Welcome to the second ever “What’s in the Bag?” here in The Numbers Game. I thought it was time to check the bags of the winners on the PGA Tour again and see where we stand. Last year TaylorMade dominated the clubs when I looked, Odyssey was the putter champion, Cleveland in wedges, and Titleist had grips on the ball category. Read on to see if there have been any changes.
Drivers
Here is the breakdown of the manufacturers that have produced winning drivers on the PGA Tour this year:
Nike 4 TaylorMade 2 Titleist 2 Cleveland 1 Bridgestone 1 Cobra 1
Nike has overtaken TaylorMade with their SasQuatch line. Of course it doesn’t hurt to have someone named Tiger Woods on staff, but throw in a couple more wins (Rory Sabbatini, Chad Campbell) and Nike has a great start to the year. Titleist has a couple wins with the 905 R and T. TaylorMade, even with the rollout of their new 425 and much success last year, has only a couple wins so far. The surprise this year – to me at least – is the absence of Callaway. Michael Campbell and Phil helped them to a decent showing last year.
Irons
The winning iron manufacturers:
Nike 4 Titleist 2 Cleveland 1 Bridgestone 1 Cobra 1 Mizuno 1 Ping 1
Nike again tops the list with the same players that used their drivers: Woods, Sabbatini, Campbell. After that, Titleist won with their 755 and 695CB’s for second place. Mizuno finally found their way onto the list. Last year when I compiled this list, Mizuno was AWOL. Luke Donald, one of their main staff pros, won last week and got them back on track. The surprise? TaylorMade was the top dog last year and is nowhere to be found. Cleveland also has had a slow start to the year. Once Vijay gets going that number will start to rise.
Wedges
Last year – and many years before – Cleveland and Titleist have had the most popular wedges, so who has the upper hand this year?
Nike 8 Titleist 7 Cleveland 2 Ping 2 Mizuno 2 Bridgestone 1
Well, well. Neither have the upper hand. Nike has the lead once again. Titleist has separated themselves from Cleveland, but both have lost out to Nike. I guess we don’t need to talk about surprises since after 27 tournaments last year only 10 Nike wedges had been used. I’ll be curious to see if Cleveland can come back a bit. It’s not all Vijay’s fault, but his absence in the win column is noticeable.
Putters
There is an major player missing so far this year in the putters category.
Titleist (Cameron) 7 Cleveland (Never Compromise) 2 Zen Oracle Tour Works 1 Guerine Rife GR 1
Titleist, with their ever-popular Scotty Cameron line, has seven wins already this year. At the 27 tournament mark last year, it had the same amount. Needless to say, Titleist is off to a hot start this year with the flat stick. The amazing thing is the absence of Odyssey from the list. They were one of the top putter manufacturers on tour last year. The two-ball has been a success on many levels in the past few years, but we are all waiting to see it’s first victory this year.
Balls
Again, at the top of the list:
Titleist 6 Nike 3 Callaway 1 Bridgestone 1
Not much of a surprise here. Over half the wins – again – on tour belong to Titleist. David Toms and Arron Oberholser used the regular Pro V1 while the rest used the Pro V1x. Second on the list was Nike with their Nike One Platinum ball. Callaway has only managed one win&hellp; but it is early. If I had to make a prediction – and it isn’t much of a stretch – Titleist will keep winning more than half the time. If Phil ever decides to not have a melt down, Callaway might pick up some ground. Playing as well as he is, Nike will probably keep a slight advantage though.
I’ll keep the list going and post another report later this year. If you think there are any surprises, feel free to leave a comment.
When you count wedges is that right that you count 2 wedges in the winner bag? Or just 1 even if there is 2 wedges but only one brand?
I believe Dave counted as many wedges as the player had (beyond the PW). Some winners, in the past, had wedges from different companies in their bag.