Byrd Wins in Las Vegas with Ace in Playoff. Manassero Captures First Professional Victory at 17.
Fairhaven, MA (October 25, 2010) – History was made on the PGA and European Tours this week, and both feats had one thing in common: Titleist. In a stunning finish in Las Vegas, Pro V1x loyalist Jonathan Byrd won a three-way all-Titleist golf ball playoff at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open with a hole-in-one on the fourth extra hole. In Spain, Titleist Brand Ambassador and Italian teenager Matteo Manassero rewrote The European Tour record book en route to his first professional victory at the Castello Masters Costa Azahor. The 17-year old becomes the youngest-ever winner on The European Tour. Additional victories on the LPGA and Nationwide Tours advances the 2010 Titleist victory count across the worldwide professional tours to 126, over 100 more than the nearest competitor with 22.
TITLEIST HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 24, 2010
PGA TOUR: Jonathan Byrd aced the 204-yard 17th hole at TPC Summerlin in near darkness after he, Martin Laird (Pro V1x) and Cameron Percy, who was playing the new Pro V1 prototype golf, finished regulation play at 21-under 263. The win marks the fourth career PGA TOUR title for Byrd.
– The winner also relied upon the Scotty Cameron by Titleist Studio Select Newport putter.
– Titleist Brand Ambassador Webb Simpson (new Pro V1x prototype golf ball, 909D3 driver, 909F2 fairway metal, new 910H hybrid, AP2 and 680MB irons, Vokey Design TVD wedges) and Spencer Levin (Pro V1) shared 4th place, one shot back. The top five finishers all relied upon Titleist golf balls.
– In the three weeks since Webb Simpson has put the new Pro V1x prototype golf ball in play, he has finished T12, T44 and T4. This week he also led the field in Driving Accuracy (83.9%).
– Titleist Brand Ambassador Nick Watney (Pro V1x, new 910D3 driver, new 910F fairway metal, 909H hybrid, AP2 irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron Newport Tour putter), shared 6th place, another shot back. Watney was 6th in Putts Per Round (28.3) and 9th in Driving Distance (308.4).
– Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice at the event with 95 players, including 7 new Pro V1 and 15 new Pro V1x prototypes in play. Nine of the top 10 finishers trusted a Titleist golf ball for their success.
– Titleist also was first in iron sets (40); sand, lob and approach wedges (112); and putters (59).
– Titleist was second in the driver category with 34, including 24 new 910D2 or 910D3 drivers in play; and fairway metals with 33, including 12 new 910F models.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Matteo Manassero finished at 16-under, four clear of runner-up Ignacio Garrido (Pro V1x), for a Titleist 1-2 finish at the Castello Masters.
– What’s in Matteo’s Bag?: Manassero plays a full bag of Titleist equipment from tee-through-green, including: Pro V1x golf ball, new 910D2 driver (9.5), 909F2 (13.5), 909H hybrid (17), AP2 irons (3-P), Vokey Design Spin Milled approach (52) and lob (58) wedges, and a new Scotty Cameron Fastback doublebend putter, that he put into play for the first time this week.
– Matteo joins Ross Fisher as the second European Tour player to win with the new 910 driver. He is the ninth player across the worldwide professional tours to win with the new Titleist 910 driver since seeding began in July.
– Titleist was the golf ball of choice at the event with 69 players, more than all other golf balls combined.
LPGA TOUR: Pro V1x loyalist Jimin Kang birdied three of the last four holes, including the last to capture the inaugural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia by one shot over Juli Inkster (Pro V1).
– The win was the second LPGA Tour victory for Kang, who finished with a final-round, 6-under 65 and a 9-under 204 total. Maria Hjorth (Pro V1x) tied for 3rd, followed by 5th place finisher Meena Lee (Pro V1x).
– Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice with 44 players, 11 times the nearest competitor with 4.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Mark Wiebe (Pro V1) was runner-up at the Administaff Small Business Classic. Dan Forsman (new Pro V1x prototype, 909D3 driver, 909F3 fairway metal, ZM irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 putter) tied for 3rd.
– Titleist was the golf ball of choice with 56 players, seven times the nearest competitor with 8. Titleist also was first in iron sets (25); and sand, lob and approach wedges (50).
NATIONWIDE TOUR: David Mathis (Pro V1x) won the inaugural Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, finishing with an 8-under 272 for a one-stroke victory over three players, including Titleist Brand Ambassador Won Joon Lee (Pro V1x, 905R driver, 906F2 fairway metal, AP2 and MB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter) and Jeff Curl (Pro V1x, Scotty Cameron Newport Fastback putter).
– With the victory, Mathis moved from No. 35 to No. 12 assuring him a spot among “The 25” who will earn a coveted ticket to the 2011 PGA TOUR.
– Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice with 89 players, nearly five times the nearest competitor with 16. Titleist also was first in sand, lob and approach wedges (126) and putters (61), and second in drivers (31), including 19 new 910’s; fairway metals (34), including 21 new 910’s ; and iron sets (33).
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