In the hours following the announcement that Dustin Johnson and several other PGA Tour and international players intend to compete in the new LIV Golf Series’ first tournament June 9–11 near London, the equipment companies that supply those players with gear have remained mum about player relationships and sponsorship deals.
That leaves it unclear if equipment makers will continue to support players on the new Saudi Arabia-backed tour. The LIV tour released its initial player list Tuesday evening, and as of Wednesday morning many of those players are still featured on the websites of companies such as TaylorMade Golf, Callaway Golf and Ping.
When asked by Golfweek’s David Dusek via email Tuesday night if former world No. 1 Johnson will continue to wear TaylorMade hats and use branded bags, a TaylorMade representative responded, “We have no comment to make at this time.” That response also included Sergio Garcia’s use of a TaylorMade bag. Other companies such as Ping and Adidas did not respond to initial emails seeking comment.
One sponsor of Johnson has responded. RBC Bank noted its disappointment that Johnson will play in the LIV event near London and skip the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open the same week. It was unclear in RBC’s statement if it had cut ties with Johnson.
Meanwhile, another player who will compete on the LIV Tour, former U.S. Open champion and longtime RBC partner Graeme McDowell, was spotted at a an event in England on Wednesday without the RBC logos on his shirt. No official statement has been made about his relationship with the bank.
All this comes on the heels of UPS dropping its relationships with Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen, who committed to play the LIV circuit.
This initial non-reaction from the equipment companies follows Callaway’s sponsorship “pause” with Phil Mickelson several days after his comments about his motivations to join the LIV circuit were published by author Alan Shipnuck in February. Those comments included calling the Saudi backers of the new series “scary motherf——” and explained he was interested in documented Saudi human rights offenses less than in gaining financial leverage on the PGA Tour, which he called obnoxiously greedy.
Mickelson wasn’t included on the initial player list for the opening LIV event, although it’s possible he still might play. Mickelson has not played the PGA Tour since those comments and has visited his parents’ home in California during the week of the recent PGA Championship, where he was defending champion.
None of the players on the field list have made such outlandish publicized comments, possibly making it easier for equipment makers to ride out any potential controversy as the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf Series engage in battle and players jump ship.