How Have the PXG Pros Been Doing?

Yesterday, PXG and Charl Schwartzel announced a new endorsement deal heading into the Open Championship.

I’m pleased and proud to announce Charl Schwartzel has joined Team @PXG & will be playing PXG equipment in The Open! pic.twitter.com/W7smHz7rIr

— Bob Parsons (@DrBobParsons) July 12, 2016

The mid-season move was a surprise to many, especially since the long-time Nike guy had already won twice this season on the PGA and European Tours.

The announcement also had me thinking back to January when PXG made a huge splash by signing eight professional golfers, six of those being PGA TOUR pros. Headlined by Open Champion, Zach Johnson, the upstart club manufacturer also signed James Hahn, Billy Horschel, Ryan Moore, Charles Howell III, and Chris Kirk.

Back in January, there was quite a bit of buzz surrounding the manufacturing, technology, and overall quality of these clubs. Not to mention the $5,000 price tag for set of their irons.

But until yesterday, you hadn’t really heard much about PXG or their stable of “PXG Troops” on the PGA TOUR.

As you can guess, there’s a reason for that.

In 2015, these six golfers combined for four wins, including Johnson’s Open win, and 24 top 10 finishes. This year, James Hahn has the only first place finish, winning at Quail Hollow at the Wells Fargo Championship. They have also combined for 22 top 10 finishes.

Not terrible considering there is much of the 2016 season yet to be complete.

However, if you take a deeper dive into their individual performances, things have not been going well for some of these guys.

Below is a look at their 2015 and 2016 comparisons in Stokes Gained: Tee to Green and Greens in Regulation.

Billy Horschel and Chris Kirk have both improved tee to green, however, based on Horschel’s greens in regulation number, he’s basically been scrambling this entire season.

Meanwhile, everyone else has struggled with ball striking. No more so than the defending Open champ, Zach Johnson.

Going from 37th to 116th in greens in regulation would have seemed unfathomable when watching him play last year. He was considered one of the best ball strikers on tour and a top five player inside 100 yards. His tee to green strokes gained number tells a very different story this year. One that would certainly involve a change of equipment.

But all is not lost for these players. Most professionals will tell you getting used to new equipment takes time. In fact, after signing Rory McIlroy to a blockbuster, $200 million dollar deal, Nike had to wait 18 months before Rory started paying them back in Major victories.

Perhaps the same rewards are on the way for PXG and their growing stable of professional golfers. For now, it seems their guys are just trying to figure out how these clubs work.

Cover Photo via Twitter