Sergio Garcia talks up Callaway switch

Sergio Garcia has dropped the biggest hint yet that his next equipment deal will be with Callaway.

Last month, it was announced that the Masters champion had split with his equipment company of 15 years, TaylorMade, after parent company adidas completed the divestiture of TaylorMade, Adams Golf and Ashworth to a newly-formed affiliate of KPS Capital Partners.

Garcia used Callaway wedges at the British Masters and an Odyssey Toulon Design putter at the Dell Technologies Championship in September, fuelling speculation that Callaway would be his next stop-off.

And, ahead of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, where he will put the Epic driver in play for the first time, it seems incredibly likely that the Spaniard joining the likes of Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson and Branden Grace as a Callaway staffer.

“Not yet,” he replied when asked if a deal was official. “But obviously it’s [Callaway], at the moment, the company that is in front of the other ones.

“Obviously I’m trying some Callaway stuff, and what I’ve been trying feels great. It’s a great company. So it’s not like I’m going to a company that is unknown or anything like that.”

The Spaniard then went into a bit more detail about how his split with TaylorMade came about.

“I guess all companies change, and the politics with TaylorMade have changed now after leaving adidas,” he continued. “We couldn’t come to an agreement. So I understand that it’s also difficult when you have so many top players, to keep all of them. You know, unfortunately we were in that package.”

He then confirmed that he’s also been testing a Callaway ball, with that the most difficult part about making a wholesale equipment switch.

“What we’ve been testing, the numbers have been really good with the balls that Callaway has brought to me,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of trying it on the golf course and trying it on tournament play, and seeing how it reacts and seeing how it feels.

“Then, if there are any changes that need to be made, we have time in the off-season to get it sorted out. Hopefully we won’t have to.”