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 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.
As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.
Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.
General Albums
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Monday #2
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Zurich Classic – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Alex Fitzpatrick – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Austin Cook – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Alejandro Tosti – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- MJ Daffue – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Nate Lashley – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- James Nicholas – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Kevin Streelman – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rasmus Hojgaard – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Tom Whitney – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- SangMoon Bae – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Daniel Berger – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Rory McIlroy – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Russ Cochrane – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Aldrich Potgieter – WITB – 2024 Zurich Classic
Pullout Albums
- MJ Daffue’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Cameron putters – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Swag covers ( a few custom for Nick Hardy) – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Custom Bettinardi covers for Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick – 2024 Zurich Classic
- Doug Ghim’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Zurich Classic
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
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.