The winning ways continued around the globe for Titleist this week, as players trusting their games to Titleist golf balls and golf clubs triumphed at five tournaments across the worldwide professional golf tours.
The action was headlined by Nate Lashley (Pro V1x) who captured the first PGA TOUR title of his career at the first event ever hosted in the city of Detroit, the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic. On the PGA TOUR Champions, long-time Titleist loyalist Steve Stricker (Pro V1x) captured his second major crown of the season, winning the prestigious U.S. Senior Open in record-breaking fashion. Lashley and Stricker were joined in the Winner's Circle by Christian Bezuidenhout (Pro V1), who captured the Andalucia Valderrama Masters on the European Tour, Kristoffer Ventura (Pro V1), who won in an all-Titleist Pro V1 playoff at the Korn Ferry Tour's Utah Championship, and WonJoon Lee, who trusted a Pro V1x golf ball and Titleist clubs tee-to-green in his Korean Tour victory at the KPGA Championship.
All told, players trusting their games to a Titleist golf ball have now collected 106 wins across the worldwide professional tours. That's more than five times the nearest competing brand with just 19 and more than all competing brands combined.
Let’s take a closer look at this past week’s Titleist tour highlights…
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Nate Lashley | Pro V1x - Rocket Mortgage Classic
Nate Lashley (Pro V1x) completed a fairytale week with an emotional 6-stroke victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The final player to get into the field after a late withdrawal, Lashley led wire-to-wire at Detroit Golf Club and finished with a 25-under 263 victory total in his 33rd career start on the PGA TOUR.
The road to the TOUR hasn’t been easy for the 36-year-old. In 2004, after they watched him play in a collegiate event, Lashley’s parents and his girlfriend at the time were killed when the small Cessna airplane they were traveling in crashed in Wyoming.
He embarked on a professional golf career still coping with that grief, spending time on various mini-tours, the Latino-America Tour (where he won the 2016 San Luis Championship) and eventually the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour), where he would win the 2017 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship.
He finally made it to the PGA TOUR in 2018 and continued to grind through adversity.
“My first year (on the PGA TOUR) I struggled a little,” Lashley said. It was a tough year, but at the same time I had some times when I played some good golf. Over the years, getting better and getting some wins on the Latin Tour, then moving up the Web.com Tour and getting a win - those weeks gave me confidence. So I knew that if I could just get a little better, get a little better mentally, I was going to have an opportunity to win.”
Opportunity knocked this week, where fans gave him numerous standing ovations as he closed out the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic, the first PGA TOUR event ever staged in Detroit.
“The fans here were amazing,” Lashley said. “I was getting emotional coming up 18, even before I hit my second shot. I think about them (his lost loved-ones) all the time, so it’s not unusual for me to think about them throughout a round. But they were definitely in my thoughts coming down the last.”
The win moves Lashley (who entered the week ranked No. 353 in the world) to No. 40 in the FedExCup standings. It also punches his ticket to Augusta next April and earns him a spot in The Open Championship, the year’s final major in three weeks.
Lashley’s win marks the 18th for Titleist golf ball players on the 2018-19 PGA TOUR, including 10 of the last 11 tournaments.
The 18 Titleist victories are three times the nearest competitor with 6.
#1 Ball
Titleist was once again the most popular golf ball choice among players at the Rocket Mortgage Classic,with 76% of players (119) in the 156-man field trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, over nine times more than the nearest competitor with 13 players (8%) and more than all other competitor brand golf balls combined.
A Clean Sweep
According to Darrell Survey, for the second consecutive week and the ninth time this season on the PGA TOUR, Titleist was the top choice of more players across every single category.
For the 22nd time this season, continuing a trend of player trust and validation, Titleist was the #1 choice in the driver category at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, with 48 Titleist models in play. Of those Titleist drivers, 42 were TS models (TS2 - 8 | TS3 - 30 | TS4 - 4).
Titleist was also the #1 choice among players in fairway metals (29), hybrids (25), utility irons (36), irons(44) and putters (55). Many players in the field also elected to put the new T100's, 620 MB's and 620 CB's in the bag for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, including Patton Kizzire, Richy Werenski, Morgan Hoffmann, Sung-Jae Im, Michael Kim, Bud Cauley, Denny McCarthy, Peter Uihlein, Joey Garber, Ryan Blaum, and Matt Jones.
