Equipment
Sponsor Shuffling: Els, English and DeLaet
The start of the 2014 PGA Tour calendar has given a fresh look and some new clubs for Harris English, Ernie Els and Graham DeLaet, who have all signed new sponsorship deals.
Ernie Els’ new equipment contract with Adams Golf became official yesterday, settling the rumors about where he would end up for the 2014 season.
Els, who is currently ranked No. 27 in the Official World Golf Rankings, has bounced between several equipment sponsors over his hall-of-fame career, winning majors with three separate OEM’s: Lynx (1994 U.S. Open), TaylorMade (1997 U.S. Open and 2002 British Open) and Callaway (2012 British Open). He seems to have found a situation he is happy with in Adams.
In a blog post on the Adams Golf website, Els wrote that he is “so excited about joining Adams.” To answer the questions about what clubs he will game, he continued “Right now we’re working hard to finalize the configuration and exact specs of my set, focusing specifically on the Tight Lies fairway metals, XTD irons and hybrids.”
Since TaylorMade-Adidas acquired Adams Golf in 2012, it is also likely that Els will be swinging a TaylorMade driver. The public will see Els with his new set for the first time at the Qatar Masters later this month.
Harris English, a two-time PGA Tour winner in 2013 and four-time All-American from the University of Georgia, signed a deal with Callaway Golf, filling the void left by the departure of Ernie Els. He’s not yet a hall-of-famer, and has big shoes to fill, but a strong showing last year proved his potential to be a household name on Tour.
Callaway and Odyssey clubs appear in English’s bag this week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, and will comprise his set throughout the year. English is excited about his new sponsor, saying “I’ve been really happy with the new Callaway clubs. In a short period of time I’ve been able to take advantage of the resources they have and I’m excited about the start of the 2014 season.”
Graham DeLaet, ranked No. 36 in the world, is also making moves, signing on to wear Puma apparel for the upcoming 2014 season. He will not play the company’s Cobra golf equipment, however, as he recently signed a three year contract to continue to use Titleist’s golf equipment and golf ball and wear FootJoy’s gloves and shoes.
New additions are rare for Puma Golf, but the celebrated and always entertaining Canadian was a no-brainer to sport colorful Puma threads. DeLaet, a mainstay on the GolfWRX weekly feature “Tweets of the Week” keeps his fans amused on and off the golf course. He’s a spark to the already flashy group of Rickie Fowler, Jonas Blixt, Jesper Parnevik and Ian Poulter. DeLaet’s flair complements his talent, a successful recipe for the Cobra/PUMA team.
His 2013 bid included a second place finish at The Barclays, third place finishes at the Travelers and Deutsche Bank Championships, and 11 top-25 finishes.
Fully suited in Puma gear from the 2014 Spring/Summer Collection, DeLaet will make his 2014 debut on January 23 at the Farmers Insurance Open. Much like the Tiger Sunday Red, or Rickie Fowler Sunday Orange, DeLaet will show his Canadian patriotism with red and white every Sunday on Tour this year. Puma will share photos on social media using the hashtag #CandianSunday.
Between DeLaet, Poulter and Fowler, Cobra/Puma has a strong contingent of Tweeters.
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
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Brian Dudz
Jan 4, 2014 at 9:49 pm
Great article, Andrew! My favorite line was “…but the celebrated and always entertaining Canadian was a no-brainer to sport colorful Puma threads.”
Zak
Jan 4, 2014 at 4:07 pm
I saw someone say that Henrik Stenson will be playing a full bag of Callaways this season, does that mean he will he parting ways with his beloved (and extremely successful) Piretti putter?
Hoylake
Jan 3, 2014 at 1:33 pm
Henrik Stenson Has signed with Callaway and will play a full Callaway bag 2014!
bellsy13
Jan 3, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Mateo: Canadians don’t have the luxuries Americans have with sports. DeLaet is the best Canadian golfer on tour and was in the hunt more than not. He’s a class act, picked for the President’s Cup and had a stellar end to his season. You must not follow golf too closely. He is much more relevant than your comments.
Shawn
Jan 3, 2014 at 10:55 am
“So we lost Ernie, huh? That’s okay, we just signed Harris English”
I’ll take things that WEREN’T said at Callaway headquarters for $500, Alex.
ryan neuzerling
Jan 3, 2014 at 6:20 am
whatever shirt doesn’t have a beer/grass/food stain….
Mateo
Jan 3, 2014 at 1:17 am
yawn. 1 over the hill and the other 2 are almost irrelevant
LorenRobertsFan
Jan 3, 2014 at 2:31 am
Over the hill? Ernie won the Open this past year. And English isn’t irrelevant. He won twice on tour this past year also
burkie
Jan 3, 2014 at 11:27 am
neither of them are nearly as irrelevant as your post.
Do you follow the PGA tour at all?
Shark
Jan 2, 2014 at 6:39 pm
I just loaded up in Canadian Winter offseason on sligo golf clothes as I like delaet style. Oh well I like his old funky stuff. Puma is flashy but not as fun…
Shelby
Jan 4, 2014 at 3:10 am
Instead of you and Graham D., you can at least say it’s you and Brian Gay! He rocks the Sligo still……
jc
Jan 2, 2014 at 6:00 pm
and what will all of you be wearing on sunday? golfwrx wants to know…
I will be wearing my old footjoys and whatever golf shirt I find first in the closet that goes with the first pair of pants I grab.