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DeChambeau and Cobra

Sean

Sean

Earthbound Extraterrestrial
Albatross 2024 Club
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As well all know, DeChambeau during The Open said that his driver "sucks". He wasn't complaining about it when he won tournaments, including the US Open, and Cobra seems to bend over backwards to accommodate him. I never got endorsements myself (I will buy a product if it works for me, not because some super star uses it), but they apparently do work. The thing about BD's equipment is who would tell a salesperson, "I want to play the same driver Bryson plays." Heck, his drive has like 5º of loft and the shaft is some kind of rebar, and how many people play single length irons? I just wonder if it is worth it for Cobra to keep him on their staff? I think Fowler, for example, is a much better brand ambassador than DeChambeau.
 
He is the only PGA Tour player using one-length, and one-length irons account for ~40% (I'm pretty sure it is in that ballpark) of their iron sales, so I would say he is an integral piece of their marketing/sales plan (especially when he is playing well and winning). Rickie isn't even in the top 100 of the world rankings at the moment.
 
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Rickie is more personable and photogenic, but he's not winning anything right now to help drive club sales. He's really not even competitive at this point - almost the only TV time he gets is during his commercials, because he's not usually in the running on weekends. Bryson is their showpiece for one length clubs, armlock putters and even the driver (last week notwithstanding), and gets a lot more air time during tournaments.

I'll never understand people buying clubs based on what PGA Tour players are playing, but apparently it is actually a thing so I don't see Cobra dumping Bryson.
 
BuckNasty said:
He is the only PGA Tour player using one-length, and one-length irons account for ~40% (I'm pretty sure it is in that ballpark) of their iron sales, so I would say he is an integral piece of their marketing/sales plan (especially when he is playing well and winning). Rick isn't even in the top 100 of the world rankings at the moment.
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I was going to write something similar. Like him or hate him but he gets attention and marketing departments will tell you that's important.
 
IMO, Cobra should cut ties with him. Sure he has won 1 Title this year, yes, he has put his "Biomechanics/Algorithms" into the World of Golf; but at what price? He's sporadic on his shots(yes he does bomb the **** of his tee shots along with fairways and short game) but, he IS NOT CONSISTANT enough to do this week in and week out. He blames his caddy, his Driver, the manufacturer(innuendo) but never "himself". Find or start a company that "believes in your beliefs and club building capabilities" and see what they will do for you.
Again this is my $.02, we can agree to disagree. Cheers
 
Good or bad it brings attention to Cobra so that helps the company in one way or another.
As far as Bryson goes as a golfer, his over pumped A@@ just got destroyed by a 5'9" guy who weights 165 soaking wet. So all his power is useless.
 
BuckNasty said:
He is the only PGA Tour player using one-length, and one-length irons account for ~40% (I'm pretty sure it is in that ballpark) of their iron sales, so I would say he is an integral piece of their marketing/sales plan (especially when he is playing well and winning). Rickie isn't even in the top 100 of the world rankings at the moment.
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I am surprised that one length accounts for 40% of their iron sales.

It would be interesting to see how much interest there would be in Bryson at other companies if One Length isn't part of their strategy.

Regarding Rickie while they sold some of those RF33 blades they can't have been a big market and I don't think Fowler has them in his bag anymore.
 
If Cobra had another player playing well, and using OL irons, BD's neck could be on the chopping block.

I'm not totally convinced that after the Olympics, and maybe after the FedEx, they won't part ways anyways.
 
My guess is that there is a shift of the internal balance of power between Bryson and Cobra R&D. It's no secret that the Cobra team is on the edge of technology and putting out better and better designs and equipment. Wait another cycle or two and I all but guarantee that another major manufacturer will release an IP distinguishable but very similar full face driver face, for example.

What came out in all of this is that Cobra has done quite a bit based on what Bryson has requested, such as lowering loft to unholy levels, and I am sure a bunch of other things, trying to catch a ghost. My guess is that Cobra R&D pulls back a bit and lets Bryson know that it's more important to hit more fairways than to drive the ball a few extra yards into the rough. Bryson isn't doing the brand any favors by hitting fliers from the deep rough with his OL irons. I am sure we will see a convergence.

The solution here, to me, is pretty clear. Bryson gives up bit of control, lets the R&D guys do their thing. And Bryson ends up playing different drivers for different courses, depending on what is needed. For example, he would play a more accurate but possibly shorter driver for the Open, but a longer driver for the Honda Classic. It would promote the brand as custom fit capable, and help smooth over the brand relationship.
 
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what was the reason he stopped playing the Cobra LTD driver? He seemed to like that one, is it because its 5 years old and Cobra is asking he play the newest version?
 
Chef23 said:
It would be interesting to see how much interest there would be in Bryson at other companies if One Length isn't part of their strategy.
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If One Length was not part of a company's strategy than I doubt they would have any interest in Bryson considering the significant amount of R&D that would need to be invested to build his irons/wedges. Seems like both Bryson and Cobra will be tied together for the foreseeable future due to the whole one-length concept.
 
