Rory McIlroy

[Declan]

Heard different myself, apparently his ball speed has increased to over 180mph (with the titleist 913, he was around the 175mph mark).

I'll see your source and raise you one

It'll be interesting to watch alright

[thebigfella]

Heard different myself, apparently his ball speed has increased to over 180mph (with the titleist 913, he was around the 175mph mark).

I'll see your source and raise you one

It'll be interesting to watch alright

He didn't look to be struggling at the Els club the other day

[Orior]

rory and tiger's new Nike ad

http://youtu.be/2NCDYjHtEcU


Dude is that your real hair?

His hair is fine....





as long as its hidden under a hat.

[Puckoon]

Heard different myself, apparently his ball speed has increased to over 180mph (with the titleist 913, he was around the 175mph mark).

I'll see your source and raise you one

It'll be interesting to watch alright

http://www.golfwrx.com/63175/nike-announces-rory-mcilroy-sponsorship/

Unless we are going to be skeptical and believe that Rory is lying when he said he had picked up extra distance with the driver and his ball speed had increased from 175 to 180mph - I am curious to know who your source might be!

I would seriously doubt that a player of his calibre would lose 35 yards with the big dog. He's not like you and me, going and grabbing a driver off the rack and Nevada bobs. He has his choice of shafts in the market, the OEMs do not specify what shaft a player uses, and with that he will be able to get as close to the titleist product specs than most. He may need a different shaft from what he had in the titleist, but he will get close.

[leaveherinsir]

Heard different myself, apparently his ball speed has increased to over 180mph (with the titleist 913, he was around the 175mph mark).

I'll see your source and raise you one

It'll be interesting to watch alright

http://www.golfwrx.com/63175/nike-announces-rory-mcilroy-sponsorship/

Unless we are going to be skeptical and believe that Rory is lying when he said he had picked up extra distance with the driver and his ball speed had increased from 175 to 180mph - I am curious to know who your source might be!

I would seriously doubt that a player of his calibre would lose 35 yards with the big dog. He's not like you and me, going and grabbing a driver off the rack and Nevada bobs. He has his choice of shafts in the market, the OEMs do not specify what shaft a player uses, and with that he will be able to get as close to the titleist product specs than most. He may need a different shaft from what he had in the titleist, but he will get close.

Agreed. These boys don't lose 35 yards off the tee. Unless he was testing her out on a fierce windy day at the port! Fair play to him on the sponsorship deal.

[Puckoon]

Rory promoting divisivness again.


Breaking down Oakley's lawsuit against Nike

Eye-wear giant, Oakley, filed suit in Federal Court in California on December 10, 2012, against Rory McIlroy for breach of contract. The suit alleges McIlroy breached the terms of his contract  with Oakley by refusing to accept Oakley's offer to match the clothing and eye-wear portion of McIlroy's Nike contract. Oakley claims the terms of their contract with McIlroy allowed them the right to match any deal McIlroy may sign with another company.

In court papers, Oakley estimates the value of the eye-wear and clothing portion of McIlroy's new deal with Nike at 30 percent of the total contract. The actual amount is left blank in the suit, but, assuming Nike is paying McIlroy $200 million dollars, Oakley would have offered somewhere between $60 to $70 million to retain his services.

Oakley is further alleging they are irreparably harmed by McIlroy's refusal to renew his contract with Oakley, and an injunction should be issued against McIlroy and Nike from contracting. The argument is that monetary damages cannot make Oakley whole for McIlroy's breach of contract. Oakley will likely cite to the "intrinsic" value of having the No. 1 player in the world sporting their gear, and there is no way to quantify the amount that is worth. If the injunction is successful, McIlroy would not be allowed to wear Nike gear or eyewear until the lawsuit is decided.

