Palmer used to be on staff with TaylorMade but chose the free agent route a few years agoGETTY IMAGES
Golfer Ryan Palmer believes that some PGA Tour pros' full equipment contracts "aren't worth the money we're playing for," and that the rise in tournament purses means "equipment dollars are no longer needed to make a living in professional golf," according to Jonathan Wall of GOLF.com. Palmer during GolfWRX' "Gear Dive" podcast said, "Guys don't realize, you sign a $400,000 contract with whoever, go finish top 10 twice, and you've made it, you've made that money." He added, "I'd rather take the clubs I'm comfortable with and have confidence in than going out there with something I'm not used to just to get a couple hundred thousand more dollars." Palmer "used to be on staff with TaylorMade" but chose the "free agent route a few years ago." He currently plays with a "mix of different equipment brands." Palmer: "These young guys today, come out here, and then they leave the (Web.com Tour), and then automatically, ‘Who can I sign with, where can I sign?' They’re getting bad advice from the people giving them advice. ... There are people out there trying to make a buck off them.” Wall noted Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, all in the top 12 of the current world rankings, are without club deals, and the "biggest story in the golf world" this season was the "rise of the equipment free agent" (GOLF.com, 12/4).
