Tour Edge Exotics Staffer Tom Lehman Wins First 2019 PGA Tour Champions Event in Hawaii with Two Exotics In Play
Tour Edge Exotics staff player Tom Lehman rallied to win the PGA Tour Champions’ season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Saturday with an 18-degree Exotics CBX hybrid and a #2 Exotics CBX Iron-Wood in play.
Lehman erased a four-stroke deficit and won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai by a stroke on the final hole. Lehman finished with a 17-under 199.
“I like the fact that the wind was blowing,” Lehman said. “I always feel like when the wind blows, my chances get better. Historically, I’ve always been a real steady ball striker, and when the wind blows, that’s what you really have to do.”
He caught the leader with three birdies in a four-hole stretch at Hualalai Golf Club and sealed the win with his second straight 7-under-par 65 round.
“He played great golf, but I didn’t make any mistakes,” said Lehman. “I played two bogey-free rounds to finish the tournament. Four shots behind, you need to get some help. David only made a couple of mistakes. He played really well today. But I played about as well as I could play and got very fortunate.”
The victory was Lehman’s 12th PGA Tour Champions victory and his 2nd in the past two seasons while playing Exotics golf clubs.
“To finally get this win is so gratifying,” Lehman said. “I love this trophy. This trophy is so cool. I can’t wait to give it to my kid. I’ve played well here in the past, so it’s great to finally get this win. To beat this field is very significant.”
Tour Edge announced earlier in the week that Lehman had officially signed a deal to play and endorse Tour Edge Exotics and to play their metalwoods on the PGA Tour Champions in 2019.
Lehman featured a Tour Edge Exotics logo on his right chest and carried a Tour Edge Exotics CBX 119 golf bag during the victory.
Watch the post-win interview featuring Tom Lehman’s new Tour Edge Exotics logo here: https://www.golfchannel.com/video/2019-mitsubishi-electric-champ-tom-lehman-sound-rd-3
“Huge congratulations are in order to Tom Lehman on his amazing comeback win in Hawaii,” said Tour Edge founder and President David Glod. “For Tour Edge, Hollywood could not have scripted it any better. We had just finished our awards dinner at our National Sales Conference to kick off PGA Show week in Orlando. Right as dinner ended, the entire company and sales force gathered around the hotel bar TV with two holes left. A big celebration ensued when Tom won because it means so much to us as a company to have our logo getting that amount of air time and for us to get our 8th victory in the last year on the PGA Tours. Our on fire 2018 just continued right on into 2019 and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.”
In 2019, Lehman will be wearing a Tour Edge Exotics logo and carrying a Tour Edge bag all season long. He will also expand his club usage to other categories with Tour Edge Exotics clubs.
Lehman served as an Exotics CBX hybrid staff player in 2018 and played Tour Edge Exotics CBX hybrids all year en route to a PGA Tour Champions victory and an 18th place ranking in the Charles Schwab Cup. Lehman earned nine Top 10’s including 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes in 2018.
“I had great success all year long with the Exotics CBX hybrid and fairway woods,” said Lehman. “I’ve tested everything out there and I found Exotics to be the best for my game. I look forward to testing other Exotics clubs as well moving forward.”
Lehman will be prominently featured in the PGA Tour Champions Learning Center show on the Golf Channel airing January 22nd as the winner of the Hawaii event.
Tour Edge and Golf Channel announced at the end of 2018 that it had secured rights to be presenting sponsor of the popular Golf Channel show.
PGA Tour Champions Learning Center is scheduled to air 43 episodes in 2019 with Tour Edge prominently featured within each episode. The series also will incorporate Tour Edge Exotics Staff Professionals like Lehman, providing tips geared toward the amateur golfer in a segment called ‘What’s Your Edge?’
According to the Darrell Survey, six Tour Edge Exotics clubs were in play in Hawaii, including the two winning clubs by Lehman. Exotics staffer Scott McCarron finished tied for 18th playing Exotics EXS hybrid to start the season, while another 2018 winner with Exotics on the PGA Tour Champions finished T25 with an Exotics CBX fairway wood.
In all, over 50 players have put over 300 Exotics clubs into play since Exotics was launched to the tour.
Eight out of the Top 25 players (32%) in the Charles Schwab Cup final standings and 16 out of the Top 50 players put Exotics into play in 2018.
On top of the six victories and 10 runner-up finishes procured by players using Exotics on the 2018 PGA Tour Champions, players using Tour Edge clubs also earned 34 Top 5 finishes and 60 Top 10 finishes in the 27 events played on the PGA Tour Champions in 2018.
The Tour Edge Exotics CBX hybrid ranked as the #1 most played hybrid model at the 2018 Senior PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Cup Championship with their Exotics CBX hybrid accounting for 16% of the hybrids in play, according to the Darrell Survey.
About Tour Edge
In 1986, David Glod founded Tour Edge with a focus on offering golfers with high quality and technologically advanced golf products that were as cutting edge as they were affordable. He is now considered one of the preeminent master club designers in golf club design and has led Tour Edge to be a Top 10 manufacturer in every club category.
Tour Edge products have been put in play on the PGA TOUR, PGA Tour Champions, LPGA Tour and Web.com Tour, as well as European professional tours, and have been in play in every PGA TOUR major event and in Ryder Cup competitions, leading to 17 wins for players playing Tour Edge products on the PGA Tours (10 PGA TOUR, 6 PGA Tour Champions and 1 Web.com Tour).
In 2018 alone, Tour Edge clubs have earned seven wins, nine runner-up finishes, 34 Top 5 finishes and 60 Top 10 finishes on the three PGA Tours. Tour Edge, an American owned and operated company for more than 32 years, manufactures and sells golf clubs under three distinct brand names: Exotics, Hot Launch and Bazooka.
• Exotics products bring futuristic technologies to the marketplace with tour preferred designs and smaller production runs. Exotics clubs utilize higher-grade, avant-garde materials and manufacturing methods that have led Exotics to establish itself as a leader in quality craftsmanship and to redefine what is possible in golf club performance.
• Hot Launch has forged a name for itself as a producer of high-quality premium game improvement golf clubs from driver to wedge. Hot Launch has proven to provide the greatest custom fit value in golf and includes an unprecedented guaranteed 48-hour custom fit delivery program.
• Bazooka represents the absolute best value available in golf, offering advanced players, beginners, women and juniors the best in playability and affordability.
All Exotics and Hot Launch clubs are hand built in the United States in Batavia, Illinois and then distributed throughout the world. Every Tour Edge club comes with a Lifetime Warranty and a 30-day play guarantee.
Media Contact:
Jon Claffey
Vice President of Marketing
Tour Edge
Phone: 800-515-3343 Ex: 110
Email: jclaffey@touredge.com
