J.T. Poston Wins the John Deere Classic With New Titleist TSR3 Driver in the Bag

By Zack R., Team Titleist Staff On 5 July 2022 Balls Tour Clubs

PGA TOUR | John Deere Classic

Titleist Brand Ambassador J.T. Poston closed out a wire-to-wire victory Sunday at TPC Deere Run, trusting a Pro V1x golf ball and 14 Titleist clubs – including a NEW TSR3 driver – to his second PGA TOUR title.

  • The Postman, who opened with a 62 for the second-consecutive week, posted a final-round 2-under 69 to win by three shots.
  • Poston, 29, was dialed in from start to finish, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (+13.41) and SG: Around the Green (+5.95).
  • He also gained 2.761 strokes off the tee (15th), and 4.697 on approach shots (10th).
  • He hit 83 percent of greens in regulation (T4) and was also 83 percent in scrambling (T3).
  • Poston is the first wire-to-wire winner at the John Deere in 30 years and just the second player to accomplish the feat this season on the PGA TOUR.
  • With the victory, Poston moved to 58th in the World Ranking while earning a spot in the field at St Andrews in two weeks to play in his first Open Championship.
  • Titleist was the overwhelming field favorite for golf balls with 76% of the players teeing up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x (nearest competitor, 10%).
  • In addition to golf balls, Titleist was also the most trusted driver, hybrid, utility iron, iron, wedge and putter at the event.

What’s in J.T. Poston’s Titleist Golf Bag?

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: NEW TSR3 9.0° | Mitsubishi Diamana BF 60 TX
Fairway Metal: TS2 15.0° | Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 7 X
Hybrid: TS2 19.0° | Graphite Design Tour AD DI 95 Hybrid X
Irons: T100•S 4 | True Temper Project X 6.5 and T100 5-9 | True Temper Project X 6.5
Wedges: NEW Vokey Design SM9 46.10F, 50.12F, 56.10S, 60.04L | Dynamic Gold S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron GoLo 5 tour prototype

POSTON WINS WITH NEW TSR DRIVER

  • J.T. Poston became the first player to bring a NEW TSR driver to the winner’s circle, just one week after the new TSR2 and TSR3 models made their PGA TOUR debut at the Travelers Championship. 
  • Poston was one of the first players to get fit into a NEW TSR driver – the next generation of the most played drivers on the PGA TOUR – last Monday at TPC River Highlands.
  • Working on the range with Titleist Tour Rep Jim Curran, Poston saw a 2 mph jump in ball speed with his TSR3 9.0° compared to his prior generation TSi3.
  • “That’s definitely farther,” Poston said after making contact for the first time. “I like the sound of that a lot. Feels great. Sounds great. Looks great.” 
  • Poston went on to post rounds of 62-70-67-64 in Connecticut, recording what was then his best finish of the season (T2).
  • This week at TPC Deere Run, Poston again opened with 62 on his way to a wire-to-wire, three-shot victory (62-65-67-69).
  • Over the course of the week in Illinois, Poston gained strokes off the tee in all four rounds, finishing 15th in that statistic (+2.761).
  • He finished the week with 73.2 percent driving accuracy, 12 percent better than his season average entering the week.

26 TSR DRIVERS IN PLAY AT JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

  • A total of 26 players had TSR drivers in play at the John Deere Classic, including Titleist Brand Ambassador Cameron Davis, who led the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee – gaining nearly five strokes (4.69) on the field, his best driving performance of the season.
  • Davis, who plays a TSR3 8.0° (Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X), made the switch last week at the Travelers after seeing his ball speeds increase 1-2 mph.
  • TSR driver users have now led the field in SG: Off the Tee in back-to-back weeks.
  • Like Davis, Titleist Brand Ambassador Davis Riley also moved into a TSR3 8.0° driver at TPC River Highlands, where he averaged a career-best and tournament-leading 1.48 strokes gained off the tee per round.
  • His 2.41 strokes gained off the tee during the final round in Hartford was also the best of his career.
  • Said Riley: “The overall look, the feel is awesome. It’s really good. The mishits are really good. I’m finding really consistent spin across the face no matter where I’m hitting it, so that you’re maxing out your carry numbers every time. It’s what you really want to look for. It’s not how good your good hits are. It’s, ‘How good are your bad hits?’ And just seeing that consistency across the face is really cool to see.
  • “I actually saw 1 or 2 mph increase in ball speed, which is really nice. Typically when you have a mishit, you see that number drop dramatically. But I noticed right away, I was like, ‘OK, I hit one of those a little high on the toe.’ And the numbers were almost identical to the center hit.” 