Sean said:
As well all know, DeChambeau during The Open said that his driver "sucks". He wasn't complaining about it when he won tournaments, including the US Open, and Cobra seems to bend over backwards to accommodate him. I never got endorsements myself (I will buy a product if it works for me, not because some super star uses it), but they apparently do work. The thing about BD's equipment is who would tell a salesperson, "I want to play the same driver Bryson plays." Heck, his drive has like 5º of loft and the shaft is some kind of rebar, and how many people play single length irons? I just wonder if it is worth it for Cobra to keep him on their staff? I think Fowler, for example, is a much better brand ambassador than DeChambeau.
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Yes it is! He's not your typical golfer and he gives them something Ricky can't, a Win!!!

I am guessing OL gets a bump everytime BDC wins!
 
I’ve never seen anyone else beside myself in person play OL club. But at the moment he is Cobra’s star player.

Bryson did not influence my choice at all.
@JB and his glowing reviews is what caused me to give them a chance!
 
It will be interesting to see if/how the dynamic changes between Bryson and Cobra. That was a tumultuous couple weeks for him with his caddy quitting and then the driver comments. He may not have completely burned bridges, but he sure drove a big truck into them at speed and damaged them.
 
zoveracker said:
I’ve never seen anyone else beside myself in person play OL club. But at the moment he is Cobra’s star player.

Bryson did not influence my choice at all.
@JB and his glowing reviews is what caused me to give them a chance!
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I would argue in addition that Bryson led to research that created more OL club options.
 
BuckNasty said:
If One Length was not part of a company's strategy than I doubt they would have any interest in Bryson considering the significant amount of R&D that would need to be invested to build his irons/wedges. Seems like both Bryson and Cobra will be tied together for the foreseeable future due to the whole one-length concept.
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My thoughts too. Without Bryson there is no one length which would probably lose a very good portion of sales at this point. Kind of painted into a corner Cobra/Puma is .
 
Snowman said:
It will be interesting to see if/how the dynamic changes between Bryson and Cobra. That was a tumultuous couple weeks for him with his caddy quitting and then the driver comments. He may not have completely burned bridges, but he sure drove a big truck into them at speed and damaged them.
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We will be sure to ask about this at the Morgan Cup. We won't be able to share it but we will certainly ask haha
 
golfer_teej said:
what was the reason he stopped playing the Cobra LTD driver? He seemed to like that one, is it because its 5 years old and Cobra is asking he play the newest version?
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I don't have any insider knowledge, but I'd imagine an OEM would want their star player to have their latest and greatest in the bag - it wouldn't say much for their product if he elected to keep playing an outdated/discontinued model.

I remember a similar thing in Supercross in the mid-'90s. Jeremy McGrath was Honda's superstar rider (for those of you who weren't into Supercross at the time, he was like the Tiger Woods of that sport in terms of winning everything, all the time). Honda came out with an all new aluminum framed bike, but Jeremy liked the '93 steel frame better and kept racing it, wouldn't move to the new model. It wasn't a good look for Honda and there was a lot of chatter about it in the media. Honda put a lot of pressure on him to move to the newer bike, but they really didn't have a lot of leverage - he was not only their top rider, but the top rider in the entire sport and was hugely popular, so he wasn't exactly somebody they'd kick to the curb over it. He rode the steel frame throughout the rest of his time with Team Honda, until he moved to Team Suzuki in '97.
 
I don't see them dropping Bryson.
 
I will bet $1 that Cobra does not drop Bryson.
 
I wonder what Bryson would do if Cobra dropped him. Would other companies jump at the chance to get the "one-length," big name player on their roster? If so, which ones? So many of the other big brands have plenty of top players, all far less demanding than Bryson has been for Cobra. And no other large manufacturers have put much effort into OL clubs to this point as far as I am aware. Cobra has pretty much all their marbles in the Bryson camp, and are simply hanging onto Ricky for his well-known likeable persona. Dump Bryson and they may have the budget to attract a better, big name player who wouldn't be such a pain. At that point, Bryson may have to realize that it's time to grow up and shut up if he wants another manufacturer to consider him.

All that said, I still side with Bryson over Brooks! Bryson may be a big whiner, but Brooks is the bigger jerk, in my opinion. He thinks he's just too cool:cool: for the world.
 
Bryson is a bright individual. It's my belief that his 'sucks' comment was emotionally driven (obviously) because of youth and immaturity; I'm old so I can say that. I'm guessing he apologized to Cobra prior to apologizing to through the media. I'm also guessing he's realized the driver head was not the cause of his poor driving, going back to him being a bright individual.

I don't foresee him and Cobra parting ways anytime soon.
 
He didn't say anything controversial enough to get fired. He did say something stupid so he does have to answer for it to management but he shouldn't be "cancelled."
 
Sean said:
As well all know, DeChambeau during The Open said that his driver "sucks". He wasn't complaining about it when he won tournaments, including the US Open, and Cobra seems to bend over backwards to accommodate him. I never got endorsements myself (I will buy a product if it works for me, not because some super star uses it), but they apparently do work. The thing about BD's equipment is who would tell a salesperson, "I want to play the same driver Bryson plays." Heck, his drive has like 5º of loft and the shaft is some kind of rebar, and how many people play single length irons? I just wonder if it is worth it for Cobra to keep him on their staff? I think Fowler, for example, is a much better brand ambassador than DeChambeau.
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Huge thread on this here.

 
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