Rory McIlroy signed with TaylorMade (MERGED)

[xjohnx]

TaylorMade has been sold to KPS Capital Partners for $425m (along with Ashworth and Adams) according to reports on Twitter. Looks like Rory was the big splash they wanted.

 

http://www.4-traders...tners-24366170/

 

Wow

 

I know it doesn't quite work this way but, it's kind of crazy that if the 10/100 deal turns out to be accurate, Rory is valued at basically ~1/4 of TM

[NTKT10]

It's been posted numerous times that the 10/100 deal is grossly overestimated.

[uflorida1]

So Rory is definitely getting some equity here..... now that it wouldn't have to be publicly disclosed. Bravo Rory! Why get $100mm when you could get $100mm and upside

[xjohnx]

It's been posted numerous times that the 10/100 deal is grossly overestimated.

 

It was also posted several times that Rory was signing with Callaway. I always remain neutral until we get the actual facts. I was just pointing out an interesting angle IF the reports turn out to be accurate.

[jll62]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

That would imply Rory was in on it for months and was playing a long con by using the Pro V1x and then switching to TP5x in dramatic fashion. No way. No how. The guy is not going to sabotage the first few months of the season to be a part of something like this. The official story, that this really got started a month ago after the Masters, is far more likely. That said, TM started their 90 day formal separation planning on March 31, so I would love to know how Rory's move during this time was handled.

 

Regarding the money vs equipment aspect. Rory was going to get paid large sums of money regardless of what company he picked. He picked the equipment he liked and got paid. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? If he liked the Callaway performance better, he would have picked them and gotten paid large sums of money. I'm going to believe him that he picked what he wanted to play and got paid after.

[Rig14Port]

Do we know why literally every pro plays the M2 over the M1?

 

I'm more interested in the lack of M1 440's. Seems like that would be a winner on tour.

 

That's cause Taylormade made the 440 exclusively for WRX... Not a guy on tour that is good enough to hit that thing.

 

Kidding aside, tour guys like a driver that is forgiving. Hard to score from the trees.

[JoeyD12]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

That would imply Rory was in on it for months and was playing a long con by using the Pro V1x and then switching to TP5x in dramatic fashion. No way. No how. The guy is not going to sabotage the first few months of the season to be a part of something like this. The official story, that this really got started a month ago after the Masters, is far more likely. That said, TM started their 90 day formal separation planning on March 31, so I would love to know how Rory's move during this time was handled.

 

Regarding the money vs equipment aspect. Rory was going to get paid large sums of money regardless of what company he picked. He picked the equipment he liked and got paid. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? If he liked the Callaway performance better, he would have picked them and gotten paid large sums of money. I'm going to believe him that he picked what he wanted to play and got paid after.

 

If you think Merger and Acquisition worth half a billion dollars all went down in less than a month then I have ocean side property to sell you in Missouri.

[rsh0308]

"I started with a Callaway 6-iron and Titleist ball and it went around 184 yards, and then I hit the same 6-iron with a Callaway ball and it went 3 yards further," McIlroy said. "I was like, 'That works for me.' Then I hit the TaylorMade 6-iron with the TaylorMade ball and it went 7 yards further than that. So I was getting 10 yards extra over the initial 6-iron combination. The TrackMan numbers I was seeing not only with the irons but the woods as well I had never gotten before, so at that point I felt like the decision to join their staff made sense."

 

I'm all for signing for the pay. I'd do the same.

 

But I'm not convinced of his trackman numbers. He carries the ball 310+ driver but 184 with a 6-iron? He's either fudging the stats or the ball is way better. Loft change with TM? No way same spec blades have that much discrepancy.

[JoeyD12]

"I started with a Callaway 6-iron and Titleist ball and it went around 184 yards, and then I hit the same 6-iron with a Callaway ball and it went 3 yards further," McIlroy said. "I was like, 'That works for me.' Then I hit the TaylorMade 6-iron with the TaylorMade ball and it went 7 yards further than that. So I was getting 10 yards extra over the initial 6-iron combination. The TrackMan numbers I was seeing not only with the irons but the woods as well I had never gotten before, so at that point I felt like the decision to join their staff made sense."

 

I'm all for signing for the pay. I'd do the same.

 

But I'm not convinced of his trackman numbers. He carries the ball 310+ driver but 184 with a 6-iron? He's either fudging the stats or the ball is way better. Loft change with TM? No way same spec blades have that much discrepancy.

 

It's all well orchestrated marketing material. I don't blame him for taking the money.

