Scottsdale-based golf club maker PXG is "hopeful of making a big splash" in '16 by signing eight new players to endorsement contracts, including British Open champ Zach Johnson, according to Doug Ferguson of the AP. Johnson had "been with
Titleist his entire PGA Tour career" before signing with the company started by GoDaddy Founder Bob Parsons. PXG also has signed Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, James Hahn and Charles
Howell III on the PGA Tour, along LPGA members Cristie Kerr, Alison Lee and
Gerina Piller. Ryan Moore last year became the first player on the PGA Tour to "put them in play." Others using PXG include Rocco Mediate, Sadena Parks and Beatriz Recari. Parsons, who describes himself as a "golf fanatic and an equipment junkie," is "selling his PXG clubs at about $5,000" for an entire set. Parsons: "It got to the point three or four years before I started the PXG venture that I would spend about $250,000 to $300,000 a year on equipment." Ferguson notes eventually, Parsons was "intrigued by building his own clubs." PXG stands for "Parsons Xtreme Golf," though a "running joke in the industry is that it also stands for 'Ping X-Guys.'" Among the Ping employees he "hired were two engineers, former Bay Hill winner Mike Nicolette and Brad Schweigert." Parsons was "behind the racy GoDaddy.com ads during the Super Bowl." But he said that PXG "doesn't need to be as outrageous in its marketing" (AP, 1/4). Golf Channel's Geoff Shackelford said it is "always a welcome moment to have another company come in and kind of stir things up and generate some new ideas." Shackelford added of PXG, "It is going to be interesting that we have a disruptive force in the golf industry. I think that is a positive thing" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 1/4).
RIDING THE YOUTH MOVEMENT: CBSSPORTS.com's Kyle Porter reports Nike this morning announced golfers Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau have signed to "rep their clubs and apparel." This is a "solid branding decision" by Nike. While Koepka and Finau "aren't exactly household names," they are both "young stars that could make the U.S. Ryder Cup team this year." Porter: "As usual, Nike scoops up future (and current) studs to add to its growing stable of talent. Well done by them" (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/4).
