PGA of Canada

28  | PGA PRo:FoRMANCE pRO:geaR Suddenly Taylor switches gears and looks to the back of the room. "I could keep talking or maybe you'd like to hear from this guy," says Taylor. With that, Tiger Woods strides into the room. Wearing shorts and looking relaxed, Woods plunks himself down in a chair and begins to talk about his clubs. "e feels and the sensations and the ball flight and the way it feels in my hands . . . I can tell him when some- thing's off and it doesn't feel right," says Tiger soon aer the discussion starts. "I remember talking to Jack about this," Woods continues, sitting forward in his chair. "Back in his heyday when he was playing really well he'd have 20 irons of each number—20 pitching wedges, 20 9-irons—and he'd hit every one and match his set through that process. You couldn't tell if it was per- fect or not. ere were no numbers or Iron Byron. You had to go through all those clubs. And one gram here or one gram there—we can feel that as a player. We can feel when it is off. ese are feels that we can now measure and incorporate into new technology like we have with the Vapor." Vapor is the point. It is the reason why Woods, who only days before had announced he was withdrawing from consideration for the Ryder Cup, and who was shutting it down for a few months to deal with a troublesome back, was sitting talking affably with the media. It is Nike's big play into a market that it has struggled with de- spite having Woods under contract for all of his professional career, and now current World No. 1 Rory McIlroy as well. It is also the first major release of a newly developed club since the sports giant signed McIlroy. "If I want to put something in my golf bag it is because it is better than the previous," says McIlroy in an exclu- sive interview with PRO:Formance. "I'm not going to put something in my bag just because. at's the only reason I'd change and I believe the Vapor irons are that and there's a lot of research and time that's gone into them. at's why I want to use them." Perhaps more than any other re- lease, there's a lot riding on Vapor, and the club maker is pulling out all the stops to make sure people take notice. " They've helped me win and I've inspired them to keep pushing it and keep getting better product. In the end we all win. I n the clubmaking business, Mike Taylor is a legend. He's helped shape clubs for Ben Hogan. And Jack Nicklaus. Just the greats. Nike's master club builder, who works at the company's oven facility, sits back in his leather chair and talks about the latest club he's had a hand in creating. He's knows what he talks about, having built thousands of clubs over a lengthy career that started at the Ben Hogan Company. He is clearly enthusiastic, pleased by his work for Nike and particularly Tiger Woods, with whom Taylor has had a lengthy relationship. "

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