[moegolfer11]

"I started with a Callaway 6-iron and Titleist ball and it went around 184 yards, and then I hit the same 6-iron with a Callaway ball and it went 3 yards further," McIlroy said. "I was like, 'That works for me.' Then I hit the TaylorMade 6-iron with the TaylorMade ball and it went 7 yards further than that. So I was getting 10 yards extra over the initial 6-iron combination. The TrackMan numbers I was seeing not only with the irons but the woods as well I had never gotten before, so at that point I felt like the decision to join their staff made sense."

 

I'm all for signing for the pay. I'd do the same.

 

But I'm not convinced of his trackman numbers. He carries the ball 310+ driver but 184 with a 6-iron? He's either fudging the stats or the ball is way better. Loft change with TM? No way same spec blades have that much discrepancy.

 

His lofts on his irons might be weak

[uflorida1]

Project X better watch out - I bet Rory will now have to switch to KPS shafts! LOL /sarcasm

[bcflyguy1]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

[swizbeatz]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

 

 

My guess would be he got great numbers with the Epic, then didn't like how it held up under pressure. See Reed and Phil spraying it all over the place.

[JoeyD12]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

 

Exactly

[jll62]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

That would imply Rory was in on it for months and was playing a long con by using the Pro V1x and then switching to TP5x in dramatic fashion. No way. No how. The guy is not going to sabotage the first few months of the season to be a part of something like this. The official story, that this really got started a month ago after the Masters, is far more likely. That said, TM started their 90 day formal separation planning on March 31, so I would love to know how Rory's move during this time was handled.

 

Regarding the money vs equipment aspect. Rory was going to get paid large sums of money regardless of what company he picked. He picked the equipment he liked and got paid. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? If he liked the Callaway performance better, he would have picked them and gotten paid large sums of money. I'm going to believe him that he picked what he wanted to play and got paid after.

 

If you think Merger and Acquisition worth half a billion dollars all went down in less than a month then I have ocean side property to sell you in Missouri.

 

Where did I state that? I said I believe that the Rory thing went down in the last month, as he said. With regard to TMaG, it's quite clear that M&A has been ongoing for some time. The fact that TM began 90 day "formal separation planning" on 3/31 (to be followed by a 90 day divestiture afterwards) spells this out very clearly. M&A would have been ongoing for months prior to this. Never did I state otherwise.

 

I was simply saying that it would have been interesting to see how Rory's actions in the last month affected things, since M&A would have been so far along already.

[JoeyD12]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

That would imply Rory was in on it for months and was playing a long con by using the Pro V1x and then switching to TP5x in dramatic fashion. No way. No how. The guy is not going to sabotage the first few months of the season to be a part of something like this. The official story, that this really got started a month ago after the Masters, is far more likely. That said, TM started their 90 day formal separation planning on March 31, so I would love to know how Rory's move during this time was handled.

 

Regarding the money vs equipment aspect. Rory was going to get paid large sums of money regardless of what company he picked. He picked the equipment he liked and got paid. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? If he liked the Callaway performance better, he would have picked them and gotten paid large sums of money. I'm going to believe him that he picked what he wanted to play and got paid after.

 

If you think Merger and Acquisition worth half a billion dollars all went down in less than a month then I have ocean side property to sell you in Missouri.

 

Where did I state that? I said I believe that the Rory thing went down in the last month, as he said. With regard to TMaG, it's quite clear that M&A has been ongoing for some time. The fact that TM began 90 day "formal separation planning" on 3/31 (to be followed by a 90 day divestiture afterwards) spells this out very clearly. M&A would have been ongoing for months prior to this. Never did I state otherwise.

 

I was simply saying that it would have been interesting to see how Rory's actions in the last month affected things, since M&A would have been so far along already.

 

So you think they were talking about a $425M dollar purchase price for months and all of the sudden Adidas decided to just throw in $100M more in liabilities? You think KPS was like "oh, no big deal". Come on man... Missouri... Oceanside. Paypal. Let's do it.

[bcflyguy1]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

 

 

My guess would be he got great numbers with the Epic, then didn't like how it held up under pressure. See Reed and Phil spraying it all over the place.

 

The swing issues of Phil and Reed have nothing to do with it. Remember the drives that Rory was hitting in the WGC event in Mexico? The performance aspects of his driver were not a negative issue.

[jll62]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

 

He did put TM woods in the bag at the end of 2016, long before he was on the payroll.

 

Rory has always been a straight shooter with the media, so I don't understand why his comments are so hard to believe. He's on record as saying he:

 

1) Switched to the Pro V1x entering 2017 because he was familiar with the ball from before and he liked the green side performance.

2) He picked the Epic because it gave him the best numbers with the Pro V1x.

3) He didn't like the performance of the ball as the year progressed and the wind performance at the Masters was the last straw.

4) He tried the TP5x and was blown away (in conjunction with TM equipment)

5) He said he should have given the TP5x more consideration prior to 2017 starting, but his comfort level with the Pro V1x blinded him to other choices.

