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TSN Senior Reporter

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The move away from Nike equipment has started and may increase in the next few weeks as players signed with the Swoosh test new gear heading into 2017.

The biggest change so far will reportedly happen this week at the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai as Rory McIlroy puts a TaylorMade M2 driver in the bag. He’s been seen using it in practice rounds.

McIlroy has already moved to a Scotty Cameron putter, something that helped him capture the FedEx Cup and putt so well at the Ryder Cup.

Nike announced last month that it was getting out of the golf equipment business, retaining a focus on clothing and footwear. As a result, the players it has under contract have been testing new gear and gradually switching things up.

One source said Nike will continue to pay existing contracts in full whether or not a player continues to use its clubs and/or ball. However if a player receives money to use another company’s equipment, then the contract with Nike will be renegotiated.

In other words, expect to see a number of Nike golfers using different gear but not signing endorsement contracts with other companies.

Nike is also not planning to leave golf. In fact, the company said it plans to be aggressive in signing new player deals. However, much like it does in tennis, those deals will be only for clothing and shoes. The latest to do this is Jason Day, who will remain with his TaylorMade equipment but sport Nike apparel.

And in addition to his new driver, this week McIlroy is wearing the latest footwear from Nike, the Lunar Control Vapor shoes, featuring a new traction system based on the tread in snowmobiles. It’s the first time in his career he’s not used some sort of spiked shoe.

 

Spikes no more! Check out the future of traction from @nikegolf #LCV 👟🔥⛳️

A video posted by Rory McIlroy (@rorymcilroy) on