So far, we’ve examined six of the top original equipment manufacturers in golf today: The Big Three of Acushnet, Callaway and TaylorMade-Adidas, and the Next Three of Cleveland, Nike and Ping. This week, The Bag Drop takes a look at a couple groups of golf companies that find themselves looking up at those six brands.
Your Guide To The OEMs, Part 3
The golf equipment business is a crowded, cutthroat place. To help you make sense of it, I’m giving you my interpretation of how the top companies in the biz relate to one another.
On Wednesday evening, I leave for southern Ohio for a quick three-day golf trip with a few of my buddies. There’s some good golf there, and I’m from the area. We’re playing 36 on Thursday, 36 on Friday, and 18 on Saturday. The last time I played 36 holes in a day was when I was 17 and in a golf tournament. I’m a little concerned about how my stamina will be. I haven’t played that much this year and I imagine it will be hot.
Tiger is at his best when he’s playing against the best, and despite not playing his best, Tiger managed to sneak out a one-stroke victory at the WGC-NEC Invitational. This victory marks Tiger’s 45th PGA Tour victory of his career, his fifth of 2005, his fourth at Firestone, and his ninth (of only 18) World Golf Championship tournaments. With two victories, a T2, and a T4 in the majors this year along with three other wins, do you think Player of the Year is wrapped up? I do.
After tying the lead with Sung Ah Yim in first round action with a 64 and then taking a three-stroke lead on Saturday, Soo-Yun Kang certainly must have felt confident entering into the final round of the Safeway Classic. She sure looked at ease, smiling her way through eighteen holes and rarely missing a step. Her nerves only showed a bit halfway through her round and then again on the eighteenth as she missed her par putt and bogeyed in to win four strokes ahead of Jeong Jang.
Every golfer has endured a slump or two – days or weeks when your game just isn’t what it could be. For the pros, these slumps produce missed cuts (or T2s at majors if his name is Tiger Woods). For amateurs, these slumps produce lost bets, frustration, and – in some cases – humiliation. Many vow to quit the game during prolonged slumps (and a few even follow through).
Callaway Golf is enjoying a resurgent 2005 after a couple off-years. The company started the year by launching the Big Bertha 454 Titanium driver, which has been a success in the marketplace. With the golf season in full swing across the U.S., Callaway has released a new titanium-composite driver, the Big Bertha Fusion FT-3. Will the company’s new driver succeed where the composite-based C4 and ERC Fusion drivers faltered? The early word is a resounding “Yes.”
By the end of the 2003 PGA season Phil Mickelson was tired. Tired of facing the media and his own tortured soul over his lack of major championship victories. He was the poster child for underachievers and the unfortunate recipient of a clichéd label the media and masses had become accustomed to associating with all things Mickelson. He was “the best player to have never won a major.” He had been walking around with that pebble in his shoe for a long time and has finally shaken it out. Twice.
Well, that was one of the better PGA Championships that I’ve seen in a while. I wish I could have watched the end of it, but like many other people, I was stuck at work checking the updates on the web. It went down to the wire with an up and down by Lefty at the 18th.
The final major championship of the season is in the past, and it’s time for the golfers to push towards the season-ending Tour Championship in November. Usually the week after a major calls for weaker fields for the most part, but that won’t be the case this week. The World Golf Championship’s second event of the year is on tap and will be played at