Rumors that have been swirling on golf equipment message boards and chat sites can now be put to rest—Golf.com has learned that Camilo Villegas is leaving Cobra Golf and has agreed to become a TaylorMade staff player starting in 2011. An official release from TaylorMade is expected Tuesday morning.
Currently ranked No. 24 in the world, the Colombian has won three PGA Tour events in five years, the most-recent coming in March at the 2010 Honda Classic.
Plenty of equipment junkies noticed that Villegas used a TaylorMade Burner SuperFast 3-wood at the British Open. (Click the image for a better look.) That touched off speculation that Villegas was considering a major equipment change.
Villegas will use TaylorMade golf clubs, and as part of his agreement, he will carry them in a TaylorMade bag and use a TaylorMade ball next season too. He will also begin wearing Adidas golf shoes.
He may have made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Wait until he tries walking with those Adidas shoes. They don't even come close to comfort like FJ does. I guess that the Achusnet family didn't want to be held up for more coin and Adidas likes spending more. We have seen many of the players switch to other brands and one has to believe that it is not the equipment, but the money which determines their decision.
Whatever happened to Brand Loyalty??? Thank the good Lord for players like DL111, SS and IJP.
I am surprised he is also switching the ball and shoes, guess they must be giving him a ton of $$ to be TM/Adidas head to toe.
Club part I can understand since Puma bought Cobra (and I love my TM clubs), but think the ball/shoe change is a mistake. Only time will tell.
I am a Taylormade guy everything in my bag is TM but my putter and wedges (titleist and Cameron) and from an equipment stand point I think TM is much better. But as amatures we have the choice of what we want to play and wear, sometimes the pros dont. Villegas wanted the deal and took it so it was his choice. I for one really dont care what it says as long as it performs. He may not have had a choice which is a shame, I hope its not about the money I always thought golf was a little bit above that.
Hate that but wish him the best. Don't understand the ball part at all. Most TM guys do wear Adidas shoes though. Hopefully this won't work out like most guys that switch for $$$, which is not good.
I would imagine he is going to go to the Penta and I dont know if anyone else has played it but I couldn't stand it. Lost an average of 20 yards on all my clubs and felt too soft for my liking.
Sorry to see him in other shoes but the Penta is a great ball. I love it. I gained yardage and love its soft feel. guess that is why there are so many different balls out there.
Yep thats the beauty of our game: so many choices. I know a lot of people who love the Penta but just wasn't for me. In the end its what helps us get the ball in the hole. I think all taylormades are a bit soft but my dad gets more distance out of his TM blacks than out of PROVs or even some of the distance enhancing balls. To each their own!
WELL I GUESS WE JUST WAIT AND SEE HOW HE PERFORMS USING THE NEW EQUIPMENT.
WE KNOW FOR A FACT HE IS TAKING A STEP BACK WITH HIS SHOES AND BALL.
I PICKED COBRA OVER TAYLOR MADE ON MY LAST SET.
ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
I like the TM R9 460 Driver. As far as the shoes... They were not comfortable in the shop and could not imagine myself in them out on the course. Bag is TM/Adidas and that's it for me. Everything else is pretty much everything else. I am still buying the recycled balls until I can getting my game where I want it. I've tried the PRO-V1/x and they were alright. I like the NXT series more especially the DT.
Camillo - Good Luck.
Clubs Decision: Not a big surprise. i believe he is the first of many to leave cobra.
Shoes: not the smartest decision
Ball: Seriously, those guys are crazy good, the ball is not really going to matter.
I am not surprised. Cobra isn't going to be Acushnet in 2011 anyways so he probably didn't want to move to Puma. I don't care that he is going to be playing TM clubs but it's too bad he isn't going to be wearing FJ's. TM must have tossed him some serious coin.
It's all about the money. I wish him all the best either way. Great guy.
Wish him the best. It must be about the $$$$ to get someone to make that large of a change.
At least he won't be turning into another Ricky Fowler by wearing the Puma clothing line.
GolfWeek says there's a lawsuit in the works -- TaylorMade may have tampered w/Camillo before his contract was up
Acushnet is suing Villegas and Taylor Made both. Saying he still has 5 months left on his contract with them. Should be interesting.