Tour News
Polara Golf signs John Daly as an ambassador
Wait for it.
Wait for it.
Well, John Daly never was one to conform.
Yes, that is the best I’ve got. A press release this week confirmed that John Daly has signed on to be an ambassador for golf brand Polara. The 47-year-old Daly, who has played many clubs throughout his storied career, will now add Polara Golf to that list.
Or will he? After all, Daly still does regularly suit up on the PGA and Web.com tours (he does, look it up!) and for those events he will not be allowed to use products from his new sponsor. Unfortunately, I’m not referring to Loudmouth pants, the “loud” attire that will have you adjusting the color dial on your television — that is if you still own a television that has dials, but where were we? Ah yes, illegal stuff. Polara Golf fancies itself as “the leader in game improvement equipment for the recreational golfer,” and actually makes golf balls and a driver that are both not conforming to the rules of the USGA and R&A.
I’m not going to criticize a company for making non-conforming equipment; Callaway famously did it in the past with the ERC 2 driver, a club that was so controversial it caused people to do the impossible — get mad at Arnold Palmer. And recently TaylorMade CEO Mark King has made comments in interviews hinting at his own support for bifurcation of the rules, leading to countless online debates about whether or not TaylorMade would actually produce non-conforming clubs.
[youtube id=”og9iCF6FtwI” width=”620″ height=”360″]
Well, Polara DOES in fact currently produce non-conforming equipment. It makes a ball that it claims can reduce your slice by up to 70 percent (watch it above), but oddly it don’t boast about fixing a hook, so I guess if you hook it you are out of luck. But anyway, the company claims to have the best slice-fixing balls on the market, which are “approved for the recreational golfer” unless his recreation is playing in USGA-sanctioned events.
Polara also makes a 475 cubic centimeter driver, which is over the USGA’s limit of 460 CCs. I do find it curious, however, that the company went with 475 CC’s. I mean, if you are going to stick it to the man, maybe do so by more than 3 percent. That’s barely even noticeably bigger. Why not make a 600 CC driver that you anchor to your gut?
So yes, you will not see John Daly using Polara golf equipment in tournaments, even if you aren’t temporarily blinded by his pants, which is why I suppose they use the key word “ambassador.” Times are changing, this being 2013 and all. There has been some backlash at the USGA for its handling of the groove rule (my beloved Eye2’s!), as well as the decision by golf’s ruling bodies to ban anchored putters in 2016.
Several defenders of the recreational golfer have suggested amateurs play a different game than the pros anyway, and I suppose that the message here Polara is trying to get across is:
You don’t play the same game as the pros, so don’t play the same equipment and don’t feel bad about it.
Only now, the company has a pro ambassador who believes they share the same “grip-it-and-rip-it” mantra as it does. Well that, or maybe Polara offered more money than say, Titliest. But who am I to speculate?
I doubt John Daly will be as criticized as Arnold Palmer was — times are a bit different and thoughts about bifurcation are a bit different. And frankly John Daly doesn’t have the same profile as the king did when he made that decision. But it is interesting to once again see a pro golfer publicly back a company that boasts about making non-conforming equipment.
Oh, and if you run into Daly on a public course and he offers to make a wager, don’t do it. He might hit a lot of fairways.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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donald davis
Jun 21, 2013 at 1:06 am
John Daly.The ultimate tour whore. Pathetic,drunken fool. Unfortunately I am a fan. What does that say about me?
Mat
Jun 20, 2013 at 8:30 pm
There will never be club bifurcation; the merchandise business is too important. The ball, on the other hand… if you made the pros play 80-compression balls, we wouldn’t be talking about all of these stupid course altering conversations. At that point, we can all start enjoying golf. Play whatever ball you want, but if it’s a competitive deal, have a clear limit. Enough with balls that are missiles; the USGA should have never allowed the Pro V1, and we’re all paying for it – literally and figuratively.
JHM
Jun 21, 2013 at 1:30 pm
“There will never be club bifurcation” – can you tell me at which Golfsmith, Golf Galexy or other retailer I can pick up an R1 like Dustin Johnson’s or a 2 wood like Phil’s? Bifurcation already exist, it’s just not thru the rules its thru the manufactures making tour only equipment.