You don't talk about the shoes you wear or the apparel. The emotional core is equipment. Nike decided to acquire Impact Technologies and, through Stites, develop its own brand. While working with Hogan and his chief designer, Gene Sheeley, Stites became best known for his design of the Hogan Edge iron, its first cavity-back club made of forged steel. Duval remains the only player to use Nike irons on tour, and Nike still has no timetable for when the clubs will be available on the market, or what those clubs will look like.
Wood says the company is looking at three prototypes.
Stites also had a driver for Duval to test on the range at Doral earlier this month, although he is still using a Titleist. The driver and putters, and even the irons, are still a long way off from getting to the market. That would be slightly different than Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist. Other brands in the Acushnet family are FootJoy shoes and Scott Cameron putters. Callaway has clubs and balls, while the putters are sold under the Odyssey brand.