A WELL-OILED MACHINE

Srixon is burning rubber in the ball and club space. Here's the story behind the brand's drive up the equipment leaderboard.

- EVAN ROTHMAN

SRIXON. Looks like a useful word in Scrabble—except no proper nouns are allowed, and most golfers at least reasonably conversant in equipment knowit as the name of a well-regarded, if not always well-understood, brand. You don’t count nine major champions among your Tour endorsers—for those keeping score at home: Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell, Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els, Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Inbee Park—unless you produce seriously high-quality clubs, balls and accessories.

But who, exactly, is Srixon?

Srixon is a Japanese sports equipment brand owned by Sumitomo Rubber Industries under the umbrella of subsidiary SRI Sports Limited. Hence the Sri; the x not only marks the spot of connection but also means unlimited”; and the on stands for onward.”) Srixon also makes tennis rackets, even if the odds of finding one in a U.S. pro shop are about even with spotting a sleeve of balata balls for sale, though fans of Poland’s former World No. 2 tennis star Agnieszka Radwanska or Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas have seen them in action.