Padraig Harrington becomes first player to win with new Titleist Pro V1x prototype golf ball. Rocco Mediate eagles way to victory at Frys.com Open playing Pro V1x
Fairhaven, MA (October 18, 2010) – Padraig Harrington was filming a 2011 Titleist golf ball commercial at St. Andrews in Scotland prior to the Dunhill Links Championship two weeks ago when he asked if a few dozen of the new Pro V1x prototype golf balls that he was hitting could be delivered to his hotel. He said he would be leaving for Asia after the Dunhill and wanted to give them a try. The rest is history. Playing the golf ball for the first time in competition, Harrington captured the Asian Tour’s Iskandor Johor Open in Malaysia, becoming the first player to win with the new 2011 prototype. Two weeks ago, Titleist began the customary seeding process of the new Pro V1x and companion Pro V1 with tour players at the PGA TOUR’s McGladrey Classic. It is at venues such as the worldwide professional tours where Titleist’s new high performance golf balls and equipment are validated by the world’s most discernible players prior to going to market.
Harrington closed with a 3-under 69 for a 20-under total of 268 and a three-shot victory over 19-year old Titleist Brand Ambassador Noh Seung Yul of South Korea. One of several Titleist “young guns” around the world, Noh posted a final round 7-under 65 to finish in solo 2nd. Noh’s bag included the Pro V1x golf ball, new 910D3 driver, 909F3 fairway metal, AP2 irons, Vokey Design wedges and Scotty Cameron California Del Mar putter. With the runner-up finish, Noh extends his Asian Tour Order of Merit lead and positions himself on track to be the youngest ever to win the Asian Tour’s OOM.
WORLDWIDE WINS: Titleist’s seven-win week advances its 2010 golf ball victory count to 122, over 100 more than its nearest competitor with 21. Below are the weekly highlights:
PGA TOUR: Rocco Mediate played the Pro V1x golf ball and eagled his way to victory at the Frys.com Open, his first PGA TOUR win since 2002. The winner, who also played AP2 irons (4-9), Vokey Design approach (52) and lob (58) wedges and a Scotty Cameron 009 prototype putter, holed out for eagle for the fourth straight day, hitting a pitching wedge from 116 yards into the cup on the par-4 17th en route to a one-stroke win. He had a hole-in-one on the par-3 3rd hole on Thursday, holed out from 160 yards Friday on the par-4 4th, and holed out from 111 yards Saturday on the par-5 15th.
– Titleist Brand Ambassador Bo Van Pelt, who tied for 2nd with Alex Prugh (Pro V1x), posted his second consecutive top 6 finish in the two weeks he has been playing the new Pro V1 prototype golf ball. Van Pelt, who switched his golf ball and entire bag to Titleist at the beginning of the year, advanced to No. 13 on the PGA Tour Money List and No. 38 in the Official World Golf Ranking with his performance, both career bests. Van Pelt began the year ranked No. 157 in the world. In addition to the new golf ball, Van Pelt’s bag includes the 909D2 driver, new 910Fd fairway metal, new 910H hybrid, CB and MB irons, and Vokey Design approach, sand and lob wedges.
– Titleist Brand Ambassador Rickie Fowler (Pro V1x, 909D2 driver, new 910F fairway metal, MB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron prototype putter) finished alone in fourth. He advanced to No. 24 on the 2010 PGA TOUR Money List and is currently No. 31 in the World Rankings after starting the year at No. 251.
– Titleist was the golf ball of choice at the event with 88 players, including 11 new Pro V1 and 9 new Pro V1x prototypes.
– Of the 12 players who finished tied for 6th place or better, nine trusted a Titleist golf ball, including each of the Top 5.
– Titleist also was first in iron sets (35); sand,lob and approach wedges (102); and putters (57).
– Titleist was second in the driver category with 29, including 21 new 910D2 or 910D3 drivers in play.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Richard Green (Pro V1x) won the Portugal Masters by two shots, closing with a 65, including 11 birdies.
– The winner, who finished at 18-under 270, also played 690 MB irons and Vokey Design wedges.
– Four players tied for 2nd, including Titleist Brand Ambassador Robert Karlsson (Pro V1x, new 910D3 driver, new 910 fairway metals, MB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron putter) and Joost Luiten (Pro V1).
LPGA TOUR: It was a Titleist 1-2 finish at the CVS Pharmacy LPGA Challenge as Beatriz Recari (Pro V1) won her first career tournament, one shot in front of fellow rookie Gwladys Nocera (Pro V1x).
– Tied for 3rd were Michele Redman and Karine Icher, followed by Cristie Kerr and Wendy Ward. All Pro V1 loyalists.
NATIONWIDE TOUR: Jason Gore (Pro V1x) set a Nationwide Tour record when he won the Miccosukee Championship by four shots. The victory was the seventh of his career, more than any other in the Tour’s 21-year history.
– Titleist also was first in iron sets (37); sand,lob and approach wedges (122) and putters (59).
– Titleist was second in drivers (35), including 23 new 910 drivers; and fairway metals (32), including 19 new 910 models.
JAPAN TOUR: Titleist Brand Ambassador Kyung-tae Kim (Pro V1x, 909D3 driver, 909H hybrid, ZB and ZM irons, and Vokey Design wedges) won his second Japan Tour tournament this season at the Japan Open Golf Championship.
SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR: Titleist Brand Ambassador, rookie Justin Harding (Pro V1x, 909D3 driver, 909F2 fairway, 909H hybrid, CB irons, Vokey Design Wedges, Scotty Cameron putter) claimed his first title at the Vodacom Business Origins.
KOREAN TOUR: DaeSub Kim (Pro V1) posted a wire-to-wire victory at the Pine Beach Open, winning by two shots over DoHoon Kim (Pro V1, 909D3 driver, 909F3 fairway metal, 909H hybrid, MB irons, Vokey Design wedges).
TITLEIST TOUR BLOG: http://titleistblog.com/
FOLLOW TITLEIST ON TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/titleist
JOIN TITLEIST ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/titleist
Titleist and FootJoy comprise the major golf brands of the Acushnet Company, an operating company of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE – FO). Contact: Joe Gomes, Director of Communications (508.979.3211).
Contact:
