Titleist Tour Summary

When Brian Gay (New 2013 Pro V1x prototype), Charles Howell III (Pro V1x) and David Lingmerth (Pro V1x) began a three-man playoff at the Humana Challenge, the winner was still in doubt, but the winning golf ball was not.  It would be a Titleist.

With Lingmerth eliminated on the first extra hole, Gay birdied the second playoff hole and became the first player to win with the new 2013 Pro V1x prototype golf ball on the PGA TOUR.

All three players fired four rounds in the 60’s and finished regulation at 25-under par 263 following stellar closing rounds of 62, 63 and 64 by Lingmerth, Gay and Howell, respectively.

In fact, the top five finishers, including overnight leader Scott Stallings (New 2013 Titleist Pro V1x prototype, 913D2 driver, 913 Fd fairway metal, AP2 irons, Vokey Design Spin Milled gap, sand and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 putter) and James Hahn (Pro V1x) who tied for 4th one shot out of the playoff, made it a sweep of the top five positions on the leaderboard for Titleist golf ball loyalists.  In fact, Hahn tied for the best round of the day, closing with a 10-under par 62 to race up the leaderboard.

Lucky 7th:  In addition to becoming the first player on the PGA TOUR to win with the new 2013 Pro V1x golf ball, Gay is the seventh across the worldwide professional tours since seeding began, joining Luke Donald (Pro V1x/Dunlop Phoenix), Adam Scott (Pro V1/Australian Masters), Hiroyuki Fujita (Pro V1/Japan Series JT Cup), Angel Cabrera (107 Visa Open de Argentina) and David McKenzie (Pro V1x), who won the Victorian PGA Championship earlier today, in the new prototype victory circle.

#1 Ball (and iron .. and wedge … and putter) at the Humana Challenge:  Titleist was the overwhelming most played golf ball with 106 (68%) of the 156 players in the field relying upon the #1 ball in golf, more than six times the nearest competitor with 16.  A total of 62 players in the field this week have already transitioned into the new 2013 Pro V1 (11) or Pro V1x (51) prototype golf balls.  Titleist was also the top choice in the iron (42/27%), sand, lob and approach wedge (160/43%) and putter (57/37%) categories.

European
Titleist Pro V1 golf ball loyalist Jamie Donaldson earned his second career European Tour title by one shot in dramatic fashion at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.  Donaldson, who captured the Irish Open for his maiden win last year, closed with a 4-under par 68 en route to a 14-under 274 victory total, and had to watch while his two closest pursuers failed to birdie the final hole and force a playoff.  The champion also carried Vokey Design Spin Milled pitching, sand and lob wedges.

Sixteen players finished among the top 10 and ties at the event, including Titleist Brand Ambassador and 2012 European Tour Rookie of the Year Ricardo Santos who placed solo 4th.  Santos relied upon the new 2013 Pro V1x prototype golf ball and a new Titleist 913D2 (8.5) driver for his success.  In addition to the new driver which he put in play for the first time, Santos carried a Titleist 913Fd (13.5) fairway metal, 910H (17.0) hybrid, two new 712U prototype utility irons (3,4), MB irons (5-P) and Vokey Design SM4 sand (56) and lob (60) wedges.

Other top finishers included David Howell (Pro V1x) and Joost Luiten (New 2013 Pro V1 prototype, 913D2 driver, 910Fd fairway metal, AP2 2-iron, CB irons, Vokey Design SM4 sand and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2.6), who tied for 6th place.

Among the eight players tied for 8th place were full product line Titleist Brand Ambassadors Jason Dufner, George Coetzee, Anders Hansen and Jbe Kruger.  Dufner, who closed with a 4-under par 68, put a new Scotty Cameron Select GoLo S5 putter in the bag this week.  Dufner previewed some of the new Cameron Tour models on the practice putting green on Monday and immediately gravitated to the S5.  After practicing with it, Dufner said he felt it was easier to make a consistent stroke and achieve a consistent center strike with the new center-shafted putter and put it into competitive play on Thursday.
 
Titleist was the top choice in golf balls at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship with 75 players (60% of the field) relying upon a Pro V1 or Pro V1x, nearly four times the nearest competitor with 19.  Titleist was also the favorite in the wedge category with 138 (34%), nearly twice the nearest competitor with 70.

Champions
David Frost (Pro V1) finished runner-up at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, getting edged out by a birdie on the second hole of a sudden death playoff.  Both playoff participants finished at 17-under 199, followed by Bernhard Langer (Pro V1, Vokey Design Spin Milled sand and lob wedges) who placed solo 3rd, one shot back.

Titleist was the top choice in golf balls at the limited-field, season-opening event with 30 (75%) of the 40 players relying upon a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball – that’s 10 times the nearest competitor with 3.  Titleist was also the field favorite in the iron (10), wedge (30) and putter (9) categories.

Australian
David McKenzie earned his first career Australian PGA Tour title when he captured the Victorian PGA Championship trusting the new Titleist 2013 prototype golf ball.  McKenzie relied upon the new Pro V1x en route to a 13-under par 275 victory total, two shots clear of his nearest pursuer.  Titleist Brand Ambassador Stephen Dartnell (Pro V1, 913D2 driver, 913F fairway metal, 913H hybrid, MB irons, Vokey Design wedges, Scotty Cameron putter) garnered solo third place, another three shots back, as eight of the top 10 finishers played Titleist golf balls for their success.

Titleist was the overwhelming most played ball at the event with 98 players (74%), nearly four times the nearest competitor with 25.

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