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Would PGA Tour Pro’s Win More If...

dduarte85

dduarte85

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If they shed sponsorships and were able to use whatever gear fit their game across whatever OEM fit their needs. I know some guys do this but I’m talking more elite players who you see play their entire bag across a single OEM
 
I don’t think so honestly. All of the OEMs are making such amazing gear right now, so I think these guys would score about the same with anyone’s gear.
 
I think some would. i.e.- Bubba's ball
 
For the majority I don’t think so. I think all of them could find something that fits them from any of the major OEM’s.

The majority play either “players” cavity back or blade irons, with a few playing either driving irons, hybrids, or some more forgiving iron in a driving/long iron spot in the bag. The majority also play the lower spinning option in driver heads. They can get whatever shafts they want - with the majority being one out of a handful of popular options (both irons and woods).
 
I may be completely off base here but from what I see, the elite players equipment are so customized to what fits them best that any tour truck and manufacturer can make any of their flagship stuff work for the player. And if they cannot, they are playing prototypes. The one I most recently can think of are the Apex MB that Rory played with for a few tournaments. At the time, they didn't look like any Apex MB I've seen available to us commoners.
 
Certainly some of them might but I have no idea how we could ever find out.
 
We’re probably splitting the difference of a yard or so from any OEM at this point. There are more forgiving options, but they didn’t get to be Tour Pro’s by mishitting it enough that forgiveness is a factor.

For us usual golfers, the forgiveness comes into play and there are certainly options that are more suited to our sucktitude.

But if you hit the center, with the loft that’s best for you, with the shaft that’s best for you, there isn’t much difference IMO.

Hell if you can hit the center, pretty much any OEM clubs from the last 7-8 years will be just fine.

If you stray from the center, the newer stuff is great. I’m playing last years driver and I’ve LOL’d a couple times at how good a bad strike ends up.
 
I don't think the equipment matters as much for them as it used. Maybe the ball might matter more.
 
I don't think it matters, they play clubs that are tailored to them and top guys play prototypes that are specific to them. Even down to the balls. Now the lowest level guys on the tour still get custom, but I don't know if they get "prototype" level service?
 
5 of the last 6 major wins have been by players without club deals. I know Koepka skews this winning 3 of them himself but it's interesting.

I think any OEM could make clubs to fit all the top players but deals where they have to change to the latest model every season could cause problems trying to adjust even if it's only psychological.
 
No I don't think it matters all that much. I just think certain guys are in form right now
 
Ghost21 said:
deals where they have to change to the latest model every season
Click to expand...

I don't know of a single company that has that in place honestly.
 
I think some of the lesser known players could benefit but I imagine the big names have so much attention paid to them that the equipment is set up really close to perfect.
 
I don't think so. I know this is a bit off topic but, I think they would win more if they had to earn a living just by playing and not all of the other money they get. I think many of them are satisfied with just playing because of what they earn without winning. Love to see them play if they were hungry to maintain the life style they have, but without all of the "other" money in the bank. Case in point = Phil making $37 million a year without winning anything. Take that $37 million (2018) in endorsements away.

Take this away and see what they do;

Rory $34 million in endorsements in 2018
Jordan $30 million in endorsements in 2018
Tiger $42 million in endorsements in 2018

Tiger earned $1.3 million in 2018. Huge difference if he didn't have that other $42 million up front.
 
I think it could matter. There is a variety of blade shapes out there on irons, but they kind of fall in 4 categories that I see: a strait muscle with weight evenly across the bottom, a muscle with more weight in the middle, a muscle with more weight towards the toe and heel, and a perimeter weight cavity back. If your company didn't have you're muscle shape on a giving year that could be problematic. I also think some of these guys are more sensitive to changes in equipment than others.
 
I didn't think it matters all that much until I saw the performance of JR this year. I believe Justin Rose has taken a major step back with his change in equipment.
 
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