Equipment
Ryan Moore starts 2015 without an equipment contract
After two years with TaylorMade as an equipment sponsor, Ryan Moore has decided to go an unusual path in 2015.
According to a PGATour.com report, Moore decided not to renew his TaylorMade contract at the end of December — instead opting to play this upcoming year without an equipment endorsement.
The 32-year-old, who has won four times on the PGA Tour, will continue carrying TaylorMade woods in his bag—a Burner SuperFast TP driver and an AeroBurner 3-wood. He will also retain his Adams Idea SUPER 9031 hybrid. However, Moore plans to implement new equipment in his bag in the form of Parsons Xtreme Golf irons and wedges.
A photo of Ryan Moore’s clubs at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions (via @seamusgolf)
Moore was clear that TaylorMade’s attempts at an extension deal were robust and played no part in his dissociation.
“[TaylorMade] made a great offer, but it wasn’t the right time or fit for me to sign a deal,” he said. “My focus is on playing the best golf I can.”
So what’s with this odd, seemingly sudden change?
For any other PGA Tour player this would be a puzzle, but this is Ryan Moore we are talking about. We already know he’s unsolvable.
Moore has long sacrificed sponsorship money for the sake of comfort. The American was “the most celebrated amateur to enter the professional ranks since [Tiger] Woods” after an epic summer in 2004, but only signed endorsement deals with Oakley and Ping. And at discounts, too.
Moore went essentially sponsorless in 2009, going without any equipment, apparel or bag logo contracts that year and only being in Callaway’s grasp for its golf ball by the time of his Wyndham Championship win that year.
Even in his less radical anti-brand days, he rebelled against the norm. Moore has taken interest in small companies for sponsorship deals, such as Scratch Golf for his equipment in 2009. He had an equity deal with Scratch, but eventually walked away from it.
In addition, Moore went to a small company in TRUE linkswear for his shoes in 2010 and implemented an apparel sponsor in 2012—the Arnie collection, a new low-profile line of clothing that struck Moore due to its use of cardigans and skinny ties.
Something is similar in the works then with Parsons Xtreme Golf. It’s not an official sponsorship, but Moore is partnering here with a company that only publicly announced its launch on Thursday and whose founder is GoDaddy boss Bob Parsons—not exactly a long-renowned equipment maven.
Overall, this news is pretty much in line with Moore’s uniqueness. He wants to be comfortable in what he’s doing, rather than just grabbing the money. TaylorMade is a large, respected entity in golf equipment, but Moore tested out prototypes of the PXG irons and fell for the company.
The 32-year-old has been more likely to entertain an equipment sponsorship with a giant than any other field (PING, 2005-2008; Adams/TaylorMade 2010-2014), but this move isn’t shocking. It’s classic Ryan Moore.
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- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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TMTC
Mar 7, 2015 at 1:20 pm
He probably gets a piece of the company if he wins, places or if sales are above what original expectation forecasts are when they go on sale.
Tmtc
marcel
Jan 14, 2015 at 8:14 pm
he should play Bridgestone clubs and balls if he wants to be comfy
Bill
Jan 12, 2015 at 9:56 pm
Don’t get me wrong; I think Ryan Moore is a great player and probably an even nicer gentleman but give it a rest with all the yeahs, wows, ohs, and hurrays. Ryan Moore isn’t giving up a cent. TaylorMade made a “robust” offer…just not as robust as Bob Parsons’. Mr. Moore’s offer from TaylorMade was probably doubled by Bob, included a membership to Whisper Rock and a new car with a gun safe in the trunk ala Mr. Parsons. Again, I don’t see anything wrong with this. Just capitalizing on a opportunity like almost every other person would do in the free equipment flip-flopping state he always seems to be in. BTW I think PXG looks pretty decent. Congrats to Bob and his team. I wish I was smart enough to have such a successful startup and just start equipment companies as a hobby!
Grass Candy
Jan 13, 2015 at 11:29 pm
How are you so sure Parsons is paying him anything? Contracts keep you to only certain equipment. One good week with clubs you like earns you as much as a yearlong club deal. And Bob owns Scottsdale National, not whisper Rock. Last thing he needs is more money. What he wants is victories.
Jaystone
Jan 12, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Spell check gentlemen. You write like fourth-graders some of you. “though” should be “tough”. Instaed should be instead and I personally have never heard of a 3 would… “wood”. That being said, To each his own no matter what the motivation is. If it helps and you’re comfortable with it,ie confident, have at it. May the best player win. It’s not always OR all about the money from sponsors although it surely doesn’t hurt. Lead with your head, not your need for acceptance. Being yourself isn’t a bad thing.
Jack Nash
Jan 12, 2015 at 11:48 am
Good on Ryan for bringing new equipment into the scene. Enough from the Darh Vaders of golf. This guy is actually trying to grow the game at a grassroots level.
Joe Peel
Jan 11, 2015 at 11:26 pm
Hurray, for Moore. Moore is living proof that a Pro can change equipment frequently and still play at the highest level. It’s the Indian and not the arrow.
