This discussion can go all directions, I believe in Rickie's case, my guess is "outside golf" activities contributed to a lot of his downward trend. I believe he's a good representative of professional golf and hope he can turn things around.

First, I agree that he jumped to the other ball just for the money. That said, he did win with it and other players have won with it so I don't think its fair to say his struggles are ball related. No question which ball is better, by far, the Titleist ball is the best but if he switched back tomorrow, I don't think you would see the same transformation you saw with Bubba moving away from a super-low spinning ball to one he can control.

Dave,
Can't be a co-incidence....
He's probably developed tinnitus from the din those Cobra clubs make!
JT

Coincidence? Almost certainly.

I'm sure there are guys who switched to a Titleist ball who have seen their results decline as well. It's a very fine line between success and failure at that level.

I'll say it is must-factorial. He is heavily marketed - he is in multiple TV ads every week. His clubs are mostly custom down to his irons with no offset. Which he doesn't use every week. Using prototypes as one-offs doesn't get all the engineering of a stock line like the 620 or T irons.

What we don't know is if he signed for the flagship ball because it was better for his game or better for his endorsements I do use a yellow Pro-V1x but I just can't deal with the crazy quilt pattern. Even he gets the version that is not filled with orange flags.

I wish him luck - he is fun to watch, but I do wonder if his commitment to win is as strong as his commitment to endorsements. With approaching fatherhood, he may need to focus time outside the home on just golf. Endorsements are fickle in that they can dry up for players outside the FEDEX tournament across multiple years. His primary golf company has other stars and the ball company just got sold. May need to step it up.

Good god, you guys make it sound like there is something wrong with him. Maybe he's happy with his level of performance. I'm pretty sure that if he isn't, and it came down to the ball he plays, he would just switch balls. Seeing his beer commercial ad where he is sunning himself in a bunker with an ice cold beer makes me envious.

I like Rickie! From everything you read or hear he has been working his tail off to get back to where was. I think if it was as simple as switching balls he would have done that already. Titleist is the #1 ball in golf, absolutely no doubt about it. I just dont think thats the biggest or only reason Rick has fallen down the world ranking list.

Chased the money, pure and simple! Hes married now and doing the commercials, so I think hes happy! Sure he won the Players, but I never seen him as a true contender with a warrior-mentality! I say kudos for Titleist for not chasing players around begging for them to use their ball..

And I dont think Titleist is necessarily missing him!

Titleist pays more players to use their ball... many more times than any other manufacturer. It's not even close. Titleist ball deal is probably the easiest deal to sign in professional golf. They will sign anybody.

Okay, but ill stand by that they dont need him or any other player. The brand will continue marching on, especially with TTI, sweepstakes and giveaways... I dont see other brands doing this for their customers (non-pro).

Maybe the point is that the overall quality gap has lessened over the years but physical talent will always play strongly into success. That does not mean the best equipment, especially that which is not tour tweaked, is directly associated with tour wins. Heck, these are the guys that are targeted for big money contracts and are willing to leave the successful companies behind so people will believe it’s the equipment over the talent. Sometimes that blows up on them and sometimes they get away with it. Show me the list of players that do not have an equipment contract and what the majority of them are playing and it might lead me to believe that it is the best for them. Just another thought…

Rickie just has to much money. Doesn't have the motivation anymore

People go through downward trends all the time. Rockies game is off, it has nothing to do with the product he is using. It probably has more to do with the equipment between his ears.

People go through downward trends all the time. Rockies game is off, it has nothing to do with the product he is using. It probably has more to do with the equipment between his ears.