Graeme McDowell’s endorsements confusion
Graeme McDowell is one of the hottest players of golf right now. He is a major championship winner, he scored the winning putt of the Ryder Cup and just recently, he defeated an amazing golf legend in his own tournament. Not only
has 2010 been an amazing year for McDowell, but also just as the year ends, so will G-Mac’s contract with Callaway.
Callaway is one of the most popular golf equipment manufacturing companies. Based in California, it specializes in a range of golfing equipment. They manufacture irons, woods, wedges, golf balls and putters. The Callaway brand
name is also for apparel, footwear, timepieces, and accessories.
With the contract ending, there is a lot of debate whether Callaway will keep G-Mac or not. The Golfweek magazine did report something related to Callaway and McDowell. It said that an industry source familiar with the situation
confirmed that discussions between the two parties ended without agreement. When Graeme’s agent, Conor Ridge, was asked about it he didn’t give any comments. Ridge did however slightly show that the discussions had not ceased as of now.
"Terms of Graeme's contract with Callaway are confidential, and we don't discuss such issues with third parties,"
Ridge said. This was somewhat familiar with what Tim Buckman, who is the Callaway spokesperson, had to say.
It has been heard that since McDowell is a much more important player now than he was when the contact was first made, he should be worth more now. It has also been heard that equipment sponsors are now incrementing the endorsements
from $3 million to $4 million. McDowell is currently in contract with Callaway’s Europe and is really hoping that the contract is renewed.
The increment rumours came from Srixon-Cleveland who just lost Jim Furyk as their brand ambassador. Furyk, who won the FedEx Cup this year, is now in contract with TaylorMade. It is possible that Srixon-Cleveland could be making
most of the opportunity at hand after losing such an important player to promote their company. With McDowell in debate with Callaway, offering a much profitable deal to McDowell could work for both parties. This, however, is not yet confirmed.
McDowell is unstoppable, something which was evident by his performance in the play-off against Tiger Woods in his own tournament, Chevron World Challenge. Tiger was leading the Challenge and Graeme did something no one has done
till now. He beat Woods after being four shots back in a playoff. It is a fact that the ex-top cat of Golf, Woods, was trying especially hard to win this tournament. With the Chevron World Challenge being the last tournament of the year, Tiger wanted to have
at least one win. However, McDowell did not let the cat scare him; he defeated Tiger and won the Chevron World Challenge.
Even though the contracts are not yet confirmed, McDowell was seen trying out some of Srixon’s products. Obviously, he would not just agree to endorse something without trying it out first.
McDowell will think twice before turning to something only for economical prosperity because he has already picked Callaway over another equipment company to play this season. Choosing the club that best suited him, McDowell had
an amazing season. However now, with him being a strong player, he will have to balance the pros and cons of leaving Callaway for Srixon.
Despite the company confusion, McDowell has picked Callaway for the Greg Norman hosted tournament, Shark Shootout. The event is taking place at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples. McDowell is paired with compatriot Darren Clark and
the duo posted a five under in the first round. Going into the second round tied at sixth place, the players moved up to fifth place as of right now. Since the second round is in progress, McDowell will most likely make his way to the top of the leader board.
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