Show Me The Money

Well its official, golf has finally gone mad.

Here we are in the depths of a global recession and NIKE are offering Rory McIlroy hundreds of millions of dollars to use their equipment!

Is Rory the best player in the world at the moment? Yes without question. Quite frankly Rory could beat me using a set of Dunlop DDH’s!, but that not the point.

NIKE are flexing their considerable financial  muscle to secure millions of dollars worth of advertising based on the fact he is worlds number one.

Next year when you see any juniors at your club expect to see umpteen Rory clones on the range head to toe in NIKE, no doubt that’s exactly what NIKE want.

At the moment I am using NIKE irons, did advertising affect my decision to play them? NO.

Basically I bust my Wilsons after an incident in Florida and needed to buy a set quickly with graphite shafts, the NIKE’s where the only set I could find with Project X 5.5 graphite shafts so it was a no brainer, in fact it was a no other option to be fair.

Are the heads close to the quality of a Wilson FG tour or V2, not even close! The Wilson heads are a Rolex to the NIKE’s being  a Timex. Quite frankly if I had the time and the cash I would have got the Wilson V2’s custom fitted, but I did not have either.

I don’t blame Rory for taking the cash, quite frankly he would be mad not to, but what will this deal cost golf and golfers?

I fear for some NIKE contract players, they may find they are offered reduced contracts or even no contract at all to make up the financial short fall.

But don’t feel sorry for PGA or European Tour players, golf manufacturers will still see them ok. Not so for LPGA or LET players.

I know of LET players who have been offered clubs at cost price, yes COST not free! Because manufacturers are cutting back on costs!

Some LPGA players get equipment supplied but don’t get a penny!

For what NIKE are paying Rory they could have signed the whole of the LPGA & LET roster’s and still had enough change!

That’s the pathetic treatment woman professionals suffer from.

 But with the vast amount of money the top male players make it causes other issues.

At the moment we have the WGC-HSBC Championship going on Mission hills.

The WGC events are meant to be important events, not as important as majors but more important than a regular tour event.
They are meant to be, and should be, world wide events.


So why are the worlds numbers 1 & 2 missing ? Simple, they would rather line their own pockets from a meaning less exhibition event and then skip the WGC, sorry but I think that’s a disgrace.

All the governing bodies need to get together and put a rule in place that if you skip a WGC event for no good reason you should be banned from the next WGC event and be stripped of world ranking points.

You think if this event had been played in the USA Tiger and Rory would have skipped it ? I honestly don’t think they would have.

I have no issue with any golfer earning as much as they can through endorsements and sponsorship, your career could be over tomorrow so make hay while the sun shines, BUT, not at the cost of skipping world events.