FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (August 13, 2012) - When you play the game with complete confidence in yourself and your equipment, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. For Titleist Brand Ambassador Rory McIlroy it meant raising his game to yet another level, with his historic victory at the PGA Championship. McIlroy placed his trust in the Pro V1x golf ball and a complete bag of Titleist equipment, including the new 913 prototype driver, while earning the second major championship of his young career by a record-setting eight-shot margin. The win also propelled McIlroy to the #1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking.
TITLEIST HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING AUGUST 12, 2012
PGA TOUR: McIlroy’s winning performance at the PGA Championship marked his second major championship in 14 months, validating his record-setting eight-stroke victory at the 2011 U.S. Open with another record-breaking effort at Kiawah. The 23-year old accentuated his win by converting a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole that gave him a final round 66 and set a new standard for the event's margin of victory mark that stood for 32 years.
McIlroy was the only player in the field to shoot three rounds in the 60's en route to a 13-under par 275 victory total, putting himself in position for the win by firing a third round 67 and closing out the weekend by playing bogey-free over the final 23 holes. It marks the second win of the year for McIlroy, who also captured the Honda Classic in March.
"It was a great round of golf," said McIlroy following the win. "I'm speechless. It's just been incredible. I had a good feeling about it at the start. I never imagined to do this."
- Titleist players following McIlroy on the leaderboard and finishing among the top 10, included golf ball loyalist Ian Poulter (Pro V1x, 909H hybrid, Vokey Design SM4 sand and lob wedges), who tied for third place, as well as Titleist Brand Ambassador Steve Stricker (Pro V1x, 913D3 driver, 910Fd fairway metal, 909H hybrid, AP2 irons, Vokey Design Spin Milled sand and lob wedges), Jamie Donaldson (Pro V1, Vokey Design pitching, sand and lob wedges) and Blake Adams (Pro V1x), who tied for seventh.
- McIlroy's win marks the third major championship for Titleist golf ball loyalists in 2012, as he follows Masters champion Bubba Watson (Pro V1x) and Titleist Brand Ambassador and U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson (Pro V1x).
- What's In Rory McIlroy's Titleist Bag?: Titleist Pro V1x golf ball, 913D3 driver (8.5), 906F2 fairway metal (13.0), 910F fairway metal (17.0), MB irons (3-9), Vokey Design SM4 pitching (46), sand (54) and lob (60) wedges, Scotty Cameron GSS putter.
- First Major Win with 913 Driver: McIlroy’s win marks the first major championship with the new Titleist 913 prototype driver and the first 913 win on the 2012 PGA TOUR. Titleist began the seeding process of the 913D2 and 913D3 drivers with PGA TOUR players at the AT&T National in June, which was subsequently followed by player seeding on the European, Web.com and Asian Tours, and across all of the worldwide professional tours.#1 in Driving Distance: One of the keys to McIlroy’s victory at the PGA Championship was his driving prowess with the new Titleist 913D3 driver and Pro V1x golf ball. McIlroy led the field in Driving Distance with a 311.5 yard average off the tee, and was able to control his golf ball in the gusting winds on Kiawah.
Precision Fit: McIlroy was originally fit for the new 913 driver at his home in Ireland ahead of the Irish Open by Mattias Jelver of the Titleist Tour Leadership team. They started the testing with Rory's 910D2 driver as a benchmark. It was determined, however, that McIlroy fit best into a 913D3 which he immediately put into the bag and into play at the Irish Open the first week it was available to him.
“I have been testing the new 913 and I was hitting the ball longer, “ said McIlroy at the Irish Open. “I’m getting less spin which is great in the wind and it carries 15 yards further in calm conditions. The Titleist guys had it ready for me when I got here (Irish Open) on Monday and I put it straight in the bag. I had my previous driver for almost two years but this one just performs so much better. I feel like I am hitting the ball a lot better with this new driver and I feel that’s going to make a huge difference."
New Fairway, Irons: In addition to his driver switch last month, McIlroy also put a new Titleist 910F (17.0) 5-wood into play last week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, replacing the 503i 2-iron he played at The Open Championship. It also replaced the 906F (18.0) 5-wood that he had been playing since he turned professional.
