what driver’s in the bag?
Going into the comment bag, we received a thoughtful post from one reader suggesting that there shouldn’t be a big difference between the Nike driver and the Titleist driver. Tiger’s driving woes won’t be corrected by the Titleist driver, the argument goes.
I disagree. First, sometimes a change in clubs is good to get out of a rut. Second, other than Grace Park, I have yet to see any professional golfer hit the Nike driver consistently well. Next to Tiger, the biggest Nike golfer is — or was — David Duval. Then there’s Rory Sabbatini, who’s 133d in driving accuracy. Tiger’s 142d. Need I say more?
Of the top 25 golfers in the World Rankings, only Tiger is using the Nike driver. By my count, here are the drivers being used by the Top 25 players:
1. TaylorMade – 9
2. Titleist – 8
3. Cleveland – 2
4. Nike, Wilson, Callaway, Golfsmith, Ping, Bridgestone – 1 each
4 out of the top 5 golfers use Titleist. I’m a numbers guy, and I don’t think these numbers lie. I’d go with the manufacturers that focus exclusively on golf. They know how to make clubs — that’s all they do. Tiger Woods’s Nike contract allows him to use any club he wants. He did switch back to Titleist last year, but only back to the old Titleist 975D he used before. I’d switch forward to the new Titleist technology, or maybe TaylorMade, at least to try out on the range.
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