Tommy Fleetwood and other pros turn to eBay to solve equipment issues
Tommy Fleetwood has hailed eBay after his caddy tracked down and refurbished a cherished childhood putter for him to use on Tour.
Tommy Fleetwood has recently praised eBay for being an effective tool for aspiring golfers to purchase affordable golf equipment, but the famous online marketplace is not just reserved for your average Joe.
Major Champions and multiple-time Tour winners have regularly flocked to the site in order to buy their favourite discontinued or hard-to-find equipment.
Discussing how he uses eBay to stock out his academy in Dubai, Fleetwood also recounted a story about how his caddy, Ian Finnis, once found a cherished childhood putter of Fleetwood's on eBay and re-shafted and re-gripped it for him to use on Tour.
Discussing the find, Fleetwood said:
The Odyssey DFX 2-Ball Blade that Finnis had found and fixed went straight into Fleetwood's bag before he shot on opening round 65 at the European Masters in 2019.
Purchased for only £90, the putter was a perfect example of how buying secondhand can be an excellent way to save cash without compromising on quality.
However, when it comes to saving cash, there are some clubs that have rocketed in the opposite direction. One in particular that comes to mind is the Nike Vapor Fly Pro 3-iron, which has become a seasoned veteran in the bags of both Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.
Since Nike stopped making clubs in 2016, the famous 3-iron has dramatically increased in value, with owners realising they have a bit of a collector's item on their hands.
Discussing the club, Finau admitted he only has one backup available, and having had his last version for over six years, he's hoping it will be a while before he needs to spend the big bucks on eBay for a replacement.
With Koepka also being a massive fan of the blacked-out iron, though, we could one day see a bidding war of epic proportions between the two, to get their hands on one of the last remaining irons in circulation.
Daniel Berger is another eBay hunter, having admitted to spending time on the website tracking down sets of TaylorMade MC irons from 2011. He claims they are maybe the best irons ever made and has confessed to stockpiling them so he never has to change which model he games.
Talking about his online club hunting, Berger said:
Berger has missed the entirety of the 2023 season through injury but put the irons to good use when he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2021 and went on to be selected for the US Ryder Cup team that demolished Europe at Whistling Straights.
2011 US Amateur champion Kelly Kraft is also fond of an eBay purchase. When he rocked up to the Farmers Insurance Open this year, his bag was full of 2013 Callaway Legacy Black irons, that he had purchased from the website.
The rare irons were also famously used by Henrik Stenson when he won The Open in 2016, and are tough to come by because they were only released to limited markets outside of North America.
Designed by Roger Cleveland in collaboration with Callaway Japan, you can now pick up a set on eBay for as little as £325.
