It was another winning week for Titleist across the worldwide professional golf tours, as players trusting their games to Titleist golf balls and golf clubs entered the winner's circle at four tournaments around the globe.
On a major Sunday when the field faltered, Jeongeun Lee6 rose to the occasion, raising the Harton S. Semple trophy a the 74th staging of the U.S. Women's Open. Lee was joined by Patrick Cantlay on the PGA TOUR, who closed in record fashion to win the prestigious Memorial Tournament. On the PGA TOUR Champions, Kevin Sutherland broke a course record to force a playoff that he would eventually win to claim the Rapiscan Suystems Classic. And in Canada, Paul Barjon went bogey-free in his finl two rounds to seize his second-career Mackenzie Tour victory at the Bayview Place DCBank Open.
All told, players trusting their games to a Titleist golf ball have now collected 88 wins across the worldwide professional tours. That's more than six times the nearest competing brand with just 14 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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Jeongeun Lee6 (Pro V1x) made her first LPGA Tour win her first major championship crown, capturing the U.S. Women’s Open by two shots over three players, including Angel Yin (Pro V1x) and 2011 winner and fellow South Korean, So-Yeon Ryu (Pro V1).
The 23-year old LPGA rookie closed with a 1-under-par 70 at the Country Club of Charleston en route to a fitting total score of SIX-under 278.
The unique inclusion of the numeral “6” in Lee’s name stems from her days on the Korean LPGA Tour, where she was preceded by five other players also named JeongeunLee (with identical spellings). Lee included “6” as an addendum to her surname as a nod of respect to those five fellow Korean players.
When she was 4 years old, Lee's father, Jung Ho Lee, was paralyzed in a horrible car accident. The Lees had to make extra accommodations, including paying for more expensive hotel rooms as Jeongeun started playing competitive golf.
The weight of that history showed during the trophy presentation, during which Lee’s good friend and manager, Jennifer Kim, provided a touching moment as she translated for the newly crowned champion (see video below, courtesy of the USGA).
After Jeongeun’s emotional response to a question posed by Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt, Kim also got choked up.
"Sorry," Kim said, turning away momentarily. "I'm just really proud of her."
Kim then paraphrased her friend’s answer, “She couldn't imagine coming this far, you know, winning her first LPGA tournament, also major championship, and she feels proud of herself. She worked so hard."
The win was the 10th for Titleist golf ball players through the first 13 events of the 2019 LPGA Tour season.
Among the field of 156 of players at the 2019 U.S. Women's Open, 78% (121 players) put their trust in a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than nine times the nearest competitor with 8% (13 players) and more than all competitors combined.
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Patrick Cantlay | Pro V1x - The Memorial Tournament
It was a Titleist Brand Ambassador 1-2 finish at the Memorial Tournament where Patrick Cantlay fired a final round 8-under 64 to finish two shots clear of Adam Scott.
It marked the second career crown for Cantlay (2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open), who posted a 19-under-par 269 victory total.
Cantlay has finished in the top 10 at each of the first two majors this season and this win marks his fourth consecutive top-10 finish.
He advanced to No. 8 in the Official World Golf Rankings, marking his first time inside the Top 10.
Cantlay’s win marks the seventh consecutive by a player relying upon a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball on the PGA TOUR - and the 15th this season – that’s three times the nearest competitor with 5.
Titleist was once again the most popular golf ball choice among players at the Memorial Tournament, with 71% of players in the 120-man field (85 players) trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than eight times the nearest competitor with 10% (11 players) and more than all other competitor brand golf balls combined.
Titleist was also the top choice in the driver category, with 34 Titleist models in play. Of those Titleist drivers, 30 were TS models (TS2 - 7 | TS3 - 20 | TS4 - 3).
Titleist was also the #1 choice among players in hybrids (15) and irons (32). Vokey Design Wedges also topped the approach, sand and lob wedge category with 156 Vokey models in play (47% of all wedges).
TWO PLAYERS, TWO TITLEIST GOLF BALLS, 28 TITLEIST GOLF CLUBS:
What’s in the Titleist Golf Bags of Patrick Cantlay and Adam Scott?
Patrick Cantlay (Winner): Pro V1x, 917D2 driver (9.5°), 915F fairway metal (15°) , 816H2 hybrid (21°), 718 AP2 (4-PW) irons, Vokey Design SM5 gap (54.10 S), SM6 sand (57.08 M), SM7 lob (61.08 L) wedges, Scotty Cameron GSS putter.
Adam Scott (Runner-up): Pro V1, TS3 driver (9.5°), TS2 fairway metal (16.5°), 716 T-MB (3), 680 (4-9) irons, Vokey Design SM7 pitching (48.08 F), gap (52.08 F), sand (56.10 S), and prototype lob (60.06 K) wedges, Scotty Cameron Experimental putter.
NEW TITLEIST HYBRIDS AND UTILITIES IN PLAY:
Players competing at this week’s event had the first chance to experience the new Titleist TS2 and T3 hybrids and U-Series (U-500 and U-510) utility irons. Signaling the start to the tour seeding and validation process, Titleist Tour Reps and members of the Titleist Golf Club R&D team were on site at Muirfield Village, fitting players into the new equipment gathering feedback. This is a critical step in the go-to-market process - earning the validation of the game’s best players ensures that new products are faithful to the Titleist brand promise of innovation, performance and quality excellence.
Bud Cauley | Prototype U500 (3) - The Memorial Tournament
Two (2) Titleist TS3 hybrids were put into play (Charley Hoffman/17.0 and Robert Streb/21.0), while a total of seven (7) U-500 utilities were in the bags of Ben An (2), Bud Cauley (3), Charles Howell III (4), Joost Luiten (2), Cam Smith (3), Jordan Spieth (4) and Peter Uihlein (3).
Spieth finished in a tie for 7th, while Cauley tied for 9th. Spieth commented that he favored the launch and offset of the U-500 versus the T-MB. Cauley registered more speed, less spin, higher launch and five yards more distance when he tested the new U-500 compared to his T-MB.