DRIVER: TaylorMade R1 (9°) with an Oban Kiyoshi shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Adams Speedline Super LS (13°) with an Oban Kiyoshi shaft
HYBRIDS: TaylorMade Rocketballz Tour (16.5°) Rescue TP (19°) with Aldila NV shafts
IRONS: TaylorMade RocketBladez (4), Mizuno MP-60 (5-8); Mizuno MP-32 (9, PW) with Project X 6.0 shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (56°, 60°) with True Temper DG Spinner shafts
PUTTER: Bettinardi BB8 TOUR prototype
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x 

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams, Mizuno, TaylorMade and Titleist clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

When you practice as often as PGA Tour pros do, you've got to break up the monotony and have a little fun. In this video, provided by Adams Golf, newly-signed Robert Garrigus has a few laughs with Kenny Perry, and the two share strategies for specific shots on specific PGA Tour holes. Oh yeah, Garrigus also nails a few 260-yard hybrid shots.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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DRIVER: Callaway RAZR Fit (10.5°) with an Aldila RIP NV 65X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Callaway FT-i Tour (15°) with an Aldila RIP NV 65X shaft
HYBRID: Adams Idea Pro a12 Proto (20°) with an Aldila RIP Hybrid shaft
IRONS: Callaway RAZR X Forged (4-PW) with Royal Prescission Project X shafts
WEDGES: Callaway Forged (50°, 54°, 60°) with Royal Precision Project X shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey Backstryke Blade
BALL: Callaway HEX Black Tour

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Callaway and Odyssey gear and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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DRIVER: TaylorMade RocketBallz (8.5°) with a Fujikura Motore shaft 
FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade RocketBallz (15°, 19°) with Fujikura Motore shafts
HYBRID: Adams Idea Pro a12 (20°) with a Fujikura Motore shaft
IRONS: Ping S56 (4-PW) with Dynamic Golf Lite X100 shafts
WEDGES: Cobra Trusty Rusty (55°); Titleist Vokey Design SM4 (60°) with Dynamic Golf Lite X100 shafts
PUTTER: YES! Sandy-12 White 
BALL: Titleist Pro V1

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams, Ping, TaylorMade and Titleist gear and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Adams has been rolling out top-selling hybrid-iron sets for years. In new Idea Tech V4 Hybrid Irons, the stainless steel hybrids unquestionably steal the show. For starters, these sticks have re-engineered “velocity slots” in the crown and sole to boost face deflection at impact. The slots extend through the head, from crown to sole, while TPU badges hide the openings. In addition, a new heat treatment process strengthens high stress areas in the head and allows for a thinner clubface.

These updates combine to generate significantly faster ball speeds than standard hybrids—3% faster than the Idea Tech V3 Hybrid equates to 13 yards more carry distance—while tungsten weights in the heel and toe contribute to higher launch and more forgiveness.

According to Adams, the Idea Tech V4 hybrid produces similar “Characteristic Time” (CT) numbers to a driver. (CT is the USGA’s measurement to determine the springiness of a clubface.) That’s no easy feat considering driver heads and clubfaces are so much larger than hybrids.

Positioned as “game-improvement” sticks, the Idea Tech V4 Hybrid Irons consist of three hybrids (3-5) plus forged mid- and short irons (6-PW) made from 8620-carbon steel. A more forgiving, all-hybrid set features three hybrids (4-6) and hollow-headed stainless steel irons (7-GW).

Both set makeups will sell for $799 with True Temper’s Performance Step steel shaft, or $899 with Mitsubishi Rayon’s Bassara graphite shaft. Clubs will be at retail beginning September 26. -- Rob Sauerhaft

DRIVER:Titleist 910D2 (7.5°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 63X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD:TaylorMade Burner (13°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 63X shaft
HYBRID:Adams Idea Super XTD (17°) with a with a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage shaft
IRONS:Titleist 712 AP2 (4), 690MB (5-9) with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts
WEDGES:Titleist Vokey Design SM4 (49°, 53°, 57°, 60°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Select GoLo
BALL:Titleist Pro V1x

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about TaylorMade clubs, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

Photos: See unique details from the pros' bags

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(Photo by David Dusek)

