Where next for Garcia after TaylorMade split?
By James Savage
Sergio Garcia and TaylorMade have mutually agreed on a release from the remaining years of his equipment contract.
But the Spaniard has no plans to make any quick wholesale changes to his bag insisting he’ll spend some time testing new gear before making a decision.
“I’ll be playing the same equipment as before,” said the Masters champion ahead of this week’s Italian Open.
“But I will start testing new things to see what is out there and what feels good to me. Then I will make a decision and move forward.”
Garcia had been with TaylorMade and Adidas Golf for the past 15 years but the news comes just a week after the two brands formally split.
“After a memorable 15 year partnership with Sergio Garcia, we have mutually agreed on a release from the remaining years of his TaylorMade contract,” a spokesman said.
“It has been an honour to play a role in his performance throughout his career, including the Players Championship, 19 worldwide wins, Ryder Cup heroics and his 2017 Masters win.
“We congratulate Sergio on a career year and wish him all the best for the future.”
Adidas had put TaylorMade up for sale a couple of years ago and, after finding a buyer, the sale went through earlier this year.
It will be interesting to see if any more players follow suit as their deals would have been made with TaylorMade Adidas Golf rather just with TaylorMade.
Players in similar situations include Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose.
Jason Day would have fallen into that category too but he made a big money switch to Nike.
We have seen Garcia using a few different Odyssey Toulon Design putters in recent weeks.
And we also saw Garcia with some Callaway wedges in play at the British Masters.
And who remembers when he and Rory McIlroy switched drivers at the 2017 Masters? At the time Rory was using the Callaway Epic Sub Zero model.
So could a move to Callaway be on the cards? Watch this space…
TaylorMade sold by Adidas for $425m
James Savage
Former equipment editor of NCG. Inconsistent ball-striker and tea-maker.