 

None of this requires a heavy dose of skepticism to believe. It's all very open and honest, and it sounds exactly like the process someone would go through if they're not under a contract to play any specific equipment. But I guess we always have to be looking for the story when there is a whole lot of money involved.

 

Personally, i'm inclined to believe him at his word because of his history and the fact that there is no reason to fabricate a story.

[bcflyguy1]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

 

He did put TM woods in the bag at the end of 2016, long before he was on the payroll.

 

Rory has always been a straight shooter with the media, so I don't understand why his comments are so hard to believe. He's on record as saying he:

 

1) Switched to the Pro V1x entering 2017 because he was familiar with the ball from before and he liked the green side performance.

2) He picked the Epic because it gave him the best numbers with the Pro V1x.

3) He didn't like the performance of the ball as the year progressed and the wind performance at the Masters was the last straw.

4) He tried the TP5x and was blown away (in conjunction with TM equipment)

5) He said he should have given the TP5x more consideration prior to 2017 starting, but his comfort level with the Pro V1x blinded him to other choices.

 

None of this requires a heavy dose of skepticism to believe. It's all very open and honest, and it sounds exactly like the process someone would go through if they're not under a contract to play any specific equipment. But I guess we always have to be looking for the story when there is a whole lot of money involved.

 

Personally, i'm inclined to believe him at his word because of his history and the fact that there is no reason to fabricate a story.

 

There are millions of reasons to come up with a story, but carry on.

[JoeyD12]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

 

He did put TM woods in the bag at the end of 2016, long before he was on the payroll.

 

Rory has always been a straight shooter with the media, so I don't understand why his comments are so hard to believe. He's on record as saying he:

 

1) Switched to the Pro V1x entering 2017 because he was familiar with the ball from before and he liked the green side performance.

2) He picked the Epic because it gave him the best numbers with the Pro V1x.

3) He didn't like the performance of the ball as the year progressed and the wind performance at the Masters was the last straw.

4) He tried the TP5x and was blown away (in conjunction with TM equipment)

5) He said he should have given the TP5x more consideration prior to 2017 starting, but his comfort level with the Pro V1x blinded him to other choices.

 

None of this requires a heavy dose of skepticism to believe. It's all very open and honest, and it sounds exactly like the process someone would go through if they're not under a contract to play any specific equipment. But I guess we always have to be looking for the story when there is a whole lot of money involved.

 

Personally, i'm inclined to believe him at his word because of his history and the fact that there is no reason to fabricate a story.

 

Hey man, no worries. You believe him, others don't. Only Rory, TM, and Cally really know the truth so there is no point in arguing different speculations. One thing that is not a speculation is you don't throw in $100M in liabilities into a $425M deal and expect to close the whole thing down in a matter of a couple of weeks. That does NOT happen, ever.

[bcflyguy1]

More power to Rory, though. If somebody wanted to pay me to be a club ho (something I already enjoy and do without compensation), I'd be in for that.

[jll62]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

That would imply Rory was in on it for months and was playing a long con by using the Pro V1x and then switching to TP5x in dramatic fashion. No way. No how. The guy is not going to sabotage the first few months of the season to be a part of something like this. The official story, that this really got started a month ago after the Masters, is far more likely. That said, TM started their 90 day formal separation planning on March 31, so I would love to know how Rory's move during this time was handled.

 

Regarding the money vs equipment aspect. Rory was going to get paid large sums of money regardless of what company he picked. He picked the equipment he liked and got paid. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? If he liked the Callaway performance better, he would have picked them and gotten paid large sums of money. I'm going to believe him that he picked what he wanted to play and got paid after.

 

If you think Merger and Acquisition worth half a billion dollars all went down in less than a month then I have ocean side property to sell you in Missouri.

 

Where did I state that? I said I believe that the Rory thing went down in the last month, as he said. With regard to TMaG, it's quite clear that M&A has been ongoing for some time. The fact that TM began 90 day "formal separation planning" on 3/31 (to be followed by a 90 day divestiture afterwards) spells this out very clearly. M&A would have been ongoing for months prior to this. Never did I state otherwise.

 

I was simply saying that it would have been interesting to see how Rory's actions in the last month affected things, since M&A would have been so far along already.

 

So you think they were talking about a $425M dollar purchase price for months and all of the sudden Adidas decided to just throw in $100M more in liabilities? You think KPS was like "oh, no big deal". Come on man... Missouri... Oceanside. Paypal. Let's do it.

 

And you're speculating that Rory was in on this for months. Is there one single piece of evidence to support your claim? The only way you are correct is for Rory to have intentionally played the Pro V1x and the Epic woods for months, all so that TM could sell some great story about how Rory switched away from the two main competitors in the respective lines.

