SuperStroke staff player Matt Bettencourt, a 34-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour, will play in his first ever major championship this week at the 109th US Open Championship.
After a career best performance at Jack Nicklaus’ The Memorial Tournament, Bettencourt stayed in Ohio to try and qualify for the US Open. He shot a 71 on the first 18 holes of qualifying, just one day after his magical run at Muirfield Village. He followed that round up with a course record 64 at Brookside Country Club, the harder of the two courses, qualifying for the US Open at 9-under par.
“The new SuperStroke Lite grip allowed me to excel on the greens with confidence at Muirfield Village and at the sectional qualifier,” said Bettencourt. “I like everything about this new grip! The texture is awesome and the weight is perfect.”
The all-white prototype 85-gram slip-on grip was given to Bettencourt for testing at the Byron Nelson after his clubs were stolen from the trunk of his car at the event.
“I came downstairs from my hotel room, stuck the clubs in the courtesy car, went and had breakfast. Somebody in that 20-minute stretch had broken a window, taken my clubs… It’s actually a blessing in disguise.”
Bettencourt ended up finishing T5th at the Memorial, the best finish of his career on the PGA Tour. He ranked 8th in Putts Per GIR and 14th in Putts Per Round en route to earning $219,000.
With the heavy amount of TV time garnered from leading the Memorial going into the last round, Bettencourt also helped Tiger Shark Golf’s new SuperStroke putter grip become one of the most talked about products of the weekend.
“Look at the size of that grip!” commented CBS announcer Jim Nantz, in reaction to Bettencourt’s new all-white grip that measures 1.67 inches in diameter, over three times larger than a standard putter grip.
“We made Matt a special all-white tour version of our new prototype slip-on grip because we really wanted it to stand out on TV,” said Tiger Shark President Dean Dingman. “It’s the only one of its kind right now. We made it all white to see if it would be more visible, and we sure got our answer to that question this weekend!”
The 85-gram slip-on version that Bettencourt will be playing at Bethpage Black will be available later this summer.
“We’ve been flooded with calls and emails from golf fans and retailers who saw the new grip at the Memorial,” said Tiger Shark Executive Vice President of Sales Ian Zubkoff. “We are working feverishly to infuse this new design into the market place. We are expecting to be able to deliver the new grip to the public by August 15. ”
The 34-year-old Bettencourt turned pro in 2002 and bounced between the Nationwide Tour, Canadian Tour and Tarheel Tour searching for a breakthrough in his game. He found his answer when he started using a SuperStroke grip last season on the Nationwide Tour. He was ranked 90th on the money list when he made the switch and went on to finish the year with two victories and three Top 10 finishes. His victory at the Nationwide Tour Championship propelled him to end the year #1 on the final official money list.
“I went from around 150 to the top 50 in putting,” said Bettencourt. “It’s made all the difference in the world for me. It’s taken my hands out of it. I got really back and forth with the belly putter. But with this SuperStroke Grip, it’s been fantastic. It really changed my game.”
More About SuperStroke
The large surface area of SuperStroke brings more of the grip into contact with the hands, inhibiting breakdown of the wrists. Scientific tests have shown that the SuperStroke requires up to 32% less grip tension and represents a significant improvement over conventional putter grips. The Super Stroke’s size encourages use of a “soft hands” technique and ensures a smooth and fluid putting stroke. To learn more about SuperStroke or to order a grip directly, please visit www.superstrokegrip.com
More About Tiger Shark Golf
With the acquisition of SuperStroke grips in January of 2009, Tiger Shark became the predominant oversized putter grip company in golf. In addition to selling over a million of their original UltraTac oversized putter grips, Tiger Shark now owns the winningest jumbo putter grip on the PGA Tour. Over 40 professional golfers from the PGA Tours have put one of their jumbo putter grips in play.
Tiger Shark offers a variety of golf equipment with a specialty in drivers, women’s clubs, wedges, hybrids and package sets. Tiger Shark has more than 1,500 accounts across the U.S. including Golf Galaxy, Edwin Watts, Golfsmith, Roger Dunn, Pro Golf, Nevada Bobs, PGA Tour Superstores, Golf Headquarters and Golfers Warehouse. For more information about Tiger Shark Golf, call 800-667-0181.
Other Notes
• When Bettencourt had qualified for the Open, the first congratulatory message was from his close friend Rocco Mediate. The two played three days together at Quail Hollow, and “hit it off instantly,” Bettencourt said. “Rocco and I have exactly the same personality; we’re basically like brothers now.”
• Fellow SuperStroke staff player KJ Choi finished T15 and was T19th in Putts Per Round with his SuperStroke Proline grip at the Memorial. With three oversized putter grips in play at the event, Tiger Shark was the #1 most played jumbo putter grip company at the Memorial. Tiger Shark’s other jumbo grip, a mid oversized grip called the UltraTac, was a winner two weeks ago at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Contact:
Jon Claffey
jonclaffey@yahoo.com
