunday Red, or Rickie Fowler Sunday Orange, DeLaet will show his Canadian patriotism with red and white every Sunday on Tour this year. Puma will share photos on social media using the hashtag #CandianSunday.
Between DeLaet, Poulter and Fowler, Cobra/Puma has a strong contingent of Tweeters.
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
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Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
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Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Brian Dudz
Jan 4, 2014 at 9:49 pm
Great article, Andrew! My favorite line was “…but the celebrated and always entertaining Canadian was a no-brainer to sport colorful Puma threads.”
Zak
Jan 4, 2014 at 4:07 pm
I saw someone say that Henrik Stenson will be playing a full bag of Callaways this season, does that mean he will he parting ways with his beloved (and extremely successful) Piretti putter?
Hoylake
Jan 3, 2014 at 1:33 pm
Henrik Stenson Has signed with Callaway and will play a full Callaway bag 2014!
bellsy13
Jan 3, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Mateo: Canadians don’t have the luxuries Americans have with sports. DeLaet is the best Canadian golfer on tour and was in the hunt more than not. He’s a class act, picked for the President’s Cup and had a stellar end to his season. You must not follow golf too closely. He is much more relevant than your comments.
Shawn
Jan 3, 2014 at 10:55 am
“So we lost Ernie, huh? That’s okay, we just signed Harris English”
I’ll take things that WEREN’T said at Callaway headquarters for $500, Alex.
ryan neuzerling
Jan 3, 2014 at 6:20 am
whatever shirt doesn’t have a beer/grass/food stain….
Mateo
Jan 3, 2014 at 1:17 am
yawn. 1 over the hill and the other 2 are almost irrelevant
LorenRobertsFan
Jan 3, 2014 at 2:31 am
Over the hill? Ernie won the Open this past year. And English isn’t irrelevant. He won twice on tour this past year also
burkie
Jan 3, 2014 at 11:27 am
neither of them are nearly as irrelevant as your post.
Do you follow the PGA tour at all?
Shark
Jan 2, 2014 at 6:39 pm
I just loaded up in Canadian Winter offseason on sligo golf clothes as I like delaet style. Oh well I like his old funky stuff. Puma is flashy but not as fun…
Shelby
Jan 4, 2014 at 3:10 am
Instead of you and Graham D., you can at least say it’s you and Brian Gay! He rocks the Sligo still……
jc
Jan 2, 2014 at 6:00 pm
and what will all of you be wearing on sunday? golfwrx wants to know…
I will be wearing my old footjoys and whatever golf shirt I find first in the closet that goes with the first pair of pants I grab.