TaylorMade new king of wood sales

There's a new king of metal woods sales. Or at least there will be when adidas-Salomon reports the 2002 sales results of its golf subsidiary, TaylorMade-adidas Golf, next month. TMaG's metal woods sales in 2002 increased 24 percent to 347 million euro, which at the Feb. 12 conversion rate amounts to $372 million, sources tell PGA.com.

Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY), TMaG's arch-rival and Carlsbad, Calif., neighbor, last week reported metal woods sales of $310 million -- the first time in several years Callaway has not been the world's top-selling metal woods company in terms of dollars.

Callaway Golf, whose metal woods sales dropped 21 percent in '02, reported overall sales in '02 at $792 million. TMaG President Mark King said last fall that he expected his company to do approximately $310 million in metal woods sales in '02 and $650 million in overall sales.

Given that TMaG's metal woods sales in '02 are expected to surpass King's $310 million prediction, it also probably means that TMaG's overall '02 sales could surpass $650 million and get closer to the $700 million mark -- meaning the gap between the world's second and third largest golf companies is closing significantly.

The Acushnet Company (Titleist, FootJoy, Cobra, Pinnacle) is the world's largest golf equipment company. Acushnet last month became the first golf equipment to reach $1 billion in sales, more than half of which comes from golf ball sales.