Is false advertising = cheating.

**bigoak** · February 3, 2010

Many golfers will try a particular club if the pros are using the club or ball or shoes glove etc. In the past I have seen a ping bag and head covers and not one ping club in the bag. I assume that this is with the OK with the PGA. I know there are forums where the contents of bags are posted but I am tired of doing that. If Phil or any player is misleading the public about what equipment sponsors are providing and paying a stipend for its usage then it is cheating the public. If professionals want to be whatever equipment they wish then they should use a plain bag or advertise what equipment they are using.

What Tiger has done has only cost me the opportunity to watch him play. What Phil and others are doing can cost me money for equipment being misrepresented

**sean_miller** · February 3, 2010

Many golfers will try a particular club if the pros are using the club or ball or shoes glove etc. In the past I have seen a ping bag and head covers and not one ping club in the bag. I assume that this is with the OK with the PGA. I know there are forums where the contents of bags are posted but I am tired of doing that. If Phil or any player is misleading the public about what equipment sponsors are providing and paying a stipend for its usage then it is cheating the public. If professionals want to be whatever equipment they wish then they should use a plain bag or advertise what equipment they are using.

What has Phil done? Would buying Callaway wedges give us Phil's short game? Or rather, should we insist Phil sports a PING Eye 2 cap? When my friends and I wore Air Jordans in the 1980s - we couldn't actually fly - do we have a case?

There's caveat emptor (and caveat venditor), but in this case, it more like "a fool and his money are soon parted". Tiger doesn't play any of the irons shown in his 3-headed monster ads - that doesn't offend you?

**Leftygolfer** · February 3, 2010

I don't have a problem with it. If I was sponsored I will use there head covers and bag, but if I like another club more, of course I will use it and stick my sponsors headcover on it. Seems like the right thing to do, they do pay you. I just don't really care what they play. It has little to no weight in what I buy. I am not a pro so what works for me is different than what works for them.

**KyGolfer1988** · February 3, 2010

I see what you're saying(I think) but I usually don't base my decisions to use or not use a club or shoes or bags etc because a pro is/isn't using it. But if you're saying the manufacturers are advertising clubs, bags, shoes, etc.. saying this is what Tiger uses or this is what Phil or Vijay uses then low and behold it's not what they're using at all then yes I agree that's false advertisement.

I don't have a problem with it. If I was sponsored I will use there head covers and bag, but if I like another club more, of course I will use it and stick my sponsors headcover on it. Seems like the right thing to do, they do pay you. I just don't really care what they play. It has little to no weight in what I buy. I am not a pro so what works for me is different than what works for them.

This is what I was trying to say. Lol. Good words lefty.

**Gioguy21** · February 3, 2010

If Phil or any player is

Perhaps you should think about this. Misleading...you'd be misled to think if you bought a club they were using that you would hit it the same way, not mislead about the brand they are paid to advertise versus the clubs they play. think of it this way. you are a pro (this IS a hypothetical), and a company comes to you and says listen, "we like the way you play and we want to build an advertising campaign around you. we're going to pay you X amount of dollars to put our name on your bag...regardless of what's in it...do we have a deal?" . you're trying to tell me you're going to say, "i'm sorry but i don't want to mislead the public, no you can't use my bag as a billboard, keep your X dollars". seems like a great deal to me. i hit what i like, make money on tour using it, and then get paid simply for slappin a tag/headcover on my clubs? lol...no brainer. points:

1) don't buy your clubs based on advertising you see on tour 2) hit it, regardless of name if it feels right and what you like, who cares who plays it. 3) if someone is going to give you basically free money to do something that won't hurt your game/character...sign.

**goblue107501** · February 3, 2010

I think the best way to look at it is this; things are not always as they seem. My first experience with a pro tournament (Nationwide Tour, it happens much more there) I was so excited to see what clubs guys were playing. When you get close up, you see that the Callaway bag has TM irons, Cleveland wedges, and Titleist woods. After seeing mixed bags quite regularly I have changed my thinking. I just look at as Callaway has paid to put their name on the guy's shirt, hat, and bag. It has nothing to do with what he is playing, just about exposure for the brand. If a player has a Titleist 909 driver headcover, but he is playing a 905, that is just Titleist putting the 909 name and logo in the bag, it doesn't necessarily mean that is what is being played and until I know for sure, I don't just assume that he is playing a 909. There are plenty of places to find out what pros play. I would never trust a photo with the player standing next to a bag with logos on it.