Vokey Design Wedges also topped the approach, sand and lob wedge category with 219 Vokey models in play (the nearest competitor: 61).
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Steve Stricker | Pro V1x - U.S. Senior Open
Steve Stricker (Pro V1x), making his U.S. Senior Open debut, fired a 19-under-par 261 victory total, breaking the tournament record by three shots. He finished six shots clear of his nearest competitors at the Warren Golf Course on the campus of Notre Dame, and topped a leaderboard on which 8 of the top 10 finishers relied upon Titleist golf balls for their success.
It was Stricker’s second major championship of the year, having won the Regions Tradition in May. He earns an invitation into next year’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot, where he tied for sixth in 2006.
Stricker’s win is the 14th for Titleist golf ball players through the first 16 events on the 2019 PGA TOUR Champions season, seven times the nearest competitor.
Titleist golf ball players have now won 13 of the first 14 events on the 2019 PGA TOUR Champions.
Titleist was the top choice in golf balls at the U.S. Senior Open with 72% of the field of 156 (113 players) relying on a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than five times the nearest competitor with 13% (20 players).
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Christiaan Bezuidenhout | Pro V1 - Andalucia Valderrama Masters
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Pro V1) captured the Andalucia Masters to claim his maiden European Tour victory. The South African, who led by five strokes going into the final round at Valderrama Golf Club, finished six shots ahead of five players, including Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Pro V1) and Eduardo de la Riva (Pro V1x).
The victory also secures Bezuidenhout a major championship debut at The Open Championship in two weeks – along with Lorenzo-Vera.
Bezuidenhout also moves into the top 10 of the Race to Dubai Rankings after two other top three finishes this season.
The win is the 12th for Titleist golf ball players in the 2018-19 European Tour season, twice the nearest competitor with 6, and more than all other golf balls combined.
Titleist was the most relied-upon golf ball in the field of 156 with 69% (107 players) relying on a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, nearly five times the nearest competitor with 14% (22 players).
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Kristoffer Ventura | Pro V1 - Utah Championship
It was an all-Titleist Pro V1 sudden death playoff at the Utah Championship where Kristoffer Ventura edged Titleist Brand Ambassador Joshua Creel (Pro V1, TS3 driver, TS3 fairway, 818H2 hybrid, 718 T-MB/CB irons, Vokey Design SM7 wedges, Scotty Cameron X5R putter) with a par on the third extra hole.
The pair finished regulation play locked at 14-under-par 270, with Ventura posting a 66-65 weekend. He started the final round in 10th place.
The win is the 14th for Titleist golf ball players through the first 18 events of the 2019 season, more than four times the nearest competitor with 3.
Titleist was the most relied-upon golf ball in the field of 156 with 70% (109 players) relying on a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than six times the nearest competitor with 10% (16 players).
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WonJoon Lee | Pro V1x - KPGA Championship
It was a wire to wire victory at the 62nd KPGA Championship major event where Titleist Brand Ambassador WonJoon Lee (Pro V1) topped HyungSeok Seo (Pro V1) with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.
It marked the first career KPGA Tour title for Lee.
Titleist Brand Ambassador MinGyu Cho (Pro V1x, 917D3 driver, 915H and 910H hybrids, 718 T-MB/CB irons, Vokey Design SM7 pitching, sand and lob wedges) shared 3rd place with JoonHyeong Jeon (Pro V1), one shot out of the playoff.
Twelve 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 in golf balls at the event with 74% of the field of 144 (106 players) relying on a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, nearly five times the nearest competitor with 15% (22 players).
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Let's take a closer look at all the Titleist equipment that WonJoon relied on to capture the KPGA Championship.
WONJOON'S WINNING SETUP:
Golf Ball: Pro V1x
Driver: TS3 (9.5°)
Fairway: TS3 (15º)
Irons: 718 T-MB (2, 4), 718 MB (5-PW)
Wedges: Vokey Design SM7 gap (50.12 F Grind) and lob (60.04 L Grind), TVD sand (54.10 S grind)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Timeless 2 GSS 350
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Congratulations to all of #TeamTitleist!
Click here for a listing of all Titleist golf ball wins this season.