 

What's more believable? That a top 3 player in the world would orchestrate something like this and intentionally sabotage the first 25% of the season, or that Rory threw a monkey wrench into things and the M&A folks have been busting a** for the last month to figure out what that extra $100M in liabilities means for the deal they were working on?

 

If you think the former is more believable, then come and buy some of that property in MN. Wow...

[Redbird]

 

 

And you're speculating that Rory was in on this for months. Is there one single piece of evidence to support your claim? The only way you are correct is for Rory to have intentionally played the Pro V1x and the Epic woods for months, all so that TM could sell some great story about how Rory switched away from the two main competitors in the respective lines.

 

What's more believable? That a top 3 player in the world would orchestrate something like this and intentionally sabotage the first 25% of the season, or that Rory threw a monkey wrench into things and the M&A folks have been busting a** for the last month to figure out what that extra $100M in liabilities means for the deal they were working on?

 

If you think the former is more believable, then come and buy some of that property in MN. Wow...

 

I'm open to it as long as that property isn't the crack stacks.

[JoeyD12]

Haha, did you just offer me property after I said the same thing to you? Way to strain the ol' brain muscle there. I already told you that there is no need to argue over speculation. Take it easy man.

[KK44]

It's been posted numerous times that the 10/100 deal is grossly overestimated.

 

It was also posted several times that Rory was signing with Callaway. I always remain neutral until we get the actual facts. I was just pointing out an interesting angle IF the reports turn out to be accurate.

 

HipCheck confirmed with Taylormade that the deal was not worth $100M. No IF.

[the bishop]

So much for the argument that this was equipment based and not money. This deal has been in the works for some time, even before Rory made his golf ball comments. Well orchestrated. Looks like the M&A had Rory already factored in as these things take months to iron out. This is pretty crazy news.

 

If it really was entirely equipment performance based decision, also begs the question why the TM clubs were not in his bag to start the year when he wasn't on the pay-roll.

 

Also, what ScratchSwinger said.

 

He did put TM woods in the bag at the end of 2016, long before he was on the payroll.

 

Rory has always been a straight shooter with the media, so I don't understand why his comments are so hard to believe. He's on record as saying he:

 

1) Switched to the Pro V1x entering 2017 because he was familiar with the ball from before and he liked the green side performance.

2) He picked the Epic because it gave him the best numbers with the Pro V1x.

3) He didn't like the performance of the ball as the year progressed and the wind performance at the Masters was the last straw.

4) He tried the TP5x and was blown away (in conjunction with TM equipment)

5) He said he should have given the TP5x more consideration prior to 2017 starting, but his comfort level with the Pro V1x blinded him to other choices.

 

None of this requires a heavy dose of skepticism to believe. It's all very open and honest, and it sounds exactly like the process someone would go through if they're not under a contract to play any specific equipment. But I guess we always have to be looking for the story when there is a whole lot of money involved.

 

Personally, i'm inclined to believe him at his word because of his history and the fact that there is no reason to fabricate a story.

Of all the things you listed I can say one thing with certainty - that TP5X is the truth. He is not BS'ing about that at all.

[yonghov]

Is there really this much difference for a specific golf ball depending on the clubs used? Seems a little crazy that Nike ball works great with Taylormade clubs but noticeably less with Callaway, V1X works great with Callaway clubs but noticeably less with Taylormade clubs, etc. Honestly never even heard of this. I thought ball performance/selection was based more on the swing and feel preference, not on the clubs. If this were true, we should be going through a new ball fitting process every time we change clubs?

[ZAP]

IF he got 100 Mil. Good for him.

I am going to lie down now because just saying 100 mil made me a little dizzy.

[Sean2]

That is why I never take any endorsements seriously. Of course the endorsee is going to say great things about a product...it's what he is paid to do. I don't really understand the endorsement thing anyway: if celebrity "x" uses/endorses a certain product people will run out and buy it. If they think the "magic" of using the same product as celebrity "x" will rub off on them they are perhaps a bit misguided.

[AThompson_3]

Is there really this much difference for a specific golf ball depending on the clubs used? Seems a little crazy that Nike ball works great with Taylormade clubs but noticeably less with Callaway, V1X works great with Callaway clubs but noticeably less with Taylormade clubs, etc. Honestly never even heard of this. I thought ball performance/selection was based more on the swing and feel preference, not on the clubs. If this were true, we should be going through a new ball fitting process every time we change clubs?

I think you're overthinking it. He moved from RZN to V1X because he was familiar with it not because it performed better with Callaway clubs. He switched from V1X to TP5X because it performed better regardless across all clubs not because it was better only with Taylormade clubs.