mickelson dumps titleist
Wow. Here's a news flash. After trying to renegotiate his contract with Titleist, Phil Mickelson decided to part ways with Titleist and switch over to Callaway. He'll be playing Callaway balls and using a prototype Callaway driver, plus Big Bertha woods. The irons will take some more time, since Phil likes the blades and Callaway makes cavity back irons. Callaway designer Roger Cleveland will be working with Phil to design irons he likes. In the meantime, Phil could use Ben Hogan blades, since Callaway reportedly owns Ben Hogan.
Phil will be the premier player using Callaway. The big names using Callaway today are Charles Howell III, and, of course, Annika Sorenstam. Phil will take Callaway to another level on the men's tour and will no doubt earn more endorsement money. I never really liked pros switching away from clubs they've hit very well in the past, especially to clubs that they've never had success with before. Corey Pavin did it after he won the U.S. Open, and then we never heard from him again. John Daly did it after winning the PGA and then he vanished (for a number of reasons) until his British victory. Phil had such a great year this year that I wish he would have waited a little bit longer, so that he could test whatever irons Callaway develops for him before signing on. It's true that Phil probably could hit any club, but, hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it... or fiddle with it.
2 Comments:
Rich Beem and Carlos Franco are Callaway players. Since Howell hasn't done much so far, I thought I'd add some players who have (although Beem seems to be still sitting on his butt this year, but at least he has a major).
The very least I would have expected from Phil would be to see his existing contract out; sportsmen are supposed to be role models. Demonstrations of honour, integrity and courage are what the world needs from its role models, not greed, greed and more greed.
Titleist carried his sorry tail when he was playing up and down for three years, probably never missing a payment, and now that he’s playing great and [just when] they can get a return on the $12 million they've already spent, he wants to renegotiate. Boy, what a truly class act Phil turned out to be.
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