FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (September 10, 2012) - To be at your best, when it matters most, requires an exceptional combination of talent, drive and uncompromising performance from your equipment. Titleist Brand Ambassador Rory McIlroy continues to show he has it all. Trusting the Pro V1x golf ball and a complete bag of Titleist equipment, including the new 913 driver and prototype fairway metals, Rory went back-to-back, capturing the BMW Championship following last week’s win at the Deutsche Bank Championship. He now has a PGA TOUR-leading four victories in 2012 and sits atop the FedEx Cup standings entering the TOUR Championship. Total performance from tee-through-green, it's why so many of the world’s best trust Titleist.
In addition to McIlroy’s sixth career PGA TOUR crown, Titleist golf ball loyalists won six other times around the world this week, including Jiyai Shin (LPGA), Trevor Fisher Jnr (South African), Thaworn Wiratchant (Asia), Matthew Griffin (OneAsia), Eugene Wong (Canada) and Tommy Cocha (Latinoamérica). Seven more wins advances Titleist’s year-to-date golf ball victory total across the worldwide professional tours to 129, more than eight times the nearest competitor with 15.
TITLEIST HIGHLIGHTS FOR WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 9, 2012
PGA TOUR: Titleist Brand Ambassador and World No. 1 Rory McIlroy earned his second consecutive FedExCup Playoffs championship and his third win in four starts with a two-shot victory at the BMW Championship. McIlroy closed with a 5-under 67 en route to a 20-under 268 victory total. Last week, McIlroy won the Deutsche Bank Championship to move atop the FedExCup standings. Last month he won his second career major - the PGA Championship - in record-breaking fashion. WHAT'S IN RORY'S TITLEIST BAG?: Titleist Pro V1x golf ball, 913D3 driver (8.5), prototype 913Fd fairway metals (13.5, 18), MB irons (3-9), Vokey Design SM4 pitching (46), sand (54) and lob (60) wedges, Scotty Cameron GSS putter.
... AND THEN THERE WERE 30: The 70-man BMW Championship field was reduced to 30 for the TOUR Championship that begins at East Lake in Atlanta in two weeks. While McIlroy will be the No. 1 seed, fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Scott Piercy secured the final spot. Both players will be playing in the event for the first time. In total, Titleist Brand Ambassadors will occupy eight of the 30 positions, while Titleist golf ball loyalists will account for 19 spots in the field.
McIlroy (1) and Piercy (30) will bookend their fellow Titleist Brand Ambassadors in the field, including: Nick Watney (3), Zach Johnson (9), Jason Dufner (10), Steve Stricker (13), Adam Scott (21) and Webb Simpson (25).Other players relying upon Titleist golf balls include: Louis Oosthuizen (6), Lee Westwood (8), Bubba Watson (11), Luke Donald (15), Bo Van Pelt (19), Robert Garrigus (20), Hunter Mahan (23), player (26), Rickie Fowler (27), player (28) and John Senden (29).
TITLEIST ON TOUR: While McIlroy is the first player to win four times on the PGA TOUR this season, he isn’t the only Titleist Brand Ambassador to win multiple times in 2012, as Jason Dufner (Zurich Classic, Byron Nelson Championship) and Zach Johnson (Crowne Plaza Invitational, John Deere Classic) have as well. Additional full product line Titleist players to win this year include Steve Stricker (Hyundai Tournament of Champions), Kyle Stanley (Waste Management Phoenix Open), Bill Haas (Northern Trust Open), Ben Curtis (Valero Texas Open), Webb Simpson (U.S. Open), Marc Leishman (Travelers Championship), Scott Stallings (True South Classic), Scott Piercy (RBC Canadian Open) and Nick Watney (The Barclays).
#1 BALL AT THE BMW CHAMPIONSHIP: Titleist was the top choice of more players in the BMW Championship field of 70 in six different major equipment categories, including GOLF BALLS with 50 (71%), more than eight times the nearest competitor with 6.
COUNTING CLUBS: Titleist was also the field favorite at the BMW Championship in DRIVERS with 26 (37%), half of which were the new 913D3 (8) and 913D2 (5) models. Other category leaders this week included: HYBRIDS (17); IRONS (28), which was twice the nearest competitor with 14; WEDGES (83), with Titleist Vokey Design models accounting for more than half the field (52%), and more than four times the nearest competitor with 20; and PUTTERS (26), with Scotty Cameron models representing 37% of the field.
MORE WINS…: The tee-through-green success of Titleist players through the first 39 events on the 2012 PGA TOUR translates into more wins across every major product category than any other competitor:Golf Balls: Titleist 27, Nearest Competitor 4Drivers: Titleist 17, Nearest Competitor 6Fairway Metals: Titleist 17, Nearest Competitor 10Hybrids: Titleist 8, Nearest Competitor 4Irons: Titleist 19, Nearest Competitor 5Wedges: Titleist 20, Nearest Competitor 5Putters: Titleist 16, Nearest Competitor 6
LPGA: Jiyai Shin (Pro V1) ended the longest playoff between two players in LPGA Tour history, making a two-putt par on the ninth hole of a playoff Monday to win the Kingsmill Championship. The twosome played the 18th hole eight times Sunday in an attempt to break the tie before darkness forced a suspension of play. Monday morning, they needed just one more hole, the par-4 16th, to settle it.
