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Bridgestone Makes A Key Manufacturing Move

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Bridgestone Makes A Key Manufacturing Move

Bye bye Bridgestone.

Shocking news that Bridgestone is closing its golf ball plant and test facility in Georgia after 36 years and shifting its manufacturing to Japan on June 30. The bulk of Bridgestone balls are manufactured in Japan anyway.

As one of the top five golf ball manufacturing companies, Bridgestone got a huge lift when Tiger Woods became its top player. Chris Gotterup (Bridgestone Tour B X) is its top PGA Tour ambassador now.

It will be interesting to see if Bridgestone makes a huge marketing push to tag along to the current popularity of Japanese men's and women's golf.

BYE BYE LIV: The imminent demise of LIV Golf at the end of this year, barring some infusion of money from a new investor, has the golf world buzzing.

It was hard to believe this breakaway tour with seemingly unlimited money would be able to sustain itself forever.

The politics of the Middle East and the effects on the economy are expected to put the final nail in the coffin of LIV Golf.

Like many professional leagues trying to literally buy their way into sports – the American Football League, the American Basketball Association, the World Hockey Association to name three – it is hard to survive against the established leagues or hope to somehow be absorbed into it.

LIV Golf benefitted by purloining some star golfers, who will surely be headed back to the PGA Tour, but it will be interesting to see how that is implemented. Will it be simply like the financial penalties imposed on Brooks Koepka (Srixon Z-Star Diamond)?

Patrick Reed (Titleist Pro V1x) will be coming back in the fall after not renewing his LIV Golf contract and is now playing as a free agent on the European Tour.

But really this only matters to Jon Rahm (Callaway Chrome Tour X) and Bryson DeChambeau (Titleist Pro V1x), the big stars still remaining.

RIDING HIGH ON THE RYDER CUP: Once again, the Ryder Cup is proving to be a useful tool for determining who wins the weekly tournaments this season on the PGA Tour.

Cameron Young (Titleist Pro V1x) won the Cadillac Championship last week to record his second tournament win of the season and the third since his breakthrough victory in the Wyndham Championship last July.

He really stamped himself as a major player in the Ryder Cup and has carried that form into this year.

The fact that Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) placed second is hardly a surprise. He's been doing a lot of that this season, including in his last three tournaments. Imagine how dominant he'd be if he played four solid rounds? But if he did, he wouldn't have seconditis, and that would be rather boring.

J.J. Spaun (Srixon Z-Star Diamond), also a Ryder Cup rookie last year, has also won this year.

Another 2025 Ryder Cup rookie, Ben Griffin (Maxfli Tour X), hasn't won this year, but placed third in the Cadillac Championship. He's due to win again.

Meanwhile, the 2025 European team has three winners this year: Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5), Justin Rose (Titleist Pro V1x) and Matt Fitzpatrick (Titleist Pro V1x).

WOAH NELLY AGAIN: Now that she's ranked number one in official women's golf rankings, Nelly Korda (TaylorMade TP5x) is showing no signs of letting go of that distinction. With her second win in as many weeks, Korda is showing the same form as she did in 2025.
Perry Lefko
Perry Lefko
Perry Lefko is an award-winning writer who has published nine books, three of them bestsellers. He has been involved in sports writing for more than 35 years and has interviewed many superstar athletes. He lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and enjoys watching golf and playing it.

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