DRIVER: Cleveland Classic 290 (9°) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 56X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Cleveland Launcher FL (14°) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 72X shaft
HYBRIDS: Adams Idea Pro a12 (17°) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 83X shaft; Adams idea a7 (22°) with a Matrix Ozik Altus X shaft
IRONS: Srixon Z-TX II (4-9) with Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shafts
WEDGES: Cleveland 588 Forged (48°, 52°, 58°) with Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot #7
BALL: Srixon Z-Star XV Pure White

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams, Cleveland, Odyssey, Srixon clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

(Photo by David Dusek)

DRIVER: TaylorMade R11 (9°) with a Matrix Ozik shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: Tour Edge Exotics CB4 (13°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 73X shaft
HYBRID: Adams Idea a12 Proto (20°) with a NVentix Nunchuk GH 2660 shaft
IRONS: Bridgestone J40 Cavity Back (4-PW) Aerotech SteelFiber i95 Constant Weight shafts
WEDGES: Bridgestone J40 (52°, 56°) with a  True Temper X100 shafts; Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (60°) with True Temper DG Spinner shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot XG Rossie
BALL: Bridgestone Tour B330 

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Bridgestone, Odyssey and TaylorMade, and Titleist clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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(Photo by David Dusek)

Adams’ latest irons for better players, the Idea CMB, are now hitting pro shop shelves. Forged from 1025 carbon steel and featuring a Nickel chrome finish, the CMBs are designed to provide the feel and feedback that pros and low-handicap amateurs want, while still offering a touch of forgiveness on mis-hits.

In the playing position, the toplines of the CMBs are thin and there is minimal offset, which should allow accomplished golfers to shape shots in either direction with ease.  

But it's what you can't see -- a pair of tungsten weights positioned low in the toe area of each club -- that makes the CMB more forgiving. The weights, which are hidden under a piece of steel that is plasma-welded to the head, help to pull the sweet spot toward the center of the hitting area. Combined with a subtle cavity back design, this should make the CMB irons less punishing on off-center hits.

In another nod to the preferences of better players, Adams has also added multiple bevels to the sole of the CMB irons to help them enter and exit the turf more easily. 

The standard eight-club set of Idea CMB irons (4-GW) will retail for about $1099 with KBS C-Taper steel shafts and $1,199 with Matrix Ozik Program 8.1 graphite shafts. Several custom shaft options are available, but sorry lefties, the CMBs are currently being made for right-handed players only.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adamsclubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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DRIVER: Cleveland Classic 290 (9°) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 56X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Cleveland Launcher FL (14°) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 72X shaft
HYBRIDS: Adams Idea Pro a12 (17°) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 83X shaft; Adams idea a7 (22°) with a Matrix Ozik Altus X shaft
IRONS: Srixon Z-TX II (4-9) with Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shafts
WEDGES: Cleveland 588 Forged (48°, 52°, 58°) with Royal Precision Project X 6.5 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot #7
BALL: Stixon Z-Star XV Pure White

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams, Cleveland, Odyssey, Srixon clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

(Photo by Fred Vuich/SI)

DRIVER: Cobra AMP (9.5°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 73X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Ping i20 (15°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana X shaft
HYBRID: Adams Idea Pro Black (20°) with a Matrix OZIK HM2 Hybrid shaft
IRONS: Cobra AMP Pro Prototype Blades (4-9) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (48°, 50°, 55°, 59°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Select GoLo
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Cobra, Adams and Titleist clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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DRIVER: Adams Speedline Fast12 LS (7.5°) with a Fujikura Motore Speeder 6.2 X shaft
HYBRIDS: Adams Idea Super XTD (15°, 17°) with Matrix Radix HD8 X shafts; Idea Pro a12 (20°) with a Fujikura Speeder X shaft
IRONS: Adams Idea MB2 (4-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Lite X100 shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM4 (54°, 60°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts
PUTTER: Odyssey ProType 2 
BALL: Titleist Pro V1 

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams gear and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

(Photo by David Walberg/SI)

The parent company of TaylorMade-adidas, the adidas Group, announced on Monday morning that it has agreed to aquire all of the outstanding shares of Adams Golf at $10.80 per share. The total price for the purchase of the Plano, Texas, company will be approximately $70 million.

In a statement, Herbert Hainer, CEO of the adidas Group, said, "This acquisition reflects our commitment to continued growth in the golf category. The proposed combination of Adams Golf and TaylorMade-adidas Golf brings together two highly complementary sets of brands, combining Adams' focus on game-improvement as well as senior and women golfers with TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s focus on the younger and the low-to-mid handicap golfer."

