TaylorMade-Adidas Golf CEO Ben Sharpe Steps Down After Less Than A Year

TaylorMade-adidas Golf CEO BEN SHARPE "has left the company" less than a year after taking over for MARK KING, according to E. Michael Johnson of GOLF DIGEST. The company in a release cited "personal reasons" for Sharpe's departure. TaylorMade-adidas Golf promoted TaylorMade and Adams Golf President DAVID ABELES to President & CEO, and he "will report directly" to adidas Chair & CEO HERBERT HAINER. Abeles is in his "third stint at TaylorMade," where he started in '98 as GM/Asia Pacific. He was then promoted to Dir of Sales for North America "before spending six years with Acushnet" as VP/Sales & Marketing. He returned to TaylorMade in '08 as Exec VP & GM, "only to leave the company a second time" in '13 and rejoin again last month (GOLFDIGEST.com, 3/26). Abeles last March "was named CEO of Competitor Group." Sharpe was with TaylorMade-adidas Golf "for nearly seven years and was named CEO" last June (GOLFWEEK.com, 3/26).