The issue will likely come down to a number of emails between Oakley and McIlroy's representatives. In September of 2012, an Oakley representative emailed McIlory's agent, saying, "We are out of the mix, no contract for 2013." McIlroy's attorneys will argue Oakley waived their right of first refusal by saying they were out of the picture allowing McIlroy to sign with whomever he wanted. Oakley is pointing to emails from October of 2012 from McIlroy's attorneys stating, "[McIlroy] would not be continuing his relationship with Oakley beyond Dec. 31″ and they "would not engage in any further correspondence on the matter of the right of first refusal."

Even if Oakley's lawsuit is successful, it is highly unlikely we will see Rory sporting Oakley gear again. Contract law is pretty clear; only in rare circumstances will a court order a person or company to specially perform under the terms of a contract. McIlroy may coff up some of his Nike money, but that means little. However, that doesn't mean Oakley won't attempt to argue this is one of those rare circumstances where a person of Rory's value should be bound to perform under the terms of his contract.

But it hasn't been all bad news for Oakley. The "O" has already taken steps to mitigate the loss of McIlroy by signing Zack Johnson and Bubba Watson for the 2013 season. Johnson, who already wore Oakley sunglasses, will now sport Oakley's golf apparel line as well.

Oakley's largest golfing market is America, and Bubba is more marketable to the average American than McIlroy will ever be. He has a goofy personality, is prolific on Twitter, doesn't mind a good cry and hits the ball ridiculously long. Plus, one would have to assume that Bubba and Zach Johnson signed for much less combined than the $60 to $70 million Oakley offered McIlroy. By the end of the year, we may be calling Bubba and Johnson a better signing for the money than McIlroy.

[Applesisapples]

I believe young Ruairi is being officially getting his 100 million dollar Nike sponsorship cheque in Abu Dhabi today so I would say this is pretty far from his mind!

$50,000 a day it works out, some dough all the same. He'd be ripping at the comments made here alright

Stephen Watson was asked the question this morning on Radio Ulster why Nike wanted Rory, the fool said because they were looking someone cool!! Rory at the minute is the best in the world at Golf, number one. But if you were thinking of someone cool, then Rory wouldn't be the first thing that would spring to mind, Watson is such a brown nose that he almost makes me sick listening to his commentry

He has set himself up as Rory's official journalist. The way he was gushing on radio Ulster I thought he was going to announce their civil partnership.

[Declan]

Nice company to be associated with alright


Indonesian factory workers claimed a small victory on Tuesday after news spread that suppliers for international sportswear behemouth Nike paid local military personnel to intimidate them into agreeing to below minimum wage pay.


Workers at the Nike shoe factory in the west Java city of Sukabumi will now be paid a higher minimum wage after reporting that they were bullied into signing a petition saying that they supported the factory's claim to be exempt from the recent wage increase.

After news of the harrassment leaked, the Jakarta Globe is reporting that the factory has revoked their application for exemption.

Three labor rights groups— US-based Educating for Justice (EFJ), the Alliance for Labor Unions in Indonesia (MPBI) and the Trade Union Rights Center—revealed on Monday the findings of a recent investigation into several Nike factories that were seeking wage exemptions.

ABC Australia reports:

In mobile phone footage of the factory, shown to ABC, a man standing over workers can be heard telling them, "you all have to sign it".

The woman who took the footage does not want to be named, but says she and other workers tried to reject the pay restriction.

"We got summoned by military personnel that the company hired to interrogate us and they intimidated us," she said.

"The first thing that scared me was his high tone of voice and he banged the table.

"And also he said that inside the factory there were a lot of military intelligence officers. That scared me."
Additionally, EFJ director Jim Keady reports that trade union officials at the factory were deceived into signing the agreement when a meeting's sign-in sheet was "fraudulently attached to a document that stated the signatories agree to the factory management's requests to be exempt from the new minimum wage."

"Nike unfortunately exercises imperialist values—values that run counter to the commitments to democracy and human rights," Keady said.

Indonesian workers won a 44 percent minimum wage raise to 2.2 million rupiah ($228) a month after millions of workers striked this fall over low pay and cost of living increases; the pay increase in Jakarta was supposed to be made effective January 1.

