By E. Michael Johnson
Bubba Watson has always been a little bit different from your typical PGA Tour player and now the two-time Masters champion has a decidedly different endorsement deal— a “lifetime contract” with equipment sponsor Ping. Although financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Ping confirmed the deal extends the relationship well past Watson’s expected PGA Tour career.

“I’ve been playing Ping equipment since I was a kid,” said Watson in a statement release by Ping. “I love the company and truly believe Ping is committed to making the best equipment. I can’t thank the Solheim family enough for their support during my career. Ping and the Solheim family have played a huge role in my golf career and my life. I’m very grateful they’ve put their faith in me to represent them for the rest of my career.”

Although unusual from a business standpoint, the deal makes sense for Watson, who is loathed to make changes. When Watson changed to the Volvik ball prior to the 2017 season, the experiment lasted less than a year before he returned to his Titleist Pro V1x.

“I hate changing equipment,” Watson told Golf Digest in 2014. “The feel is always new. There are times I’ll grab a new club or one that has been re-gripped and not even hit it because it doesn’t feel right.” Watson doesn’t even grind the sole on his wedges because replicating the shape became too much of chore, opting instead to learn how to play with a standard grind.

Although the uninitiated might find Watson pernickety, his sensitivity with equipment is a rare gift. Much like Ted Williams, who could take dozens of bats and explain the differences in all of them, or how Tiger Woods can tell the thickness of a driver face by brushing it against the grass, Watson has a savant-like quality about him when it comes to his clubs—he just knows.

“It’s not always about watching the ball fly,” he said in 2014. “I can tell if there’s a piece of tape missing under the grip. I can feel if the loft or lie angle is a little off or if the club is a little too heavy on one side due to too much glue. It’s a weird deal, but I can somehow do that.”

Watson’s first putter was a Ping B60 and he has played the company’s clubs continuously since receiving a junior set of irons as an 8-year-old boy. Fast forward to today and Watson, who is celebrating his 42nd birthday today, has 12 PGA Tour wins including a pair of Masters titles.

“We’re extremely excited to make this announcement,” said John K. Solheim, president of Ping. “We understand it is unique in the sports endorsement world, but so is Bubba. He’s done a lot for Ping over his amazing career and we felt the time was right to make this commitment to him. His skill level and creativity on the golf course have defined his career, but his generosity and compassion are what make him a great fit for Ping. He’s like family to us and we’re very happy he’ll be with us for the rest of his golf career.”

The post Bubba Watson signs lifetime deal with Ping appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
Hudson Swafford hadn’t won since the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge, but he was attempting to do so at the 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship with eight of the same clubs he had en route to winning in his first PGA Tour victory.

Chief among them is the Ping S55 6-iron that he stuffed to seven feet on the 174-yard par-3 17th, and he then converted the putt with his TaylorMade Spider X Chalk mallet to regain the lead he had kicked away over the final nine. Swafford had held a commanding lead before double bogeying the 13th hole and bogeying the 15th, putting him in a temporary three-way tie with Tyler McCumber and Mackenzie Hughes.

“It was like the shot at 17 at PGA West when I won,” said Swafford of the tee shot at the 71st hole on Sunday. “I was like man, you gotta step up and I hit a good, flighted 6-iron. I’ve done it 100,000 times. I love hitting that golf shot and man, it was a good one and an even better putt.”

Although that proved to be the deciding birdie for win No. 2, Swafford hit another brilliant long iron into the 565-yard par-5 fourth that led to an eagle. Swafford’s Ping G400 driver also served him well as he averaged 329 yards for the week (ranked T-13) while hitting 78.6 percent of his fairways, ranking 18th in the field.

Still, Swafford, who had not three-putted all week and needed to convert a nervy six-footer for the win, which Swafford managed to make for a one-stroke victory over McCumber.

The clubs Hudson Swafford had in the bag at the 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship:

Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G410 LST (Aldila NV 2KXV), 8.5 degrees
3-wood: Ping i25, 14 degrees
5-wood: Ping i25, 18 degrees
Irons (4-9): Ping S55; (PW): Titleist Vokey SM8
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (52, 55 degrees); TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi Toe (60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X Chalk

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The power game was again on display at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where Champ led the field in strokes-gained/off the tee through 54 holes. But this time around, he offered a new way to showcase his unique talents. On the driving range Sunday at the Conutry Club of Jackson (Miss.) roughly 30 minutes before teeing off in the final round with a four-stroke lead, Champ did this to his Ping G400 Max driver:

This is the driver of Cameron Champ 20 minutes before his final round tee time with a 4 shot lead. He had a backup in the car, and was able to hit a few on the range. pic.twitter.com/QfnvStHFqW

— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) October 28, 2018

The scary part of this wasn’t that he did it; you’ve got to believe this isn’t the first driver Champ has cracked in his career. Rather, it was the nonchalant way he rolled with it. Here’s a guy trying to win his first PGA Tour title and he’s got a four-stroke lead heading into the final 18 holes. Any outside distraction would seemingly be a nerve-jarring calamity.

Yet by all reports, Champ handling the situation, well, like a Champ. Golf Channel commentator Justin Leonard says he overheard Champ talking to his father, Jeff, on his cellphone, asking him to retrieve a back-up club. And there apparently was no panic in Cameron’s voice: “Don’t worry, not a rush, I’m not going to hit it until the third hole.”

Sure enough, Champ’s backup was up to the task, as was Champ himself. He led the field in driving distance on Sunday (311.7 yards). And despite a few anxious moments mid-round, where he let the four-stroke lead to start the day disappear, Champ regrouped to make five birdies over his last six holes and win by four.

Asked about it afterward, again Champ seemed unfazed.

“It was very unexpected,” he said. “Then my backup is actually my old one I have that week. I didn’t bring a new new head. It was an older one from my previous driver. I know the weighting was just a little bit off, so just tried to hit as many balls as I could on the range with it just to get used to it a little bit.

“I tried to manage it. Obviously I knew mostly today was probably mixed with nerves and adrenaline and just trying to find my tempo and my swing and whatnot.”

Apparently it will take more than a cracked driver to rattle Champ.

RELATED: Cameron Champ wins first PGA Tour title by four at the Sanderson Farms

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