Rory McIlroy among players to experiment with new equipment
Wednesday 4 January 2017 16:55, UK
Rory McIlroy and Jason Day are among the players to have changed their equipment or clothing ahead of the new campaign.
The Northern Irishman told reporters ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship he could use a "mix-match" of clubs in 2017 and spent time in Dubai last month testing clubs from a variety of manufacturers.
The world No 2 makes his first appearance of the year at the BMW South African Open on January 12, live on Sky Sports, and will reportedly play with a completely different set of clubs to his last start in November.
No Laying Up understands McIlroy will use a Callaway driver, woods and irons, as well as Titleist Vokey wedges and an Odyssey putter. He has also elected to play with a Titleist ProV1x ball.
"I want to play the new ProV1x ball and I know the Callaway driver works the best with it," McIlroy said. "I also know my Nike irons don't work as well with the Titleist ball because of the groove format. Too spinny, and a loss of distance."
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McIlroy will be joined by Jason Day in wearing Nike clothing, after the Australian was signed up the brand on a multi-year contract.
The world No 1 has warn Adidas clothing for a number of years but will now join the likes of Tiger Woods, Paul Casey and Brooks Koepka in wearing Nike shoes and clothing - starting at this week's Tournament of Champions.
"Joining Nike is a dream come true," Day said in a statement. "The brand is synonymous with the world's best athletes.
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"I'm honoured and can't wait to be part of the team and working closely with Nike to take my game, and the sport of golf, to even higher levels."
In the ladies game, PXG has expanded their roster of female players by adding world No 1 Lydia Ko and US Women's Open champion Brittany Lang to their ranks.
This year PXG is looking at golf and the tour from a global perspective," founder Bob Parsons said. "In 2016, we saw remarkable growth in international sales, but we recognize that we have only scratched the surface.
"Tour validation is important, and the ladies tour is wildly popular in many countries."
