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Els switches to Callaway
27/02/2007 20:10 - (SA)
Barry Havenga, Golf Digest
Cape Town - Ernie Els has ended his five-year contract with Titleist and switched to Callaway.
Negotiations between Els, whose contract was up for renewal at the end of 2007, and Titleist evidently fell through, leaving Callaway the option of buying out the remaining year - which they did.
The move comes two months after the 37-year-old announced at the SA Open in December that he was rededicating himself to becoming the world's No 1 player. A final round of 65 gave Els his fourth SA Open title at Humewood.
It's not certain at this stage whether Els, as part of his new contract, will have to discontinue using the Titleist golf ball, which he has used throughout his career, in favour of the Callaway HX Tour ball used by players such as Phil Mickelson and Charles Howell III.
One reason for Callaway's interest might be to counter the move made by recent WGC-Match Play Championship winner, Sweden's Henrik Stenson, to Srixon at the end of 2006. Callaway need a marquee player in Europe and Els will provide them the opportunity.
Els tees up in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket this week, and was reported to have used a Callaway Fusion driver during a practice round on Monday. He was also believed to have been seen recently at the Callaway testing facility in Surrey, near his home at Wentworth.
It is the third major equipment change in recent years for Els. He won two of his three majors, the 1997 US Open and 2002 Open, as a TaylorMade player. Since signing for Titleist in 2003 he has won five tournaments on the PGA Tour, but the last of those was the WGC-American Express Championship in 2004.
Els will join Mickelson and Howell as Callaway's highest profile players. His coach, David Leadbetter, is also endorsed by Callaway.
Along with numerous new advertising campaigns and photo shoots for his new sponsors, the Ernie Els Foundation will have to discontinue the use of their Titleist equipment.
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