If a NASCAR car has a 'Crane Cams' sticker on the side of the car, you can assume that they use Crane Cams in the engine. All it really means is that Crane has paid the car to put a sticker on it.

Now if I saw a commercial on TV or a print ad stating that Phil Mickelson uses the new Callaway irons and wedges, only to find out that he uses Cleveland wedges and Wilson irons, I would be a little put off. Most of the ads I see are pretty careful about not stating something that isn't true.

Geoff Ogilvy recenty moved from Cobra to Titleist. There is a Titleist print ad that shows him next to his Titleist bag, full with Titleist headcovers. It says is that he plays a 909 driver, MB irons, Vokey wedges, SC putter, and Pro V1 balls. Even though you can see there are other woods or a hybrid in the bag, they are not making a claim that he uses Titleist for those clubs. They give the appearance of it, but do not say it. I don't have a problem with it, it is just about brand exposure, that is why they pay the players.

**topspin4hand** · February 3, 2010

I don't take professional athlete's endorsement of a sports equipment any more than that athlete is endorsing the quality of that company's merchandise. I'd say Shaquille O'Neal does not use those inexpensive heated back strips when he gets back pain ... but he's probably willing to stand behind the company that makes some. Same for Phil, I know he uses alot of Calloway clubs but mainly, I see him as vouching for Callaway's general quality in club making.

**kpaulhus** · February 3, 2010

Im sure Nike would like Tiger to use a method putter, but he prefers the Scotty with the Ping Grip.

**Shorty** · February 3, 2010

I don't have a problem with it. If I was sponsored I will use there head covers and bag, but if I like another club more, of course I will use it and stick my sponsors headcover on it..

No you wouldn't. You play what you are paid to play. You don't just use whatever clubs you want to and then throw your sponsor's headcover on it. You only do that if you don't have a contract for that particular club. This is why so many players have a 13 club contract or a 9 club contract or whatever. Your sponsor would impose harsh penalties upon you if you were using a club that wasn't in your contract. The choice is only yours if it is in your contract.

**TakeDeadAim** · February 3, 2010

Many golfers will

Trying doesn´t cost you money... buying blindly will...

**RCF** · February 3, 2010

I'm under the impression that tour players use customized clubs that are or can be modified at any time and to that extent it does not matter to me what brand they use. Most golfers buy stock clubs.

**Gioguy21** · February 3, 2010

Im sure Nike would like Tiger to use a method putter, but he prefers the Scotty with the Ping Grip.

he likes anythin that helps him put it in the hole....

sorry i had to

**kpaulhus** · February 3, 2010

lmao. He should be sponsored by Trojan.

**Gioguy21** · February 3, 2010

lmao. He should be sponsored by Trojan.

he went to stanford, comon now lol

**zeg** · February 3, 2010

I'm under the impression that tour players use customized clubs that are or can be modified at any time and to that extent it does not matter to me what brand they use. Most golfers buy stock clubs.

Yep; is it cheating or misleading that a pro might have his clubs bent from the stock lofts and lies, have custom length adjustments, or even have a custom version of a head made that isn't available to the public?

This one's easy: No.

**Yukari** · February 3, 2010

Many golfers will try a particular club if the pros are using the club or ball or shoes glove etc. In the past I have seen a ping bag and head covers and not one ping club in the bag. I assume that this is with the OK with the PGA. I know there are forums where the contents of bags are posted but I am tired of doing that. If Phil or any player is misleading the public about what equipment sponsors are providing and paying a stipend for its usage then it is cheating the public. If professionals want to be whatever equipment they wish then they should use a plain bag or advertise what equipment they are using.

You have got to be kidding! Think of the bag as a "billboard" and nothing more. When Tiger had AT&T; or Buick logo on the bag, I am sure no one in their right mind thought he was using their "club".

**Gioguy21** · February 3, 2010

You have got to be kidding! Think of the bag as a "billboard" and nothing more. When Tiger had AT&T; or Buick logo on the bag, I am sure no one in their right mind thought he was using their "club".

I beg your pardon...i happen to have spent $6,000 on a buick wedge...with an AT&T; grip thank you...

**Zeph** · February 3, 2010

I don't see the problem here. The only "rules" the pros have to follow are the ones in their contract with the sponsors, which they, or their lawyer or w/e is engaged in writing. If you buy equipment because a pro does, the sponsors have won and you have lost.

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