Bubba Watson's year-long experiment playing Volvik golf balls is over. With the end of his contract to play balls made by the Korean company, Watson is off the pink and green golf balls and back to the white golf balls made by Titleist.
Watson, who jumped in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open field in Vegas to show support for the community after the Mandalay Bay tragedy, confirmed he's rolling a new old ball moving forward.
“I do not have a ball deal as we sit here today,” he said Tuesday at TPC Summerlin. “So I can play with whatever ball I want to. My deal was up, and so I’m … ball-free.”
Watson signed the deal with Volvik ahead of the Tournament of Champions last year. It was described as a multi-year deal (perhaps with options to extend), but the deal wound up going less than a full year.
The two-time Masters champion doesn't currently have a golf ball deal, but he did play the Pro V1X before signing with Volvik.
Watson did not perform well in 2017, losing some distance off the tee (though weight loss may have played a part in that) and only recording two top-10 stroke-play event finishes during the calendar year. After finishing a meek 75th in FedEx Cup points, he hopes to get back to his brand of golf in this new season.
“My goals are to be better than [the rest of this year],” he said. “It was a frustrating year when it came to the golf. It was a great year off the course, but a frustrating year [on it]. Hopefully I’ll improve that.”
Volvik has been successful in piercing the market with Tour-performance balls that come in a variety of colors and matte finishes. The company's balls are used by a number of leading female players, some PGA Tour Champions players and with the Long Drivers of America.