Adams is best known to golfers as one of the leading brands of hybrid golf clubs and hybrid-iron sets designed for higher-handicap golfers.

According to the statement released by TaylorMade, the company plans to keep Adams in its current Texas headquarters.

In the statement, Barney Adams, interim CEO of Adams, said, "This merger provides strong opportunities for our employees, suppliers and partners. The Adams Golf brand will fit nicely into TaylorMade-adidas Golf's stable of brands, and together we will be able to increase our reach and better serve our customers by leveraging a wider set of resources."

"We are very excited to team up with Adams Golf, whose management team we have respected for many years," commented Mark King, president and CEO of TaylorMade-adidas. "Our mission is to be the best golf company in the world across all geographies, products and customer demographics, and adding Adams Golf is another important step in achieving that goal."

The board of directors of Adams has unanimously approved the transaction, but TaylorMade said the deal is subject to regulatory approval and hopes to have it completed by mid-2012.

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams and TaylorMade gear, and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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SAN DIEGO — Rickie Fowler was at Torrey Pines Golf Course on Tuesday to help EA Sports promote the March release of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour '13 video game. Fowler joins Tiger on the game's box this year.

After he was done answering questions about the game, I had a chance to chat with Rickie about his recent equipment changes. Just a day before, Cobra Golf announced that Fowler had officially become a member of the company's tour staff, released several photos of the 23-year-old with his new Cobra gear and showcased a 30-second commercial featuring Fowler hitting a new Cobra AMP driver and crushing oranges.

Fowler has been wearing Puma footwear and apparel for a while, so in March 2010, when Acushnet sold Cobra Golf to Puma, some people, including myself, wondered if Fowler might leave Titleist and strike a deal with Cobra and become a "head to toe" player for a single company.

Fowler sent me, and a few others, the following tweet, in response:

@DavidDusek - I'm a Titleist guy

— Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowlerPGA) March 10, 2010

But Fowler's contract with Titleist ended at the end of 2011. While he will still be playing Titleist's Pro V1 X golf ball, a Scotty Cameron putter and Vokey wedges (at least in the foreseeable future), plus an Adams hybrid, the rest of Fowler's gear is all Cobra now. Click here to see a gallery of Fowler's equipment.

"I really started working on things during the last few weeks of December," he told me. "I think they did a very good job preparing themselves and getting everything ready for testing. They did a very good job with the irons getting them similar and comparable to the ones I was playing before [Titleist 712 MB] so there really wasn't a big transition there. They felt the same, flew the same ... so it was basically like putting a new set of what I already had in the bag."

Fowler says that he hits his new irons about the same distance he hit his Titleists, maybe just a touch farther. "Some of the guys back home at Medalist [Fowler's home course in Hobe Sound, Fla.] were complaining about some of the spots where I was hitting it, but I wouldn't say it was anything mind blowing." 

Fowler says replacing his Titleist 910D3 driver was a little more challenging, but he's comfortable with his new AMP driver.

"Obviously they tried to put together something that was as close to the specs as before," he said. "The shaft, weight, the swing weight ... everything like that. It just took a few drivers to get the right setup with the loft and everything, and I've actually been hitting it really well, so hopefully this week I'll be able to pump a few out there."

Below is a complete list of the clubs currently in Fowler's bag at Torrey Pines and you can click here to see a gallery of Fowler's gear:

DRIVER: Cobra AMP (8.5°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 73X shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Cobra AMP (13°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana 'Ahina 80X shaft
HYBRID: Adams Idea Pro Black (20°) with a Matrix OZIK HM2 Hybrid shaft
IRONS: Cobra AMP Pro Prototype Blades (4-9) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
WEDGE: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (48°, 50°, 55°, 59°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Blackout prototype
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Cobra, Adams and Titleist clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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DRIVER: TaylorMade R11S (8°) with an Aldila RIP NV 65 shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade Burner SuperFast 2.0 (13.5°) with an Aldila NV 75 shaft
HYBRID: Adams Idea Pro a12 Proto G (18°) with a Graphite Design Tour AD UT 85 shaft
IRONS: Titleist 712CB (3-9) with Nippon NS Pro shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (48°, 54°, 60°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Mid Slant prototype
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

See-Try-Buy: Learn more about Adams, TaylorMade and Titleist clubs and schedule your fitting with GolfTEC or Golfsmith.

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(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)