Bryson DeChambeau’s Equipment Deal Collapses After ‘Redneck’ CEO Doesn't Budge In Negotiations
Don't mess with a Louisiana boy.
Professional golfers and equipment companies part ways all the time, and while on the surface it may appear that's simply what Bryson DeChambeau and LA Golf have done, the story behind the split is downright stunning in the world of golf and manufacturers.
DeChambeau won both of his U.S. Opens with LA Golf shafts in his clubs and has been gaming the very expensive equipment for years. While we'll still likely see DeChambeau with LA Golf equipment in his bag, the relationship between the two sides is, as the kids say, absolutely cooked.
Bryson DeChambeau and LA Golf are done. (Aaron Doster-Imagn Images)
According to golf writer and author Michael Bamberger, the two sides parted ways after a business advisor for DeChambeau came to the negotiation table with LA Golf with an incredibly bold proposition.
DeChambeau owns 2 percent of the company, but was seeking more, as in 49 percent more, bringing his total to 51 percent of the company.
LA Golf CEO Reed Dickens shared his side of the story, only as a Louisiana native and former CEO of baseball equipment company Marucci Sports could.
"Bryson and I actually have some of the same tendencies, and I have nothing but respect for him," Dickens told Bamberger. "But he has this new consultant, a McKinsey-consulting type guy, and this guy says to me that Bryson is gonna walk unless he gets 51 percent. Bryson’s got 2 percent of the company. And I think the guy doesn’t realize that he’s dealing with a redneck. And I say, ‘There’s no path for that.’ They played chicken with me, and now we’re going to graciously part ways."
Going headfirst with the ‘we’re walking unless you give us the majority of the company' strategy is bold regardless of the person on the other side of the table, but especially when that person is a Louisiana guy who was the CEO of a baseball company that sold for $572 million less than three years ago.
Business disagreements happen, but it's not every day you get a story in the golf equipment space quite like this one.