- McIlroy also had his Titleist 712 MB irons replaced in Akron after the grooves were getting worn on his set. The fresh blades were built to the identical specifications as his previous irons.
McStats: In addition to leading the field in Driving Distance, McIlroy's tee-through-green success with his Titleist equipment included leading the field in Birdies with 20, finishing 10th in Putting Average (1.688) and 13th in Greens in Regulation (67%). McIlroy only needed 23 putts in the final round.
Brand Ambassador Success: McIlroy becomes the third Titleist Brand Ambassador to earn multiple victories on the PGA TOUR this year, joining Jason Dufner (Zurich Classic, Byron Nelson Championship) and Zach Johnson (Crowne Plaza Invitational, John Deere Classic). Additional full product line Titleist players to win in 2012 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) and Scott Piercy (RBC Canadian Open).
Winning: The tee-through-green success of Titleist players on the 2012 PGA TOUR translates into more wins across every major product category: Golf Balls (24, Nearest Competitor 4), Drivers (14, Nearest Competitor 6), Fairway Metals (14, Nearest Competitor 9), Hybrids (8, Nearest Competitor 4), Irons (15, Nearest Competitor 5), Wedges (18, Nearest Competitor 5), and Putters (13, Nearest Competitor 6).
Equipment Counts at Kiawah: Titleist was the top choice of more players in the PGA Championship field of 156 in the golf ball category with 92, more than four times the nearest competitor with 21. Titleist was also the field favorite in the iron (48), wedge (151) and putter (52) categories. A total of 44 players relied upon Titleist drivers at the event, including a combined 26 new 913D3 (18) and 913D2 (8) models.
LPGA: So Yeon Ryu (Pro V1) overwhelmed the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic field with a seven-shot victory, earning her first win since capturing the 2011 U.S. Women's Open. Ryu rode a string of six straight birdies on holes 9 through 14 to close with a 9-under 62 en route to a 20-under par 264 victory total, the second lowest in tournament history.
Ryu, an LPGA Tour rookie who began the day locked in a four-player logjam for first place, took the lead by herself for the first time and for good with an 8-foot birdie putt at the third hole. Angela Stanford (Pro V1) made a long birdie putt on the final hole for 66 to finish second at 13-under 271.
Titleist was the top choice of more players in the field of 144 in the golf ball category with 99 (69%), over seven times the nearest competitor with 13.
WEB.COM: Titleist was the top choice of more players in the Price Cutter Charity Championship field of 156 in the golf ball category with 106 (68%), more than six times the nearest competitor with 17. Titleist was also the field favorite in the iron (44), wedge (162) and putter (65) categories. A total of 34 players relied upon Titleist drivers at the event, including a combined 27 who chose the new 913D3 (21) and 913D2 (6) models.
ONE ASIA: Chris Wood (Pro V1x, Scotty Cameron Newport 2.7 putter) of England fired four consecutive rounds in the 60's to capture the OneAsia Thailand Open in Bangkok by two shots for his first career victory as a professional. The 24-year-old entered the final round with a one stroke lead, and closed with a 5-under par 67 en route to a 23-under par 265 victory total.
Three players tied for third place including Titleist Brand Ambassadors Arnond "Bank" Vongvanij of Thailand (Pro V1x, 910D3 driver, 910F fairway metals, 909H hybrid, AP2 irons, Vokey Design pitching, sand and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron Red X putter) who shot a bogey-free final round 65, as well as Dong-Hwan Lee (Pro V1x, 910D2 driver, 910Fd fairway metal, 910H hybrids, MB/CB irons, Vokey Design gap and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron Tour Rat putter) and Wisut Artjanawat (Pro V1x, 910D2 driver).
Titleist was the top choice of more players in the field of 168 in the golf ball category with 121 (72%), nearly six times the nearest competitor with 21. Titleist was also the field favorite in the iron (66) and wedge (179) categories.
U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR: Titleist was the favorite equipment brand among the field of 156 at the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, with more players relying upon the #1 ball in golf by an overwhelming margin of 132 (85%) to 9 for the nearest competitor. Titleist was also the top choice in irons (39), wedges (176) and putters (58).