Andy
Jan 11, 2015 at 10:48 pm
I have always been a fan of Ryan Moore. Based on his WITB on this site, he is constantly tinkering with different sets of irons. I applaud him for this decision. He seems to keep an open mind on different brands. But if I were an owner of a club company, I may hesitate on signing him since it seems though to keep him long-term.
Jack Nash
Jan 12, 2015 at 11:51 am
“But if I were an owner of a club company, I may hesitate on signing him since it seems though to keep him long-term.”
That may be but it may in courage some to step out on a limb instaed of taking the big payday playing what everyone else is. Like the article said it was about his Comfort level. You wonder how many Pros out there would love to be able to do what Ryan’s doing? I bet there’s more than a few.
killerbgolfer
Jan 11, 2015 at 5:58 pm
I don’t think he’s leaving too much money on the table. Of course he could have an equipment deal, but watching him on TV today I think I saw 5 logos on his shirt/hat/bag
snowman0157
Jan 11, 2015 at 4:43 pm
In other GolfWrx News, Jim Furyk has decided not to take the loop out of his swing.
dot dot
Jan 11, 2015 at 11:07 am
What a mistake, He’ll wish he took the money when he’s spending his waning years at the far end of the driving range at the local club giving $50.00 an hour lessons.
Cnut
Jan 11, 2015 at 1:13 pm
You only wish you could play golf as he does! Ya pathetic cnut!
Jack
Jan 12, 2015 at 2:58 am
He’s won enough times to not have to worry about that at all.
leo
Jan 12, 2015 at 4:44 pm
by the time ryan moore’s playing career is over he will have made more money than most people will make in 5 lifetimes.you must not have a clue about how much these guys make.the saying these guys are good should also include these guys are rich.
Steve
Jan 11, 2015 at 9:49 am
Ryan Moore is not going to move the needle or sell a lot of clubs for any company. He is a fine pro, but not high profile.
ClubHo'sUnited
Jan 11, 2015 at 3:28 am
Somebody should invite him for a sit-down with GolfWRX and talk about being a club Ho and have at it. He belongs with us!
Kevin
Jan 11, 2015 at 1:43 am
This non deal sounds just like what happened in 2008 when his team told Ping they wanted way more than they normally pay and Ping walked away.
IH8
Jan 10, 2015 at 6:38 pm
Like the article said, this isn’t a surprise. But the article is wrong in saying Ryan Moore is “unsolvable.” He’s your typical hipster. You know the type…do anything to prove their super unique and whatnot. Yawn. Sure, it’s pretty unique in the realm of golf. It’s dime a dozen anywhere else. Go to a starbucks. See the guys in the toques in summer, vanity thick rimmed glasses, stupidly skinny jean….yeah….that, but on a golf course.
DevonC
Jan 10, 2015 at 3:14 pm
That’s awesome news. TaylorMade is trash anyway, such a great move on his part and also helps other companies gain some exposure.
Regis
Jan 12, 2015 at 11:11 am
Yet he still plays their woods even though he’s not getting paid. Kind of like Phil spray painting over that SLDR last year
Nathan
Jan 10, 2015 at 2:12 pm
Interesting decision. But he’s not playing those irons for nothing. Parsons is paying him something for playing those NASA irons.
Nathan
Jan 10, 2015 at 6:03 pm
My boyfriend wants some but I guess they are not for retail yet and I know DSG won’t carry them anyways
leo
Jan 12, 2015 at 4:46 pm
they are going to be super expensive and not for everybody
Tim Mooney
Jan 10, 2015 at 1:31 pm
He has my applause. Today’s player, through their agents, have gone a different route than past generations as well. It was almost unheard of for a player to sign a 14 club agreement in years past. Instead, a 10 club agreement was the norm, usually leaving the putter, wedges and maybe a 3 would to the players choice. This generation, however, through their agents, sign these 14 club deals on a regular basis. By doing so, the agent’s check gets bigger, but there is a good possibility that the wins don’t come as often.
Jacob G.
Jan 10, 2015 at 1:53 pm
I do agree with you to a point. I applaud Ryan Moore if his sole purpose is only to play the best golf that he can; however, this isn’t the first time he has done this and has been known to change clubs frequently. Part of me wonders if he does this as a publicity stunt to keep his name in the papers due to his lackluster career (I say lackluster because of all the hype about his amateur days). But if it solely to win, great for him!
Jacob G.
Jan 10, 2015 at 6:06 pm
Before my dad went to prison for murder he played snake eyes irons and he said they were good as any brand name
Chris
Jan 11, 2015 at 2:01 am
WTF he played snake eyes irons?
Regis
Jan 12, 2015 at 11:14 am
LMAO
Johnny
Jan 10, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Kudos for Ryan helping out the smaller companies in such a competitive business environment such as golf….
Regis
Jan 12, 2015 at 11:30 am
Yeah except this company is owned by Bob Parsons (billionaire,Go Daddy owner,Donald Trump wannabe ) and when you see the price of these clubs ,the word “competitive” will not be the first that comes to mind