TITLEIST LEADERSHIP SUMMARY – 1.13.13
 
TOUR WINNER/EVENT WINNING GOLF BALL/TITLEIST EQUIPMENT
EUROPEAN TOUR LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN

Volvo Golf Champions

 New 2013 Pro V1x prototype golf ball
 Playing in just his second official event with the new 2013 Pro V1x prototype, Titleist golf ball loyalist Louis Oosthuizen captured the Volvo Golf Champions in come-from-behind fashion at the Durban Country Club in his native South Africa.  Oosthuizen, who came from five shots back after closing with a joint best of the day final round 6-under 66, edged the overnight leader by one stroke.  He posted a 16-under par 272 victory total which included six birdies in the first 11 holes Sunday.

“After being five down, to make it up after 12 holes, I was really chuffed about that. I just played really well all day.”

The win marked Oosthuizen’s sixth career European Tour title and elevates him to the fourth spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.  Oosthuizen has had seven top-ten finishes in his last eight starts.

He becomes the fifth player to win with a new 2013 Pro V1 or Pro V1x prototype golf ball since the seeding process began last fall, joining Luke Donald (Pro V1x/Dunlop Phoenix), Adam Scott (Pro V1/Australian Masters), Hiroyuki Fujita (Pro V1/Japan Series JT Cup) and Angel Cabrera (107 Visa Open de Argentina) in the new prototype victory circle.

Titleist was the most played golf ball at the winners’ only event, with 17 of the 33 players relying upon a Pro V1 or Pro V1x, more than twice the nearest competitor with seven.  Oosthuizen’s win is the first for Titleist on the 2013 worldwide professional tours.

 
PGA TOUR Sony Open in Hawaii  
 The 2013 PGA TOUR’s first full-field event is in the books from Honolulu where 144 players teed it up at the Sony Open in Hawaii.  Titleist was the overwhelming top choice in GOLF BALLS with 103 players (71% of the field) relying upon a Pro V1 or Pro V1x, more than six times the nearest competitor with 15.

A total of 62 Titleist golf ball loyalists relied upon a new 2013 Pro V1 (12) or Pro V1x (50) prototypes, including runner-up and Titleist Brand Ambassador Tim Clark (New Pro V1, 913D3 driver, 913F fairway metal, CB irons, 712U 4-iron, Vokey Design SM4 pitching, sand and lob wedges) and third place finisher Scott Langley (New Pro V1x), who was playing in his first event as a PGA TOUR rookie.  Langley tied for third with fellow Pro V1x loyalist Charles Howell III, as three of the top four finishers relied upon Titleist for their success.

Clark, who fired a final round 9-under 63 to tie for the best of the day, put a new Titleist 913F fairway metal (15.0) and 712U prototype 4-iron in play this week for the first time, in addition to the new golf ball.

In addition to golf balls, Titleist was also the field favorite in approach, sand and lob wedges with 135 (40%) and putters with 57 (40%).

MORE MAUI:  Putting a wrap on the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the winner of the 30-player limited-field event relied upon a Scotty Cameron Newport GSS prototype putter for his winning performance.  Cameron putter success picked up where it left last year’s PGA TOUR, where the inspirational champion at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic played a Scotty Cameron Select GoLo putter to cap off the 2012 campaign.   The season-ending win gave Cameron putter loyalists a Tour-leading 17 victories for the year.  Scotty Cameron putters have been the choice of more players and more champions on the PGA Tour than any other brand every year since 1997, a streak of 16 consecutive years.