|
TaylorMade Disputes Callaway Declaration That Callaway Has Reclaimed The Title Of "Top Driver Brand Across World's Major Professional Tours" Contact John Steinbach CARLSBAD, Calif. (March 20, 2003) -- TaylorMade Golf has responded to a declaration made this week by Callaway Golf Company that Callaway had "reclaimed the title of the top driver brand across the world's major professional tours combined." This declaration is misleading in several respects: First, Callaway admits that "this is the first time the Company has led the combined driver count in nearly two years." Callaway bases its claims on a single week's results, while at the same time neglecting to mention that during that single week both the Nationwide Tour and the Japan Golf Tour (the Japan Golf Tour begins play in April) had the week off. Callaway neglects to mention that TaylorMade has totally dominated the worldwide tours this year. So far this year, on the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour, LPGA Tour and European Tour, 2,179 TaylorMade drivers were used compared to Callaway at 1,829. This is after ten weeks, not a single week. TaylorMade has totally dominated the PGA TOUR this year. Sean Toulon, Vice President, Global Product and Brand Creation of TaylorMade, explained: "The weekly results on the PGA TOUR (the strongest, most powerful professional golf tour in the world) speak for themselves. There you'll see the total domination of TaylorMade and the R500 Series drivers. Even though Callaway pays golfers substantially more money to use their drivers in weekly tee-up bonuses, we've bettered them in every count on the PGA TOUR so far this year." In PGA TOUR events held in 2003, the number of players using TaylorMade drivers compared to the number of players using Callaway drivers (source: Darrell Survey) is as follows: Mercedes Championships Sony Open Phoenix Open Bob Hope Chrysler Classic AT&T Pebble Beach National
Pro-Am Buick Invitational Nissan Open WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship Chrysler Classic of Tucson Ford Championship at Doral Honda Classic In terms of 2003 money-winnings on the PGA TOUR, TaylorMade drivers have been used to earn 128% more money than Callaway drivers ($13,037,587.34 for TaylorMade, compared to $5,714,974.22 for Callaway). "Callaway may have doubled its driver use on the PGA TOUR this year," said Toulon. "But it still trails TaylorMade by a wide, wide margin. For one simple reason: TaylorMade drivers outperform Callaway drivers, period." About TaylorMade-adidas Golf TaylorMade Golf has led the golf industry's technological evolution since being founded in 1979. In 1998 the company joined with adidas Golf, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of adidas-Salomon AG. Dedicated to being the best performance golf company in the world, consumers can find more information on TaylorMade-adidas Golf at (800) 888-CLUB or www.tmag.com, www.taylormadegolf.com, www.adidasgolf.com, www.maxfli.com or www.rossaputters.com. |