Shin, a 24-year-old South Korean who was ranked No. 1 for 16 weeks in 2010, had not won in two years, a stretch that included a hand operation which kept her off the course for two months. Shin closed with a 69 on Sunday to force the playoff.
Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball choice of more players in the Kingsmill Championship field of 144 with 102 (71%), more than 10 times the nearest competitor with 10.
SOUTH AFRICA: Trevor Fisher Jnr (Pro V1x, CB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron putter) followed up his win at the Wild Waves Challenge last week with a playoff victory at the Vodacom Origins of Golf - Northern Cape over fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Christiaan Basson (Pro V1x, 913D2 driver, 910F fairway metal, CB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron Kombi S putter). Fisher finished the final four holes of regulation with an eagle, birdie, par, birdie to sign for the same 14-under par total as Basson. Fisher earned the victory with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
Doug McGuigan (Pro V1x, 910F fairway metal, CB irons, Vokey Design wedges) trusted his Titleist equipment from tee-to-green to finish solo third, two shots out of the playoff, and was followed by Titleist golf ball loyalist Danie van Tonder (Pro V1x), another two shots back. Two more Titleist Brand Ambassadors - Justin Harding (Pro V1x, 913D3 driver, 910F fairway metal, CB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron GoLo putter) and Colin Nel (Pro V1x, 913D3 driver, 910F fairway metal, CB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron Kombi S putter) tied for fifth position, as the top six finishers all relied upon Titleist golf balls for their success, including five full product line loyalists. Titleist was the top choice of more players in the field of 72 in the golf ball category with 54 (75%), more than four times the nearest competitor with 13. ASIA: Thaworn Wiratchant (Pro V1x) captured the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters at Kota Permai GC in Kuala Lumpur for his record breaking 14th career crown on the Asian Tour. Wiratchant closed with a final round 3-under par 69 for a winning total of 16-under 272 to win by three shots.
Titleist Brand Ambassador Gaganjeet Bhullar (Pro V1x, 910D2 driver, 910Fd fairway metal, AP2 irons, Vokey Design Spin Milled pitching, sand and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron Circle T Newport 2 putter) closed with a final round 6-under 66 to finish alone in second place. Rahman Siddikur (Pro V1x, Vokey Design SM4 gap and lob wedges) was among three players to tie for third place, another shot back.
Titleist was the top choice of more players in the Selangor Masters field in the golf ball category with 104 players (67%), nearly five times the nearest competitor with 22.
ONEASIA/KOREA: Matthew Griffin (Pro V1x, 913D3 driver, 910F fairway metal, CB irons, Vokey Design SM4 wedges, Scotty Cameron Tour Rat putter) scored the biggest win of his career with a one stroke victory at the Charity High 1 Resort Open in Korea over fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador SangHyun Park (Pro V1, 910D3 driver, 910F fairway metal, 910H hybrids, MB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron Circle T Del Mar T-10 putter) and Titleist loyalist KyungNam Kang (Pro V1, 910F fairway metal, 910H hybrid, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron Circle T Newport T-10 putter).
Ten of the 13 players who finished among the top 10 and ties relied upon Titleist golf balls for their success. Titleist was the top choice of more players in the field of 144 in the golf ball category with 103 (72%), more than eight times the nearest competitor with 12. Titleist was also the field favorite in the iron (52), wedge (160) and putter (67) categories.
CANADA: Eugene Wong (Pro V1x) continued his hot streak, claiming the Great Waterway Classic just two weeks after his first career professional victory at the Canadian Tour Championship and a week after capturing the Vancouver Open on the Vancouver Golf Tour. Wong fired a final round 6-under par 65 for the two-shot win, claiming his second consecutive Canadian Tour win by a single shot.
LATINOAMERICA: Argentina’s Tommy Cocha (Pro V1x, 910F fairway metal/15, 910H hybrid/19, MB/6-P and CB/4-5 irons, Vokey Design Spin Milled gap wedges), shot a 4-under 68 to become PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s first tournament champion. The five-shot victory is Cocha’s first as a professional after shooting a 22-under par 268 over four rounds at the Yucatan CC and moves to the top of 2012 Order of Merit. The top-five players on the season ending Order of Merit earn their Web.com Tour card. Cocha made 27 birdies to only five bogeys for the week.
With a 7-under par 65 on Saturday, the best of the day, Mexico’s Oscar Fraustro (Pro V1x, 910D3 driver, 910H hybrid, MB/CB irons, Vokey Design SM4 wedges) grabbed solo second and earned the admiration of his fellow countrymen at a course in which he’s had many successes.
PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s inaugural season consists of 11 events in seven countries and moves to Monterrey, Mexico next week for the Monterrey Transamerican Open presented by Corona.
Titleist was the top choice of more players in the field of 142 in the golf ball category with 116 (82%), more than six times the nearest competitor with 18. Titleist was also the field favorite in the iron (56) and wedge (178) categories.
