SCHAUMBURG, Illinois (September 16, 2010) – Nippon Shaft recorded victories on the Champions and LPGA Tours Sunday (Sept. 12) and finished runner up in the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup playoff event. The company also posted a victory on the Duramed Futures Tour.
All four players used Nippon Shaft’s steel shafts in their irons.
It was the first Champions Tour victory both for Nippon Shaft and for the 51-year-old winner of the New Songdo Championship in Incheon, South Korea, not far from Seoul. The Kentucky resident and winner of the 1991 Western Open secured the win on the first hole of a sudden death playoff at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea following a final round 66. He shot 12-under par 202 over 54 holes leading up to the playoff.
The LPGA Tour winner used Nippon’s N.S. Pro 950GH steel shafts in her irons as she overcame a three-shot deficit to win the P&G NW Arkansas Championship presented by Walmart. Her final round 6-under par 65 included five birdies on the back nine, the last coming on No. 18 to give her a one-stroke victory. It was her fifth LPGA Tour victory, three of which have been majors. She won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the Ricoh Women’s British Open earlier this season.
The runner up at the BMW Championship at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club outside Chicago fired four rounds of 2-under par 69 to finish at 8-under par, one stroke out of forcing a playoff. The seventh-ranked player in the world ranked No. 1 in greens in regulation for the week at 73.6 percent and recorded 17 birdies, fifth best among all 70 contestants in the FedEx Cup playoff event.
The winner of the Duramed Futures Tour’s Price Chopper Tour Championship shot a 5-under par 208 using N.S. Pro 950GH steel shafts in her irons. She also won the overall money title on the women’s developmental tour.
“Nippon Shaft congratulates all four players on all four tours on their fine performances and reaffirms its commitment to manufacture the world’s best shafts for the world’s most elite players,” said Hiroyuki Fukuda, head of sales and marketing for Nippon Shaft. “Nippon Shaft is proud to have its first victory on the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour and we look forward to having many more.”
Nippon Shaft has more than 100 professional victories worldwide. Based in Yokahama, Japan, Nippon Shaft is the No. 1-selling steel shaft in Asia, where it controls 80 percent of the golf shaft market. In North America, Nippon Shaft is the No. 2-selling steel shaft and is growing.
Nippon Shaft is a subsidiary of privately-held NHK Spring Co. LTD, a Japanese automobile parts manufacturer. Nippon Shaft’s North American headquarters is in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Contact:
Barry Cronin
Cronin Communications, Inc.
847-698-1801 (office)
847-867-3032 (mobile)
bcronin@cronincommunications.com
