6:00pm ET – Kapalua, Hawaii – Hyundai Tournament of Champions
Ernie Els is two over par for this season. Ok, well he has played two holes so far and bogeyed both…
Villegas is now a TaylorMade player
This was a sticky issue back in August 2010 when word got out that Camilo Villegas was switching from Cobra/Titleist to Taylormade. Camilo’s contract wasn’t up yet, and such announcements are not supposed to happen while the player is still under contract.
I’m not up to speed on the status of a law suit between Cobra and TaylorMade, but the word today is that this deal is now done. Camilo Villegas is officially a TaylorMade tour staff player.
What endorsement deal is next for Graeme?
The endorsement deals are flowing in for 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell. I recently posted about Graeme’s switch to Srixon and I just got word from Ecco that Graeme is now wearing Ecco golf shoes.
Terms of the multi-year deal weren’t disclosed, but I’ve sent an email back to them to see if they’ll release that info.
This week’s PGA Tour event, they Hyundai Tournament of Champions, is an invitational for players who won in the 2010 season. There are no alternates and there’s no Monday qualifying or anything like that.
A stitch in time saves $70,000
Geoff Ogilvy cut his hand in an accident on the beach in Hawaii. He had to get 12 stitches. He’ll likely withdraw after hitting one shot from the tournament, so he can collect the guaranteed $70,000 money.
Geoff Ogilvy’s agent, Pro-Sport Managment’s Paul Galli:
“It’s not so much a big cut, it’s just in an awkward position. It was fairly deep, and when you’re on the reef, you’ve got to be careful with an infection. They cleaned it out and put in some stitches. He hasn’t hit any shots. He was practicing swinging his room and it was giving him discomfort. It’s not ideal.”
How many of you would cut your hand so you could get 12 stitches in Hawaii and then make one golf swing to guarantee 70 grand? Tough gig. How do I volunteer for that?
Stock up now?
I’m freaking out a bit I’ll admit. But reading the latest article on Bloomberg really made this possible scenario hit home.
Fortune Brands has enlisted Morgan Stanley to run an auction of their golf division. There’s a possibility that when Fortune Brands sells off, a.k.a. breaks up its golf division (which includes Titleist, FootJoy and Pinnacle), that someone such as Nike, Adidas or some other entity with about $1.5 billion bucks to spend could buy it and absorb it into their brand. You can be damn sure that if Adidas or Nike bought it, they’d can the Titleist name in a heartbeat.
That scenario would be a shame. The golf world without the Titleist brand is tough to imagine. But I guess business is business.
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