Mackenzie Hughes Notches Second-Career PGA TOUR Victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi

By Zack R., Team Titleist Staff On 3 October 2022 Balls Tour Clubs

PGA TOUR | Sanderson Farms Championship

Mackenzie Hughes (Pro V1) claimed his second-career PGA TOUR victory Sunday in Mississippi with a birdie on the second playoff hole.

  • The 31-year-old Canadian posted 17 under for the week, forcing the playoff after scrambling for clutch pars on Nos. 16 and 18 to close in 3-under 69.
  • For the week, Hughes ranked first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+9.225) and first in Scrambling, getting his Pro V1 up-and-down 91.67% (22 of 24) of the time.
  • He made just four bogeys over the 72 holes.
  • Pro V1 golf ball players have now won the first two events to start the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season, following Titleist Brand Ambassador Max Homa's victory in the season-opening Fortinet Championship.

HUGHES ON HIS PRO V1

  • “I've been a Pro V1 guy my whole life, basically. The ball’s so consistent and they just keep getting better and better. You know what you’re going to get every time when you hit it, it reacts the same way.”
  • “The attribute that I consider most important in a golf ball would be consistent spin. Playing the Pro V1, I get really consistent spin off every club I hit, and that’s really important to know how far my ball is flying and carrying and what it’s going to do when it lands. Obviously, the Pro V1 is a very long ball too, which is very important in today’s game. But I’d say No. 1 for me would be consistent spin.”

LPGA | The Ascendant LPGA | LPGA Stars Make Switch to NEW TSR Drivers

The momentum and adoption of NEW TSR drivers continued this week on the LPGA, as a total of 15 players – including four of the world’s top 14 (as of Sept. 26 ranking), and three of the week’s top-8 finishers – had new TSR models in play.

  • That list includes: Nelly Korda (TSR1 9.0°); the World’s 5th-ranked player (TSR3 9.0°); this week’s T-5 finisher and 2013 Rookie of the Year (TSR3 10.0°); Jessica Korda (TSR4 10.0°); So Yeon Ryu (TSR3 9.0°); and Danielle Kang (TSR3 9.0°), who finished runner-up in a playoff at last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
  • Kang, who went on medical leave after June’s U.S. Women’s Open, making her return last month at the CP Women’s Open, made the switch to TSR following a trip to the Titleist Performance Institute to work with Titleist Tour Rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck.
  • “Since I’ve been gone for a few months, my swing speed went down, I lost about four to five miles per hour. But the TSR has been really helpful with keeping up the distance,” she said.  “I actually should be hitting it much shorter than how far I’m hitting it now, I think I’d be about 10 yards shorter or maybe 12 even, but right now it’s narrowed the gap for me in a better performance way even after injury because of the driver development.”
  • Last week in Arkansas, Kang hit 31 of 39 fairways (79%) and averaged 262.0 yards off the tee while posting three bogey-free rounds and forcing the playoff.
  • “I do notice a huge difference,” she said. “I’ve never switched into a driver that quickly, in the course of my professional years. But the TSR, when I tried it, even at the [Titleist commercial shoot] a couple months before it got released, I noticed how hot it was and how quick it was through impact.”
  • In addition to her new driver, Kang is also now gaming the TSR2+ 13.0° fairway.
  • “I have a 13 degree. That’s a very low degree, but J.J. felt that the TSR2+ with the bigger head will help the ball launch higher off the ground for me. It’ll help it so that I don’t have to feel that I have to help the ball up, which is my tendency. He found me a 3-wood that I could finally hit in the center of the face, which is really nice.”
  • Nelly Korda put her new TSR1 9.0° driver immediately in play in Arkansas following her initial testing session with Van Wezenbeeck on the range at at Pinnacle Country Club.
  • Said Korda: “It feels really nice and it’s been a good, smooth transition. I really like the trajectory, the rise and the consistency in the ball flight. And obviously when you can pick up a little bit more distance and also carry, it’s always really nice. … I am carrying it maybe a few yards further and I’m seeing five to 10 yards roll out, which will help a lot on par fives and being more aggressive on the golf course.”

KOREAN TOUR | Hyundai Insurance KJ Choi Invitational

Titleist Brand Ambassador HyungJoon Lee emerged victorious in a playoff to capture his sixth-career KPGA Tour win.

  • Lee, gaming a Pro V1x Yellow golf ball and full bag of Titleist equipment, finished the tournament at 10 under to force extra holes with fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador DongMin Lee.
  • The all-Titleist playoff, which featured NEW TSR drivers and fairways in the bags of both players, finished on the second extra hole with a par from HyungJoon Lee.
  • Twelve of the 13 players finishing in the top 10 and ties on the final leader board played a Pro V1 or Pro V1x.
  • Six of those 13 players were gaming a NEW TSR driver, which accounted for over 70% of the Titleist drivers in play.

What's in HyungJoon Lee's Titleist Golf Bag?

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
Driver: NEW TSR3 10.0
Fairway Metal: NEW TSR3 15.0
Utility Irons: T200 3-4
Irons: 620 MB 5-9
Wedges: Vokey Design SM9 48.10F, 52.08F, 56.10S, 60V
Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless tour prototype

ASIAN TOUR | Mercuries Taiwan Masters

Chan Shih-Chang (Pro V1x) finished off a Sunday final-round charge with a birdie on the second playoff hole to claim his fifth Asian Tour victory.

  • Chan faced a three-shot deficit with only five holes to play, but birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 forced the playoff with Rashid Kahn (Pro V1x), as both finished at 15 under.
  • Two more birdies on No. 18 for Chan in extra holes clinched the title for his first Asian Tour title on home soil.
  • Twelve of the 17 players finishing in the top 15 on the final leader board teed up a Titleist golf ball.

SUNSHINE TOUR | Vodacom Origins of Golf

Ruan Korb (Pro V1) made 10 birdies and an eagle in Saturday’s final round, closing in 9-under 63 to finish at 13 under and win by two shots.

  • Korb’s final round included birdies on Nos. 16-18 to clinch the victory after starting the day seven shots behind the lead.
  • Korb’s 63 was the lowest score of the tournament, and the win marks his second-career victory on the Sunshine Tour.

…

#TeamTitleist