Big Ernie Jumps Ship

[Golfbum]

Titleist has lost another marque player.
Ernie Els has been signed by Callaway.

[Big Johnny69]

Wow, didn't think he was going there. I thought the rumours were of him joining Tiger at Nike or even going back to TM. Good on Cally for picking up the Big Easy!!

[spackler]

Wonder how much? He always chafed at his deal with Titleist as it was much below market value. Vij, Sergio and Phil were getting much more than he was.

[davevandyk]

Wonder how much? He always chafed at his deal with Titleist as it was much below market value. Vij, Sergio and Phil were getting much more than he was.

interesting to see what irons he uses. Ernie has always been a blade player, maybe he can get Cally to make some blades that might make it to retail, that would be sweet!!

[spackler]

interesting to see what irons he uses. Ernie has always been a blade player, maybe he can get Cally to make some blades that might make it to retail, that would be sweet!!

Yeah, even though the x-forged have a much thinner topline than the x-tours, hard to see him using them. Maybe he'll use some old Bobby Jones blades. Also interesting to see if he keeps his Scotty. I think he tried an Odyssey in a few tournaments last year.

[jvincent]

Callaway owns Hogan so don't be surprised to see some Hogan Apexes, perhaps re-stamped to say Callaway, in the bag.

[Ginker]

Wow.. I heard he was going somewhere but this is a suprise for sure. Ernie has always played a blade so it will be interesting to see if he hits a Hogan blade or the new X forged..

[Marcos]

Does this mean my Hogan shares in the company will be going up?lol.Stand back and let the Big guy play

[Golfbum]

The good news is this now frees up a spot with Titleist for me when I retire How much should I hold out for?

[Hacker]

The good news is this now frees up a spot with Titleist for me when I retire How much should I hold out for?

A sleeve of balls??

[Golfbum]

A sleeve of balls??

Ohhhhhhhh please A marque player such as myself? Playing 150-200 rounds per season. I deserve more than one sleeve of balls. I was thinking maybe 5 dozen NXT's and at least a couple of hats. I have two Titleist clubs in my bag now, I can easily be swayed to add more!

I am betting Ernie goes with the X Forged. Those irons have thin top lines and sole. No reason why Ernie could not play those irons. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Titleist is losing a marque player, no doubt about that.

[Hacker]

Playing 150-200 rounds per season.

Do you really want to boil this down to a Quantity vs Quality discussion?????

[Golfbum]

Do you really want to boil this down to a Quantity vs Quality discussion?????

See that is the thing. Like Vijay I have both, quality and quanity!
That's ok, I can hang in there for a better contract. I will have all the time in the world after May 1 to negotiate!

[Hacker]

I always knew that you had quality, after all you work at Ford and at Ford the Quality goes in before the name goes on.........right??

[davevandyk]

Callaway owns Hogan so don't be surprised to see some Hogan Apexes, perhaps re-stamped to say Callaway, in the bag.

i def. can't see him using Hogan blades, perhaps Hogan blades stamped as Cally, but def. not Hogan stamped irons. I do know that at the Johnnie Walker this week he was spotted with a FT-5 in the bag, even before this was announced. I am sure he will take a couple weeks before he switches irons, but he does want to get used to the clubs before the Masters. Perhaps he can pull a Tiger and just get Cally to make his Titty clubs and stamp them Cally, just like Tiger's irons, which were identical to his Titty's, which were also his previous Mizzy irons.

[stinger]

5m$

[big easy]

Dammit....now I have to change everything in my bag!!!!!

Guys, don't forget that he played Burner Tour and X-300 FCI, both being blade-like iron heads but with some cavity, when he was a TM staff player. I don't think him playing cavity backs such as the new X-tour will be an issue. Went to Golftown last week and felt in love with these irons...might be the sign I needed to get new irons

[Ginker]

...might be the sign I needed to get new irons

[fireice]

With all the rumors over the last few months, it's hard to believe he'd switch obviously Titleist wasn't showing him the money and Callaway was, big mistake from Titleist IMHO.

[Section Thirty One]

I always knew that you had quality, after all you work at Ford and at Ford the Quality goes in before the name goes on.........right??

Ford: Quality is job one.

[Golfbum]

I always knew that you had quality, after all you work at Ford and at Ford the Quality goes in before the name goes on.........right??

That is correct. The cars we build at our plant have won the J.D.Power Award more than once.
Ask the cops, they love those Interceptors we build!
It might be different after all the senior guys retire in May/June/July. After all we are the dedicated workers!

As for Big Easy's irons, I am betting on the X Forged.

[fireice]

What's weird about all of this is there's still no official work from Callaway that he's signed. See:
Els moving to Callaway?
He is believed to be going to Callaway, although spokeswoman Michele Szynal said Callaway does not have a deal with the world's No. 6 player.

[Ginker]

Just saw some pics on another site from this weeks Johny Walker Classic. Els has the Ft-5 in the bag, Titleist 906F2 3 wood and Titleist irons... He is also wearing a Callaway glove. The weird this is he is wearing a Titleist hat still.. Maybe he is waiting for an off week to make the change over..

[Golfbum]

Just saw some pics on another site from this weeks Johny Walker Classic. Els has the Ft-5 in the bag, Titleist 906F2 3 wood and Titleist irons... He is also wearing a Callaway glove. The weird this is he is wearing a Titleist hat still.. Maybe he is waiting for an off week to make the change over..

Taken from a GC Article

"Titleist let Phil Mickelson out of his contract early in 2004, and he signed with Callaway. If Els goes the same route, they will have one thing in common -- a separate corporate deal on the hat, the most visible logo to TV viewership"

Remember Ernie has SAP on is hats. Plus Titleist. So he would have to honor his SAP contract by wearing those hats.

[Ginker]

I am sure he will get a SAP hat that says Callaway on the side in the near future.. Like Phils Bearing Point hats..

[Golfbum]

I am sure he will get a SAP hat that says Callaway on the side in the near future.. Like Phils Bearing Point hats..

If he moves to Callaway, he will have those hats within a week!

This sure makes you wonder what the head honchos at Titleist are thinking about. Are they going to concentrate on golf balls and not worry about clubs?

I realize it does not take an endorsement by a PGA Pro to make your clubs have great quality. However it sure helps to have your clubs show up in the winners circle once in awhile. Nike & Callaway have shown that over the past two years.

Were the bosses of Titleist not happy with Ernie's performance? Or like Cleveland and David Toms are they trying to cut expenses?

We'll never know, the bottom line truth will never be revealed to the masses.

[spackler]

I think Titleist/Cobra has a pretty good stock of players, and why spend premium bucks on Els when he appears to be on the downside of his career. Who's next 5 years would you rather have and pay for, Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott or Ernie Els?

[Txxxxxxx]

Ummmm..Where did my reply go?

[Ginker]

Edmonton you reply must not have gotten posted.. I can asure you it was not moderated..

[Txxxxxxx]

Edmonton you reply must not have gotten posted.. I can asure you it was not moderated..

Probably something screwy with my Internet.

I ad just mentioned I was sorry to see Ernie go to Callaway since I'm a Titleist fan and not much of a fan of what Callaway is bringing out recently. I really don't know which iron set they have that is as close to what Titleist has to offer, not to mention their new Fusion stuff doesn't seem to be winning many people over. I'll give it to them though with their Odyssey putters, but then Titleist has Cameron.

Bizarre...