Bryson DeChambeau Goes With Cobra/Puma

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Hardly a shocker, given that Bryson DeChambeau's clothes last week discreetly sported a Puma logo.

Nonetheless he's officially on board wearing Puma's and using Cobra clubs for his PGA Tour debut at Harbour Town this week.

Mike Johnson and Mike Stachura with the lowdown on DeChambeau's club specs.

Ron Green Jr. reports that Bryson intends to keep wearing the Hogan cap and explains how that started.

“I put it on and won the event and looked at my dad and said, ‘I can’t stop this,’ ” DeChambeau said.

It’s also a nod to the late Payne Stewart, who wore a similar style.

During the news conference – two hours before the Cobra Puma
announcement – DeChambeau wore a more traditional golf cap. He saves the other style for game days.

“That’s my cape,” DeChambeau said. “So I only wear that for tournament days.”

Greg Moore with the irons the current U.S. Amateur champion is using this week:


And SkratchTV helped him unveil his Spackler. I'd give it an 8.

Adidas CEO: "Strategic Review" Of Taylor Made Imminent?

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Which is code for the possible sale of Taylor Made by parent company Adidas.

David Dusek reports for Golfweek.com that a decision is coming soon which will determine whether Taylor Made is sold or retained by CEO Herbert Hainer.

“Following a decade of strong and profitable growth, TaylorMade-Adidas Golf experienced two very difficult years in 2014 and 2015, caused by a number of structural, commercial and operational issues,” he wrote. “As a result, halfway through last year we started analyzing future options for our golf business. This strategic review is expected to be concluded by the end of the first quarter of 2016.”

In addition to initiating a restructuring program, Adidas hired an investment bank in 2015 to analyze future options for the company’s golf business, with specific mentions of the Adams and Ashworth brands.

Parsons: Players Pursued Us, Not The Other Way Around

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ESPN.com's Bob Harig files a nice profile of Bob Parson's, founder of Parsons Extreme Golf, which has signed a dozen tour players. The piece also features a Michael Collins video interview with Parsons.

Parsons is selling very expensive club with sophisticated milling and metals, which adds a high-end approach to golf club manufacturing.

His claims about the tour player staff all coming to Parsons, however, doesn't seem entirely believable.

Ryan Moore was the first player to sign on with PXG early in 2015, and his clubs became a bit of curiosity on driving ranges throughout the PGA Tour.

But getting a group of players to join the company has given it a big push. In addition to Johnson, Horschel and Hahn, PXG also signed the likes of Chris Kirk and Charles Howell III. LPGA Tour players Cristie Kerr, Gerina Piller, Alison Lee, Beatriz Recari and Sadena Parks as well as Anna Rawson are also on the payroll. So is Champions Tour player Rocco Mediate.

"I was happy to see it,'' Parsons said. "It did increase our momentum. I did not go after any of them. Every one of them came to us. We eventually put a deal together with them. After the last one we signed, Mr. Kirk, we decided that 12 is enough. Thirteen ain't going to help us more.''

World Golf Foundation CEO: Millennials Will Be The "Core"

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In today's what golf will do to be loved by the 18-to-34 year olds, World Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona says they're coming and the game should adjust to their every need.

Tod Leonard reports for the San Diego Union Tribune on the bullish tone Mona has for the state of the game.

They key segments to all of golf are youth and the millennials, which the NGF deems as those between 18 and 34 years old. The NGF did a comprehensive study of millennials and found that six million are currently playing and contributing about $5 billion annually to the golf industry. Another 12 million millennials expressed interest in taking up the game at some point.

"This kind of sky-is-falling talk that millennials aren’t playing the game, the facts belie that," Mona said. "It would be disingenuous of me to say, though, that there aren’t issues to address."

The NGF study reported that millennials value the tenets of the game as much as their older peers, but are turned off by perceptions of stodginess or lack of acceptance. Among the areas that need to be addressed, Mona said, are dress codes, use of technology on the course and even the use of music while playing.

"There are courses that already are reshaping their whole experience to be extremely millennial-friendly," Mona said. "There are others who haven’t so much. But if you talk to any operator who is paying attention to the business, most of them will tell you they are making adjustments to appeal to the millennial audience.

"They’re the next group coming along, and they’re going to be the core."

Yes, in about 20 years! In the mean time...

Clippings: 2016 PGA Show This And That

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Forward Press: LPGA Kick-Off, PGA Show Coverage

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In this week's edition I speak to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan about the refreshingly status quo state of the LPGA Tour after years of new events, new lineups and too much sponsor turnover.

Things are so improved for the tour that its number one star is not playing the opener and no one seems to mind because Whan has arranged plenty of playing opportunities.

Also covered: the PGA Show, Farmers Insurance Open and the mysterious Singapore Open where Jordan Spieth is turning up to cash a big check and build on the fatigue that threatens to mess up his year if he isn't careful (we discussed this surprising and not-surprising revelation on Morning Drive).

I'll be curious where PGA Show coverage goes this year after years of secrecy before finally joining the modern world the last few years. In 2015, Callaway was very active online and will be again. Sirius radio will have Matt Adams on hand (with Hank Haney also doing his show from the Show floor). What remains to be seen: how much show coverage is provided by Titleist, Taylor Made and PING. I'll add links if they appear.

The full column here.

Golfweek On The Growth Of Third Party Tee Time Providers

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As the PGA Show gets ready to convene in Orlando and visitors intially regale themselves in discussing when they arrived and where they’re staying, the follow up chit-chat may end up discussing the growing prominence of third party tee time retailers. If they're lucky.