According to the Surya Tjandra, director of Indonesia's Trade Union Rights Center, at least six Nike-contracted factories had applied for an exemption to the recent pay increase, allowing employees to be paid $3.70 a day instead of $4.

"You have to provide financial conditions of the company in the last two years which show some not profit, and then you have to accept some consent from the workers directly, which is not that easy because for the workers, the new wages is [sic] actually better and fairer," he said.

Of Tuesday's news that the Sukabumi factory was retracting their bid for exemption, Keady said:

I'm very happy for the workers in the factory. They are getting the justice they deserve.

Now we have to move forward case by case, factory by factory and make sure that in all 40 [Indonesian] Nike factories, the 171,000 workers get what they deserve.
So far, the investigative team has only looked into shoe manufacturing plants, but they suspect the majority of Nike apparel factories will also be trying to avoid paying the new minimum wage.

[muppet]

Of those rare Irish people who rose to dizzy heights, with multiple success on the world stage, only Katie Taylor seems to have unanimous admiration in her own land. Of course this being Ireland that could change and I notice her frequent mention of her religion has annoyed some. At the other end of the spectrum Michelle Smith and Roy Keane's names still provoke arguments in most company.

Rory McIlroy is no Roy Keane and no one remotely suggests he is a Michelle Smith type character, yet he divides opinion in a similar way. It is ironic for someone who is viewed around the world as having conquered the golfing world, that he has to decide which side of a very localised golfing fence to stand on. Keane is a character who would completely ignore public opinion, much to the annoyance of many, while it appears Smith completely mislead the public, yet McIlroy has been as open and honest as possible. But I suspect he will be treated in much the same way they were, i.e. 'with him or agin him'.

Keane couldn't care less what the public thought and Smith is a recluse now, but McIlroy wont be able to follow either of those paths. Sponsors will make sure of that and anyway he doesn't seem to be that sort of person.

For the record I am a big fan. He is a one off that seems to be produced every now and then in that corner of this island, e.g. Best & Higgins.

[Rossfan]

I expect he hopes he doesn't end up like them two boyos.

[Hound]

Keane couldn't care less what the public thought and Smith is a recluse now, but McIlroy wont be able to follow either of those paths. Sponsors will make sure of that and anyway he doesn't seem to be that sort of person.

Just because she gets no media attention doesnt mean she's a recluse! Michelle continues to work as a barrister.

[Hardy]

Her poor parents! Infamy heaped on disgrace.

[sans pessimism]

Word on the fairways is that Rory is struggling with the new driver - up to 35 yards shorter than before

No problems with irons apparently  but the big dog is worrying

Heard different myself, apparently his ball speed has increased to over 180mph (with the titleist 913, he was around the 175mph mark).

People seem to forget that he changed his driver last year to the 913D3 prototype, certainly had no issues then and there is certainly no reason to think he'll struggle with Nike. It will be interesting to see how he gets on with the new ball though.

A lot shorter than Tiger today apparantly

[Megaman]

Word on the fairways is that Rory is struggling with the new driver - up to 35 yards shorter than before

No problems with irons apparently  but the big dog is worrying

Heard different myself, apparently his ball speed has increased to over 180mph (with the titleist 913, he was around the 175mph mark).

People seem to forget that he changed his driver last year to the 913D3 prototype, certainly had no issues then and there is certainly no reason to think he'll struggle with Nike. It will be interesting to see how he gets on with the new ball though.

A lot shorter than Tiger today apparantly

says their driving distance was both 289 and both hit 5 / 14 fairways.

[muppet]

Keane couldn't care less what the public thought and Smith is a recluse now, but McIlroy wont be able to follow either of those paths. Sponsors will make sure of that and anyway he doesn't seem to be that sort of person.

Just because she gets no media attention doesnt mean she's a recluse! Michelle continues to work as a barrister.

Bad choice of words, I meant she isn't in the public eye like Keane, McIlroy etc.