Milestone Reached with 6-Win Week Across Worldwide Professional Tours.
Fairhaven, MA (July 16, 2007) – The Titleist Pro V1 continues to set the high performance standard by which all other golf balls are measured. History was made when Toru Taniguchi captured the Sega Sammy Cup in Japan, marking the 1,000th win for the Pro V1 across the worldwide professional tours since its introduction in October 2000. In fact, more than 100,000 players have placed their trust in the Pro V1 since its Tour debut, including additional winners on the PGA, PGA European, Champions, Nationwide and Canadian Tours this week.
PRO V1 BY THE NUMBERS ON THE WORLDWIDE PROFESSIONAL TOURS:
– First win was on October 15, 2000, by Billy Andrade at the Invensys Classic in Las Vegas when he fired five consecutive rounds in the 60’s the first week he put it in play.
– With six more wins this week, a total of 1,005 victories have been posted across the worldwide professional tours since its introduction, compared to 261 by the nearest competitor. This year, Pro V1 and Pro V1x players have combined for 109 wins, compared to 15 for the nearest competitor.
– Vijay Singh has more overall (24) and PGA TOUR (22) wins with the Pro V1 than any other player.
– A Pro V1 player has won every TOUR Championship since the golf ball’s introduction in 2000.
– Pro V1 victory breakdown by Tour:
PGA (197), PGA European (164), Nationwide (147), Champions (137), LPGA (100), Others (260*).
* – Asian, Australasian, Canada, Japan, South African Tours.
– The Pro V1 has been teed up by more than 110,000 players and earned more than $1.5 billion in prize money.
TITLEIST HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING JULY 15, 2007:
PGA: New Pro V1x player Jonathan Byrd birdied three of the last five holes en route to a final round 5-under 66 and a one-shot victory at the John Deere Classic. Titleist ambassador Troy Matteson and fellow New Pro V1 player Nathan Green finished in a tie for third, three strokes back. In fact, Byrd topped a leaderboard that included eight Titleist golf ball loyalists among the 10 players who finished Top 6 and ties. It was the third career PGA TOUR victory for Byrd, who finished the tournament at 18-under 266 and qualified for this week’s British Open. Byrd’s win marks the 18th by Titleist golf ball players on the 2007 PGA TOUR, three times the nearest competitor with 6.
Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice at the John Deere Classic with 119 (76%) players relying upon the Pro V1 or Pro V1x, nearly 10 times the nearest competitor with 12. Titleist was also the most played iron (40), wedge (158) and putter (53) at the event.
The champion, who also relied upon Vokey Design sand (58) and lob (60) wedges and a Scotty Cameron by Titleist Newport Tour 350 putter, finished T4 in Putts Per Round (27.0), 7th in Putts Per Greens in Regulation (1.630) and T14 in Sand Saves (T14).
PGA EUROPEAN: Playing the New Pro V1x golf ball, Gregory Havret parred the 18th hole twice – once to tie in regulation and force a playoff, and a second time to win the The Barclays Scottish Open on the first hole of sudden death. Havret, who earned a spot in this week’s Open Championship with his second career PGA European Tour victory, closed with a final round 3-under 68 to finish tied with World No. 2 at 14-under 270. Pro V1x players Luke Donald, Richard Sterne, Pelle Edberg and Louis Oosthuizen tied for fourth at 11-under. Havret’s win marks the 20th by Titleist golf ball players on the 2007 PGA European Tour, five times the nearest competitor with 4.
Titleist was the golf ball of choice at the Scottish Open with 98 (63%) players, more than four times the nearest competitor with 24.
CHAMPIONS: R.W. Eaks shot a final round 6-under 66 with his New Pro V1x golf ball to earn his first victory on the Champions Tour at the inaugural Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. Eaks, who finished third or better in Greens in Regulation, Putts per GIR, Sand Saves and Eagles, concluded the week with a 17-under 199 total, three shots clear of Tour rookie Bruce Vaughan (New Pro V1x). The victory is the 13th for Titleist golf ball players on this year’s Champions Tour, more than four times the nearest competitor with 3.
Titleist was most played golf ball at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open with 57 players (73%), more than four times the nearest competitor with 13.
NATIONWIDE: The winner of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational made history by becoming the first amateur to capture a Nationwide Tour title. The New Pro V1x player closed with a final round 2-under 69 to win the event by two shots. The champion, who will be a senior at Brigham Young University in the fall, finished with a 6-under 278 total, two shots clear of two players, including New Pro V1 loyalist Chad Collins. The victory is the 11th for Titleist golf ball players on this year’s Nationwide Tour, more than all other golf balls combined.
Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational with 113 players (79%), more than 10 times the nearest competitor with 11. Titleist was also trusted by more players than any other brand in the iron (47), wedge (128) and putter (60) categories.
JAPAN: Toru Taniguchi earned his second consecutive win on the Japan Golf Tour when he posted a three-shot victory over Titleist ambassador Prom Meesawat at the Nagashima Shigeo Sega Sammy Cup. Taniguchi, who captured the Woodone Open Hiroshima in a playoff last week, posted a final round 4-under 68 to finish at 12-under 276. Meesawat made a final round charge with four birdies over the last five holes to finish with a 7-under 65.
Taniguchi’s win marked the official 1,000th all-time win for Pro V1 players since its Tour introduction in October 2000. The new Pro V1x player led wire-to-wire in the win.
Titleist was the golf ball of choice at the Sega Sammy Cup with 58 players, more than twice the nearest competitor with 24.
CANADA: It was a Titleist 1-2 finish in Canada, as Mike Mezei (New Pro V1) birdied the 17th hole en route to a final round 3-under 68 to earn his first Canadian Tour triumph at the Free Press Manitoba Classic. Mezei finished at 13-under 271, one shot better than Derek Gillespie (New Pro V1x), who made a final-day charge with a 65.
DIRECT FROM THE TOUR: To view exclusive round-by-round interviews with Titleist players from the John Deere Classic, including winner Jonathan Byrd, and from every PGA TOUR event, please visit our Direct from the Tour feature online at: http://titleist.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1
TITLEIST TOUR BLOG: Find out what’s going on inside the ropes at every PGA TOUR event, or if you would like to pose questions to the Titleist Tour Leadership staff, please visit the Titleist Tour Blog at: http://www.titleisttourblog.com/
TITLEIST GOLF CLUB LEADERBOARD: To learn about Titleist’s golf club success on the PGA Tour, the PGA Professional National Championship and at major amateur events, visit the Titleist Golf Club leaderboard at: http://titleist.com/leaderboard/default.asp
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