Adam Schupak of Golfweek looks at Golf Now, the Golf Channel-owned enterprise leading a segment of the industry with huge room for growth. The PGA Tour has joined the business and as with most things technological, golf’s consumer base is behind the rest of society. But the catching up is happening.

This was interesting:

Multiple industry observers with knowledge of Golf Channel operations say GolfNow has become the network’s profit center.

No one disputes that third party tee-time providers have created valuable tools, but the trend has become one of the most polarizing subjects in golf, a disruptive force blamed for negatively impacting the value proposition of a round of golf.

Forward Press: PGA West Stadium And Johnny's Return

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In this week's Forward Press, I naturally touch upon the much anticipated European Tour stop in Abu Dhabi featuring Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. But there are a number of interesting elements to the Bob Hope Classic's latest reboot into the CareerBuilder Challenge, starting with the return of PGA West Stadium after its not-so-triumphant one-year stint 29 years ago.

As the column notes, this is an opportunity to see just how much the game has changed. While there won't be ShotLink comparisons to make, those of us old enough to remember how difficult the Stadium once was will get to see today's players light the place up.

Mentioned in the column also is the 2016 debut of Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller and producer Tommy Roy. Since filing the column I was reminded that this is where Johnny made his debut as an analyst in 1990 where he wheeled out his first of many “choke” references when talking about the possibility of Hope Classic contender Peter Jacobsen blowing a 72nd hole shot. Jacobsen pulled off the shot and won, but I'm sure we'll relive that and Lee Trevino's Skins Game ace.

Happy reading!

Grand Slam: Jordan 100-1, Rory 150-1!?

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As America virtually shuts down on Sundays because the NFL is betting friendly (and even exciting sometimes), golf remains a tough sell to those who like to wager, or, at the least, enjoy discussion of futures odds.

Consider this Martin Inglis story at Bunkered on prices for the 2016 majors.

As for achieving the grand slam, William Hill believe Spieth is more likely to do so than four-time major winner McIlroy, who failed to add to his total during a 2015 which was disrupted by an ankle ligament injury.

Spieth is 10/11 to be majorless, 6/4 to win one, 6/1 to replicate his sensational 2015 by winning two, 14/1 to win three and 100/1 to become the first player to win all four in a calendar year.

As for McIlroy, the odds are slightly longer. The Northern Irishman is 5/6 to win zero, 11/8 to win one, 13/2 to win two, 20/1 to win three and 150/1 to scoop all four.

How so very...not tantalizing. Spieth just finished one of the five best years in major championship history...HISTORY...winning two majors while finishing T4 and second. Repeating that is only a 6-1...opportunity?

Neither are any of these prices even remotely tempting...

And here are the odds for some selected others to win ONE major in 2016:

• Jason Day – 2/1 
• Rickie Fowler – 9/2 
• Bubba Watson – 6/1 
• Dustin Johnson – 6/1 
• Justin Rose – 6/1
 • Adam Scott – 8/1
 • Henrik Stenson – 8/1
 • Hideki Matsuyama – 12/1 
• Patrick Reed – 12/1
 • Brooks Koepka – 14/1 
• Phil Mickelson – 14/1 
• Matt Kuchar – 14/1 
• Louis Oosthuizen – 14/1 
• Martin Kaymer – 14/1 
• Sergio Garcia – 14/1

And…
• Tiger Woods – 14/1

Right now, we should get 14/1 if Tiger will even PLAY in a major.

What I can't gauge from these numbers is if it speaks to the bettors not understanding just how hard it is to win a major in golf, or the bookmakers just instilling this obliviousness in their customers. Either way, the numbers above are only good for discussing how silly they look on paper. Give me a $20,000 Maiden Claimer any day over this!

Meanwhile punters, Rory is looking ready to go as his 2016 is about to kick off in Abu Dhabi, getting dialed in on his new Trackman.

Is the just a little taller, the swing a little tighter/shorter, and the body even more fit?

Slow motion:

A video posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on Jan 17, 2016 at 6:31am PST


And full speed. Pretty tight.

Full speed

A video posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on Jan 17, 2016 at 8:50am PST

Langley Gets $3 Million To Be Golf's First "Athlete Trading Stock"

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Here I thought the sign of Wall Street geekdom having too much time and money peaked when they discovered high-frequency trading. Or ruining my favorite baseball team.

But reading from Yahoo's Daniel Roberts about Fantex's athlete trading stocks suggests that there is a stranger and even deeper misunderstanding of sports than I first feared.

PGA Tour player Scott Langley is Fantex's first pro golfer, inked for an upfront fee of $3.06 million, payable if they sell shares in Langley, in exchange for the privilege of 15% of his earnings. Here's how it works, according to Roberts:

The company pays every athlete it signs a one-time, upfront lump sum in return for a percentage of the athlete's future brand income—all future income tied to the athlete's brand, whether it's from the sport or from business outside of it. (That includes, for example, money from endorsement deals, fast-food franchising, speaking engagements, TV appearances and more.) In Langley's case, Fantex is paying Langley $3.06 million in return for 15% of his future brand income. Fantex raises that fee from the IPO process; if it fails to sell enough shares of the athlete in the offering, it can't pay him. It has successly brought all six of its attempted offerings public, but it had to cancel the offering of Arian Foster, who was planned to be its first stock. Foster is a bigger star than any of the athletes Fantex has brought public, but he was sidelined by a back injury shortly after Fantex announced the deal.