Bryson DeChambeau Goes With Cobra/Puma

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Hardly a shocker, given that Bryson DeChambeau's clothes last week discreetly sported a Puma logo.

Nonetheless he's officially on board wearing Puma's and using Cobra clubs for his PGA Tour debut at Harbour Town this week.

Mike Johnson and Mike Stachura with the lowdown on DeChambeau's club specs.

Ron Green Jr. reports that Bryson intends to keep wearing the Hogan cap and explains how that started.

“I put it on and won the event and looked at my dad and said, ‘I can’t stop this,’ ” DeChambeau said.

It’s also a nod to the late Payne Stewart, who wore a similar style.

During the news conference – two hours before the Cobra Puma
announcement – DeChambeau wore a more traditional golf cap. He saves the other style for game days.

“That’s my cape,” DeChambeau said. “So I only wear that for tournament days.”

Greg Moore with the irons the current U.S. Amateur champion is using this week:


And SkratchTV helped him unveil his Spackler. I'd give it an 8.

Adidas CEO: "Strategic Review" Of Taylor Made Imminent?

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Which is code for the possible sale of Taylor Made by parent company Adidas.

David Dusek reports for Golfweek.com that a decision is coming soon which will determine whether Taylor Made is sold or retained by CEO Herbert Hainer.

“Following a decade of strong and profitable growth, TaylorMade-Adidas Golf experienced two very difficult years in 2014 and 2015, caused by a number of structural, commercial and operational issues,” he wrote. “As a result, halfway through last year we started analyzing future options for our golf business. This strategic review is expected to be concluded by the end of the first quarter of 2016.”

In addition to initiating a restructuring program, Adidas hired an investment bank in 2015 to analyze future options for the company’s golf business, with specific mentions of the Adams and Ashworth brands.

Parsons: Players Pursued Us, Not The Other Way Around

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ESPN.com's Bob Harig files a nice profile of Bob Parson's, founder of Parsons Extreme Golf, which has signed a dozen tour players. The piece also features a Michael Collins video interview with Parsons.

Parsons is selling very expensive club with sophisticated milling and metals, which adds a high-end approach to golf club manufacturing.

His claims about the tour player staff all coming to Parsons, however, doesn't seem entirely believable.

Ryan Moore was the first player to sign on with PXG early in 2015, and his clubs became a bit of curiosity on driving ranges throughout the PGA Tour.

But getting a group of players to join the company has given it a big push. In addition to Johnson, Horschel and Hahn, PXG also signed the likes of Chris Kirk and Charles Howell III. LPGA Tour players Cristie Kerr, Gerina Piller, Alison Lee, Beatriz Recari and Sadena Parks as well as Anna Rawson are also on the payroll. So is Champions Tour player Rocco Mediate.

"I was happy to see it,'' Parsons said. "It did increase our momentum. I did not go after any of them. Every one of them came to us. We eventually put a deal together with them. After the last one we signed, Mr. Kirk, we decided that 12 is enough. Thirteen ain't going to help us more.''

World Golf Foundation CEO: Millennials Will Be The "Core"

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In today's what golf will do to be loved by the 18-to-34 year olds, World Golf Foundation CEO Steve Mona says they're coming and the game should adjust to their every need.

Tod Leonard reports for the San Diego Union Tribune on the bullish tone Mona has for the state of the game.

They key segments to all of golf are youth and the millennials, which the NGF deems as those between 18 and 34 years old. The NGF did a comprehensive study of millennials and found that six million are currently playing and contributing about $5 billion annually to the golf industry. Another 12 million millennials expressed interest in taking up the game at some point.

"This kind of sky-is-falling talk that millennials aren’t playing the game, the facts belie that," Mona said. "It would be disingenuous of me to say, though, that there aren’t issues to address."

The NGF study reported that millennials value the tenets of the game as much as their older peers, but are turned off by perceptions of stodginess or lack of acceptance. Among the areas that need to be addressed, Mona said, are dress codes, use of technology on the course and even the use of music while playing.

"There are courses that already are reshaping their whole experience to be extremely millennial-friendly," Mona said. "There are others who haven’t so much. But if you talk to any operator who is paying attention to the business, most of them will tell you they are making adjustments to appeal to the millennial audience.

"They’re the next group coming along, and they’re going to be the core."

Yes, in about 20 years! In the mean time...

Clippings: 2016 PGA Show This And That

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Forward Press: LPGA Kick-Off, PGA Show Coverage

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In this week's edition I speak to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan about the refreshingly status quo state of the LPGA Tour after years of new events, new lineups and too much sponsor turnover.

Things are so improved for the tour that its number one star is not playing the opener and no one seems to mind because Whan has arranged plenty of playing opportunities.

Also covered: the PGA Show, Farmers Insurance Open and the mysterious Singapore Open where Jordan Spieth is turning up to cash a big check and build on the fatigue that threatens to mess up his year if he isn't careful (we discussed this surprising and not-surprising revelation on Morning Drive).

I'll be curious where PGA Show coverage goes this year after years of secrecy before finally joining the modern world the last few years. In 2015, Callaway was very active online and will be again. Sirius radio will have Matt Adams on hand (with Hank Haney also doing his show from the Show floor). What remains to be seen: how much show coverage is provided by Titleist, Taylor Made and PING. I'll add links if they appear.

The full column here.

Golfweek On The Growth Of Third Party Tee Time Providers

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As the PGA Show gets ready to convene in Orlando and visitors intially regale themselves in discussing when they arrived and where they’re staying, the follow up chit-chat may end up discussing the growing prominence of third party tee time retailers. If they're lucky.

Adam Schupak of Golfweek looks at Golf Now, the Golf Channel-owned enterprise leading a segment of the industry with huge room for growth. The PGA Tour has joined the business and as with most things technological, golf’s consumer base is behind the rest of society. But the catching up is happening.

This was interesting:

Multiple industry observers with knowledge of Golf Channel operations say GolfNow has become the network’s profit center.

No one disputes that third party tee-time providers have created valuable tools, but the trend has become one of the most polarizing subjects in golf, a disruptive force blamed for negatively impacting the value proposition of a round of golf.