NEW TSR DRIVERS IN PLAY (26)

Josh Creel: TSR4 9.0°
Cameron Davis: TSR3 8.0°
Lanto Griffin: TSR2 10.0°
Bill Haas: TSR3 8.0°
Chesson Hadley: TSR3 10.0°
Lee Hodges: TSR2 8.0°
Charles Howell III: TSR3 10.0°
Peter Malnati: TSR3 10.0°
Ben Martin: TSR3 9.0°
C.T. Pan: TSR2 9.0°
J.T. Poston: TSR3 9.0°
Omar Uresti: TSR3 9.0°
Vincent Whaley: TSR3 8.0°

NEW TSR FAIRWAYS IN PLAY (13):

Hayden Buckley: TSR3 13.5°
Cameron Davis: TSR3 15.0°
Tyler Duncan: TSR3 15.0°
Lanto Griffin: TSR3 16.5°
Lee Hodges: TSR3 15.0°
Hank Lebioda: TSR2 15.0°
Ben Martin: TSR3 15.0° & 18.0°
C.T. Pan: TSR2 15.0° & 21.0°
Roger Sloan: TSR3 15.0°
Callum Tarren: TSR2 16.5° 
Omar Uresti: TSR3 18.0°
Richy Werenski: TSR2 15.0° & 18.0°

DP WORLD TOUR | Horizon Irish Open

Adrian Meronk (Pro V1) became the first Polish winner in DP World Tour history, playing his final four holes at Mount Juliet Estate Sunday in 4 under to win by three shots.

  • Meronk, the only player to post four rounds in the 60’s, played Nos. 15-17 in birdie-birdie-eagle to shoot a Sunday 6-under 66 and finish the week at 20 under par.
  • “I love it. I’m not stopping,” Meronk said, “I’m going to keep going forward. It’s another step for me. And I’m excited I achieved it here in Ireland, such a great history, and I’m just super excited. I can’t describe it.”

SEVEN STRAIGHT FOR TITLEIST GOLF BALL PLAYERS

  • Meronk’s victory marked the seventh win in a row for Titleist golf ball players on the DP World Tour, and the 13th overall this season – more than five times the nearest competitor (3).
  • Titleist was the overwhelming field favorite for golf balls with 70% of the players teeing up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x (nearest competitor, 14%).
  • In addition to golf balls, Titleist was also the most trusted driver, iron, and wedge at the event. 

TSR DRIVERS DEBUT ON DP WORLD TOUR

  • The new TSR drivers made their DP World Tour debut in Ireland, where 21 players put the new TSR2 and TSR3 models in play.
  • That includes Titleist Brand Ambassador Oliver Bekker, who led the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, gaining an average of 1.21 strokes per round with his TSR3 10.0° driver.
  • Also among those putting TSR drivers immediately in play: Titleist Brand Ambassadors Edoardo Molinari (TSR3 8.0°), Jordan Smith (TSR 8.0°) and Tapio Pulkkanen (TSR2 9.0°).
  • “Performance, it was great,” said Molinari after his initial testing early in the week. “Probably a couple miles per hour faster and more consistent spin as well when you hit it a little bit off the sweet spot. And so I think I’m going to put it in play straight away.”

WINNER PLAYS VOKEY SM9 WEDGES

  • In addition to his Pro V1 golf ball, the winner of the Horizon Irish Open also played three NEW Vokey Design SM9 wedges: 50.12F, 54.10S and 58.10S.

KORN FERRY TOUR | The Ascendant

Titleist Brand Ambassador Zecheng Dou secured his PGA TOUR card for next season, closing in 5-under 67 at TPC Colorado to win by one shot.

  • The win – Dou’s third-career KFT title and first since 2019 – moved him to No. 2 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List, guaranteeing the promotion.
  • Dou – playing a Pro V1x golf ball, T100 irons and NEW Vokey Design SM9 wedges among his Titleist equipment – hit 72 percent greens in regulation (T8) while finishing fourth for the week in scrambling (80 percent).
  • Said Dou, 25: “It feels real now. The first year I got there, I kind of felt I wasn’t ready. But it’s been three years now from that time, and I do feel like all parts of my game are set for the big TOUR.”
  • Titleist was the overwhelming field favorite for golf balls with 77% of the players teeing up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x (nearest competitor, 9%).
  • In addition to golf balls, Titleist was also the most trusted driver, hybrid, utility iron, iron, and wedge at the event.

What’s in Zecheng Dou’s Titleist Golf Bag?

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: TSi3 9.0°
Irons: T200 (4) & T100 (5-PW)
Wedges: NEW Vokey Design SM9 52.08F, 56.08M, WedgeWorks 60.06K
Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M GSS tour prototype 

KOREAN TOUR | Asiad CC Busan Open

JungGon Hwang (Pro V1x) claimed his third-career KPGA tour title with a birdie on the third hole of an all-Titleist golf ball playoff with Osang Kwan (Pro V1).

  • Hwang posted a final-round 1-under 70 to finish the week at 14 under, while Kwan forced the playoff with a closing 67.
  • Nine of the 12 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 (98/68.1%), drivers (66/45.8%), fairways (76/45.2%), hybrids (45/41.7%), irons (60/41.7%), wedges (250/63.6%) and putters (65/45.1%), sweeping every major equipment category.

PGA TOUR CANADA | Prince Edward Island Open

Brian Carlson (Pro V1x) birdied two of his final three holes Sunday to earn his first PGA TOUR Canada title by one shot.

  • Carlson, a former All-Big Ten golfer at Purdue, closed in 7-under 65 at Dundarave Golf Course with a flawless five-birdie, final-nine 31.

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