August 19, 2010; Phoenix, Arizona: A victory at the British Open Championship and three solo second-place finishes at The Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship by PING professionals is unprecedented in the company’s 51-year history, PING Chairman and CEO John Solheim announced today.
“To win one major and have someone contend in the other three until the very end was history-making for our company,” said Solheim, who attended three of the four majors this year. “On top of that, it was four different players, which speaks to the quality and strength of our worldwide staff. Most of us at PING spent a lot of time in front of the TV and on the internet following the PING staff during this year’s majors. It was very exciting and beneficial for the PING brand.”
In addition to a 1-2 finish at the British Open by Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood, respectively, Westwood finished second at The Masters. Gregory Havret was runner-up at the U.S. Open and Bubba Watson lost a three-hole playoff at the PGA Championship.
Both the British Open and PGA Championship were won with PING® putters to give the company 52 major putter wins in its history.
Darrell Survey, which tracks television time for the major championships and the PGA Tour events, reports PING finished with more than six hours of brand exposure during the four major championships – second of any company and nearly twice the third-place brand.
The year has also seen the continued rise of Hunter Mahan and Watson on the PGA Tour. Mahan, with two victories, including the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, currently ranks 12th in the world. The long-hitting Watson earned his first career victory at the Travelers Championship in June and sits at 26th in the world rankings. Both earned spots on the Ryder Cup team and are in the top 10 of the FedEx Cup standings.
Led by Westwood, the third-ranked player in the world, PING’s European Tour staff continues to perform at the highest level with multiple wins this season, including two by Miguel Angel Jimenez. Oosthuizen broke through for his first European Tour victory at the Open de Andalucia de Golf before his dominating performance at St. Andrews. Rookie Rhys Davies won the Trophee Hassan II and has three second-place finishes for the year.
Contact:
Pete Samuels
(602) 687-5487
