LPGA | Gainbridge LPGA
Playing the NEW Pro V1 golf ball for the first time, Nelly Korda closed with a 3-under 69 to win by three shots.
- It was her fourth LPGA title, but first in the United States.
- She was the only player to shoot all four rounds in the 60’s at Lake Nona.
- The Korda sisters are now 2-0 to start the 2021 season.
- Nelly’s sister and fellow Pro V1 loyalist, Jessica Korda, won the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
KORDA 1-FOR-1 WITH NEW PRO V1
Nelly Korda put 2021 Pro V1 in play this week in her first opportunity after testing it for the first time following last month’s season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
- “Nelly immediately felt like NEW Pro V1 was coming off the face a little faster and giving her the slightly higher flight and lower spin that she’d been wanting to see in the long game,” said Jeff Beyers of Titleist Golf Ball R&D. “She was also testing a new driver and loved the performance and numbers she was seeing from that combination.”
WINNER PLAYS NEW TSi1; THREE OF LPGA’S BEST SWITCH TO TSi DRIVERS
Three of the game’s best players competing on the LPGA – including the winner of the event – all switched to NEW Titleist TSi drivers at the Gainbridge LPGA, continuing the momentum of TSi drivers across the worldwide professional tours.
- The champion, who entered the week No. 4 in the World Ranking, switched to a NEW TSi1 driver, making her the first player on a major professional tour to put the TSi1 (or prior generation TS1) model in play. World No. 5 teed up a NEW TSi3, while No. 17 played a NEW TSi4.
- Two other players in the field teed up TSi2 drivers, marking the first time that every TSi driver model was played – TSi1, TSi2, TSi3 and TSi4 – in the same tour event.
- Each player put their new TSi in play following a trip to the Titleist Performance Institute last month:
- World No. 4 switched from a competitive driver to the NEW TSi1 10.0° (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ, B•1 SureFit hosel setting).
- “She loved the shape of the TSi1 and was swinging it with a lot confidence,” said Titleist Tour Rep J.J. VanWezenbeeck. “Initially, we were very close with TSi2 and she was gaining up to 5mph additional ball speed. But she has a slight tendency to miss on the heel and Stephanie Luttrell (Titleist’s Director of Metalwood Product Development) suggested the TSi1 head – with its CG properties being closer to face center – could help improve strike location and provide the extra forgiveness she needed on those swings. TSi1 was never going to be the obvious choice with her 150mph ball speed, but in going through the fitting process we were able test all of the options and determine the optimal setup that is getting her 10-15 additional yards with better accuracy.”
- She also added a NEW TSi2 21.0° hybrid.
- World No. 5 traded in her gamer for a NEW TSi3 9.0° (KuroKage 5th Gen 55, B•1 SureFit hosel setting, Neutral SureFit CG).
- “She’s a really good driver of the golf ball and had been playing the same competitive product for a while that was working really well for her,” VanWezenbeeck said. “But when she put the TSi3 down she loved the look of it and was seeing ball speed gains of 2-3 mph right off the bat. She really liked the feel at impact and was getting the control she wanted but hadn’t been able to find in other products.”
- World No. 17 upgraded to a NEW TSi4 10.0° (Fujikura Ventus Blue 6S, D•4 Surefit hosel setting) from her prior generation TS4 model.
- “She is very particular to the traditional head shape and was very happy with the performance of her TS4, so it was an easy transition,” VanWezenbeeck said. “With TSi4 she was immediately gaining 1-2 mph ball speed with added forgiveness and we were able to dial in her flight and spin using the SureFit hosel for maximum distance.”
- She also put NEW TSi2 15.0° and 21.0° fairways in play.
PGA TOUR | Puerto Rico Open
Pro V1x loyalist Branden Grace earned his second PGA Tour title with an improbable eagle-birdie finish to emerge with the one-shot victory in Puerto Rico.
- Grace holed-out for eagle from a greenside bunker on No. 17, then got up-and-down from a bunker on 18 for the winning birdie.
- Grace led a 1-2 finish for Titleist golf ball players with runner-up Jhonattan Vegas (Pro V1), who also birdied 18 to nearly force the playoff.
- Rafael Campos, playing NEW Pro V1, tied for third to earn the best finish of his career.
RUNNER-UP PLAYS NEW TSi DRIVER, PHANTOM X
The runner-up had a NEW TSi3 driver and NEW Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11 putter in the bag, switching to both models in his last event at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
- His TSi3 9.0° (Fujikura Motore X F1 7 X) was one of 35 TSi driver models in the field, as TSi continues to be the most played driver model this season on the PGA Tour.
PGA TOUR | WGC – Workday Championship at The Concession
The winner of the WGC-Workday trusted a pair of Vokey Design SM8 wedges (52-12 and 56-14).
FORMER U.S. OPEN CHAMP ADDS TSi DRIVER
The world’s 35th-ranked player – and winner of the 2013 U.S. Open – put a NEW TSi3 8.0° driver (Tensei AV Orange 75 TX, A•1 SureFit hosel setting) in play.
- “He had been hearing a lot of good things about TSi and had been touch with Liam McDougall (Titleist European Tour Rep), but given all the restrictions in Europe hadn’t been able to get in a real testing session with him,” said Titleist Tour Rep J.J. VanWezenbeeck. “We did a little work on Tuesday and found that his current gamer may have been enhancing his misses because of its off-center CG properties. We put him in the TSi3 with a much more neutral setting which resulted in more consistent performance with the additional speed and distance that players are talking about.”
WORLD NO. 21 BACK TO VOKEY WEDGES
The 21st-ranked player in the world, who finished T-44 this week, put three Vokey Design wedges in play at The Concession, after switching to a competitive model in last season. He returned to two familiar SM5 TVD (52°, 56°) models, while adding an SM8 60T.
CHAMPIONS TOUR | ColoGuard Classic
Kevin Sutherland (Pro V1x) birdied two of his final three holes for a closing 4-under 69 and one-shot victory over Mike Weir (NEW Pro V1).
Sutherland led a 1-2-3-4-5 finish for Titleist golf ball players.
Titleist golf ball players have won the first two events of 2021, following Darren Clarke’s season-opening victory in Hawaii with NEW Pro V1.
RUNNER-UP ADDS NEW PHANTOM X
The runner-up put a NEW Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 in play for the first time, finishing T-6 in Putts Per G.I.R.
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