Molinari’s Major Triumph Highlights 3-Win Week for Titleist Players

The highlight reel continues to spin this golf season, with one brilliant performance after another flashing across the screen. The home of golf was the setting for the main story this weekend, where Francesco Molinari's command and consistency at Carnoustie led to a breakthrough Open Championship victory and cause for the nation of Italy to celebrate.

Back in the States, a 4-under-par sprint on the final four holes of the Pinnacle Bank Championship paved the way for David Skinns' maiden Web.com Tour win. And in China, the 21-year-old winner birdied the final two holes to claim a one-stroke victory at the Quindao Championship, becoming just the second amateur winner ever on the PGA Tour China circuit.

All told, Titleist players have now accumulated 128 wins across the worldwide professional golf tours. That's over 100 more wins than the nearest competing brand with just 18. 

This record of success is something we’re extremely proud of, and grateful for. All of our team members work very hard to make sure that every player who tees up a Titleist can be absolutely certain that it is the very best golf ball available. To all the players who put their trust in us, whether you're a professional or a weekend warrior, thank you from everyone at Titleist.

Congratulations to all of our winners! Let’s take a look at this past week’s Titleist tour highlights…

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Francesco Molinari’s star continues to rise following his two-shot victory at the 147th Open Championship, a win that makes him Italy’s first major champion.

Molinari was the last of seven players who had or shared the lead at some point during the final round. He closed with a 2-under-par 69 en route to his 8-under-par 276 victory total. He was the only player without a bogey on the weekend.

Four players tied for 2nd, including Kevin Kisner (Pro V1), while defending champion Jordan Spieth (Pro V1x, 915D2 driver, 915F fairway metal, 718 T-MB 3 and 4 irons, 718 AP2 irons, Vokey Design SM7 pitching, gap, sand and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron 009 putter) finished in a three way tie for 9th at 4-under. Both were among the three players tied for the lead entering the final round.

Eddie Pepperell (Pro V1) fired a final round 4-under-par 67 – the lowest round of the day – to race 30 spots up the leaderboard and finish in a three-way tied for 6th at 5-under-par 279.

Molinari’s victory marks the sixth consecutive major championship won by a player teeing up a Titleist golf ball.

The Open win caps off the best stretch of golf in Molinari’s career. Over the past two months he has won three times and been runner-up twice, an improved performance trajectory that can be traced back to October 2016 when he switched to the Titleist Pro V1x golf ball.

At that time, Molinari was ranked 40th in the Official World Golf Ranking. By the end of 2017 he had advanced to 21st in the world, and following his first major championship at The Open, he has moved into a career-best 6th.

Molinari finished T6 in his first-ever event (2016 WGC-HSBC Champions) playing the Pro V1x, followed by a T4 at the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship which moved him into the Top 20 (19th) in the final Race to Dubai ranking.

After finishing 105th in the PGA TOUR’s 2016 FedExCup standings with his previous golf ball, Molinari switched to the Pro V1x for the 2016-17 season and promptly posted five top 15 finishes in his first six events. He officially joined the Titleist golf ball roster midway through the 2017 season.

Molinari went on to post a T6 at THE PLAYERS and T2 at the PGA Championship, his previous best finish in a major, and placed 31st in the season-ending FedExCup standings, a 74-position improvement from the prior season with his previous golf ball.

Molinari’s performance has improved even more this year with a victory at the European Tour's BMW Championship in May followed by a runner-up finish the next week at the Italian Open.

Leading into The Open, Molinari had captured the Quicken Loans National for his first PGA TOUR title, followed by a runner-up finish at the John Deere Classic two weeks later.

Statistically on the PGA TOUR, Molinari is currently 2nd in Strokes Gained: Tee-to Green (1.764), 4th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (.856) and 14th in Greens in Regulation (70.58%). He averages over 300 yards (300.3) off the tee. In comparison, in 2016 prior to switching to the Pro V1x, Molinari was 19th in SG: Tee-to-Green (.859), 63rd in SG: Off-the-Tee (.192), 109th in GIR (64.93%) and his Driving Distance average was 286.7.

Molinari’s winning performance marked the 20th victory for Titleist golf ball players on the 2017-18 European Tour, nearly seven (7) times the nearest competitor with 3.

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 At Carnoustie, Titleist was once again the overwhelming golf ball choice at golf's oldest major, with 70% of the field (109 players) trusting a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than six times the nearest competitor with 12% (18 players) and more than all competitors combined. 

Titleist was also the top choice among players in the irons category with 43 sets in play. Vokey Design Wedges also topped the approach, sand and lob wedge (187) category and Scotty Cameron putters were the top choice among players with 57 in play. 

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A little more than a month after their official PGA Tour launch, the momentum continued to roll at The 147th Open Championship for new Titleist TS drivers and fairways. Of the 38 players gaming a Titleist driver at Carnoustie, 23 played a new TS model (TS2: 5 | TS3: 18).

To date, between the PGA Tour and the European Tour, 92 different players have put a new Titleist TS driver in play. During that same time, 42 different players have put a TS fairway metal in play. Overall, 102 different players have put a TS metal in play (139 total clubs).  Click here for a full listing.

And click here to sign up for alerts on the latest TS driver and fairway metal news and updates

 

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David Skinns (Pro V1x) finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie over the final four holes in a come-from-behind win at the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Kansas.

Skinns, who trailed by two shots entering the final round, closed with a 6-under-par 65 at The Club at Indian Creek en route to a 16-under 268 victory total. It marked his first career Web.com Tour title.

Sungjae Im (Pro V1x), the tour’s leading money winner, was second at 14-under, while Kramer Hickok (Pro V1) finished solo 3rd, another shot back.

In fact, Skinns topped a leaderboard on which 11 of the 13 players who finished among the top 10 and ties played a Pro V1 or Pro V1x.

Skinns’ winning performance marked the 13th victory for Titleist golf ball players on the 2018 Web.com Tour, 10 more than the nearest competitor with 3.

 Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice at The Pinnacle Bank Championship, with 71% of the field (101 players) trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than five times the nearest competitor with 13% (20 players) and more than all competitors combined.

Titleist was also the top choice in the hybrids (25) and irons categories (38). Vokey Design Wedges also topped the approach, sand and lob wedge category with 176 in play.

There were also 25 Titleist Drivers in play at the event, including 17 new TS2 (10) and TS3 (7) models, the first week they were available to play on the Web.com Tour.

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Congratulations to all of #TeamTitleist!

Click here for a listing of all Titleist golf ball wins this season.