TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company filed a lawsuit against Nickent Golf in regard to claims made in Nickent's recent print and television advertising, as well as on the company's website, concerning the purported success of Nickent drivers on tour.


TMaG alleges that Nickent's online, print and TV campaign was designed to lead consumers to believe that its 4DX driver is the #1 driver model on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour, while TMaG claims that  more professionals on the PGA Tour in 2008 have used TaylorMade drivers. TMaG reported that more players used drivers made by the company than by any other manufacturer, including Nickent (655 instances of use for TaylorMade drivers, compared to 18 for Nickent drivers), based on Darrell Survey data.  Likewise, more professionals on the 2008 PGA Tour have used TaylorMade's Burner driver than any models made by Nickent according to TMaG (156 instances of use for TaylorMade Burner drivers, compared to just 18 for Nickent drivers). 


“Finally, while Nickent attempts to base some of its broad claims on statistics from just two of the only four Nationwide Tour events played this year to date, the truth is that at every Nationwide Tour event played this year to date, more professionals played TaylorMade drivers than any other brand,” said TMaG in a press release.


“Occasionally fringe companies in the industry try to encroach on our territory as the #1 driver in golf by misrepresenting the facts,” said Bob Maggiore, TMaG's VP of marketing. “Being the #1 driver model at a Nationwide Tour event does not equate to being the No. 1 driver on tour. TaylorMade has been the #1 driver brand on the PGA Tour, as well as the Nationwide Tour, since 2001.  That more than qualifies us to question Nickent's logic and judgment in making claims that are misleading at best, and blatantly false at worst.”