1. Equipment Changes
Last year at this time, one of the biggest stories was Rory McIlroy signing his big endorsement deal and switching from Titleist to Nike. This off-season also saw some major equipment changes among top name players.
Ernie Els will proudly display the Adams logo on his bag. Els withdrew from the Volvo Champions and Abu Dhabi to practice with his new Tight Lies fairway metals and XTD irons and hybrids. He will start his 2014 season at the Qatar Masters with the new sticks.
Henrik Stenson signed a multi-year contract with Callaway to use their equipment and sport their logo on his bag. He won’t have much of an adjustment to the Callaway products as he used their fairway woods and irons last year while winning the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai.
U.S. Open winner Justin Rose decided his clubs are just fine, thank-you very much. He will stick with Taylormade and inked a new five-year deal with them.
Vijay Singh is following Cleveland Golf’s former CEO Greg Hopkins to Hopkins Golf for his wedges. Hopkins and Singh have been good friends for some time and Singh will be the primary name for the new brand.
Harris English won twice on tour in 2013 with Ping equipment, but is making the switch to Callaway.
Italian star Matteo Manassero is also joining English and Stenson by switching to Callaway. He tested many different lines and was really impressed with the Callaway clubs.
He will using his new sticks for the first time this week at the Volvo Champions on the European Tour..
Evidently, Els departure from the Callaway stable freed up some of the marketing budget to sign hig-profile players like Stenson, English and Manassero.
On the Women’s front Inbee Park seems satisfied with her equipment and signed a new multi-year deal with her current company Cleveland/Srxion.
2. Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods made some news, when he officially announced that he will start his season in the U.S. this year at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, January 23-26. Woods is the defending champion at the Farmers Insurance Open and has won this event 7 times in the last 14 years. Torrey Pines was also the site of his last major championship victory in the 2008 U.S. Open.
Woods is also scheduled to play on the European Tour in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the following week.
It also appears Tiger will have some more time to practice as it was announced that his significant other, Olympic Skier Lindsey Vonn, will undergo surgery for a knee injury and will not be able to participate in the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in February.
3. Jack Nicklaus
The man that Tiger Woods is chasing, Jack Nicklaus, spent some time in southern California to watch his grandson Nick O’Leary play for Florida State University in the BCS Championship game in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Monday night. After being down early in the game, FSU’s Heisman winning quarterback, Jameis Winston brought his team back to win in the second half over Jason Dufner’s Auburn War Eagles.
Evidently man does not live by golf alone. Into every life a little football must fall.
4 Wazzilroy
In case you have been sleeping under a rock, one of the world’s high profile couples got engaged over the holidays. Rory McIlroy popped the question to tennis professional Caroline Wozniacki and she accepted.
McIlroy struggled throughout 2013, but a runner-up finish in Korea, a win over Tiger in an exhibition in China and a win at the Australian Open over Masters champion Adam Scott may be an omen of better things to come in 2014 for the happy couple.