PGA TOUR | AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Titleist Brand Ambassador Tom Hoge birdied three of his final five holes Sunday at Pebble Beach to win his first PGA TOUR title. With the win, Hoge sat atop a leaderboard that featured every player in the Top 5 spots trusting Titleist golf balls, drivers, fairways, irons and wedges for their success including fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Jordan Spieth (2nd), Patrick Cantlay (T4) and Troy Merritt (T4).
- Hoge – playing a Pro V1 Left Dot golf ball and TSi3 9.0° driver among his Titleist equipment – closed in 4-under 68 to win by two shots over fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Jordan Spieth, while becoming the first player since 1997 to birdie Nos. 16 and 17 and win the event.
- Over his final round, Hoge hit 12 of 14 (85.7%) fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation – including his last 10 GIRs, with seven of those approaches finishing inside 20 feet.
- Hoge, a native of Fargo, N.D., who played his college golf at TCU, finished the week at 18 under par, while playing his two rounds at Pebble Beach in 13 under, including an opening 9-under 63 that featured a career-best Strokes Gained: Total (7.769).
- With the win, Hoge moved from 68 to 39 in the World Ranking.
- In April, he’ll be headed to Augusta National to play in his first Masters.
TOP FIVE SWEEP FOR TITLEIST GOLF BALLS, DRIVERS, FAIRWAYS, IRONS & WEDGES
WITB | TOM HOGE
Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot
Driver: TSi3 9.0° | Fujikura Ventus 6 Black X
Fairway Metal: TS2 13.5° | Fujikura Atmos 8 Blue X
Hybrid: 913Hd 18.0° | Fujikura Speeder 904 X
Irons: 620 CB (4) and 620 MB (5-P) | Project X 6.5
Wedges: Vokey Design SM8 52.08F, 56.08M, WedgeWorks 60T | True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Among the Top 5’s Titleist equipment
HOGE’S PRO V1 LEFT DOT
- Tom Hoge became the first player this season to win playing a Pro V1 Left Dot golf ball, following wins by Left Dot players Tony Finau and Daniel Berger in 2021.
- Hoge has been playing the Left Dot since 2018 and, according to Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Golf Ball R&D Consultant on the PGA Tour, is very dialed in to its performance.
- “Tom really likes the lower flight of Left Dot,” Pitts said. “Having played a lot of his golf in Texas, he’s always been focused on being able to flight the ball properly especially into cross and head winds. He feels Left Dot gives him the best ability to hit those shots consistently while giving him all the performance and control he needs in the short game.”
1-2-3 FINISH FOR TSi DRIVERS
- The most played drivers on the PGA TOUR, Titleist TSi drivers swept the top 3 spots on the leaderboard at Pebble Beach.
- Winner Tom Hoge and runner-up Jordan Spieth both played TSi3 driver models.
- The third-place finisher played a TSi2 driver that he put in play for the first time at the Sony Open in Hawaii, having switched from a competitive model to start 2022.
- Troy Merritt (T4) also played a TSi3 driver – the TOUR’s most popular driver model – as well as the T6 finisher, the World’s 25th-ranked player.
- TSi drivers were also used this week by winners on the Asian Tour and Korn Ferry Tour.
ASIAN TOUR | PIF Saudi International
Harold Varner III rolled his Pro V1x golf ball in from 92 feet for eagle on Royal Greens G&CC’s par-5 18th hole Sunday to win the Asian Tour’s 2022-23 season opener by one shot and jump from 99th to 45th in the World Ranking.
- Varner closed in 4-under 68 to finish the week at 13 under, one shot better than fellow Pro V1x player Bubba Watson, who closed out his Sunday 64 with a birdie-eagle finish.
VARNER ON HIS PRO V1x
- “I switched about three years ago (from a competitive model). This was an easy switch. I played in the QBE Shootout with Ryan Palmer and he was playing this golf ball (Pro V1x), and I felt it was really good. When I was switching, I was trying to get more spin around the greens. I felt I had a really good chance of generating a lot of spin, so that was the biggest thing for me. … It’s just been a great, great match.”
WINNER PLAYS TSi DRIVER & FAIRWAYS
- The winner of the PIF Saudi International played a TSi3 driver and a pair of TSi2 fairway metals.
- He switched to the TSi3 driver from a competitive model late last season, putting it in play for the first time during the final round of the BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
- “We had built him a TSi3 to test during the offseason, but he just felt like he wasn’t driving it that well and decided to give it a go on the weekend. He said he drove it great,” said J.J. Van Wezenbeeck, Titleist’s Director of Player Promotions. “We worked on it again a couple weeks later at the Fortinet Championship and he seemed very happy about the switch. He loved the consistency in the flight and the ball speeds he was getting with TSi3 compared to what he had been playing.”
- In November at the Houston Open, while looking to add a driving iron or hybrid (he put a U•505 3-iron in play that week), Van Wezenbeeck also introduced him to the TSi2 7-wood.
- Right before leaving for Saudi Arabia, he asked Van Wezenbeeck if he could also send him a TSi2 3-wood.
- Both the 3-wood (TSi2 15.0°) and 7-wood (TSi2 21.0°) were in the bag this week.
WITB | PIF Saudi International Winner:
Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: TSi3 10.0° | Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 60
Fairway Metals: TSi2 15.0° | Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX 65 and TSi2 21.0° | Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X
LPGA TOUR | LPGA Drive On Championship
Playing a Pro V1 golf ball, Leona Maguire closed in 5-under 67 to claim her first victory on the LPGA Tour, while becoming the first woman from Ireland to ever raise a trophy on the LPGA.
- Maguire’s rounds of 66-65-67 earned her a convincing three-shot victory, the third consecutive win by Titleist golf ball players (Danielle Kang, Lydia Ko) to start the 2022 season.
- Said Maguire, 27: “It’s a bit surreal. It’s been a long time coming and I suppose you don't know it’s going to happen until it actually does. Tried to just stay really patient today. Didn't get ahead of myself. Wanted to go out and just shoot a number. Didn’t want anybody to have to hand it to me. I wanted to go out and win it myself and earn it. Yeah, just really proud of the way I played today.”
DP WORLD TOUR | Ras al Khaimah Championship
The winner of the Ras al Khaimah Championship played a Scotty Cameron Teryllium T22 Fastback 1.5 tour prototype putter, earning his second victory on the DP World Tour in his last 10 starts.
- Both wins have come with the Scotty Cameron in the bag – he switched to the putter from a competitive model the same week he claimed his maiden tour victory at the 2021 DS Automobiles Italian Open.
- A week before that win, his brother switched to a Scotty Cameron Special Select Masterful Tourtype SSS putter and claimed a one-shot victory at the Omega European Masters for his third European Tour victory.
KORN FERRY TOUR | Panama Championship
Titleist Brand Ambassador Carson Young claimed his first Korn Ferry Tour victory, closing in 2-under 68 for a one-shot victory on one of the KFT’s most difficult tracks.
- Young, who finished the week at 8 under, made only one bogey Sunday at Panama Golf Club, and only six for the week, tying for the fewest number of bogeys or worse in the field.
- In Friday’s second round, he also made just a single bogey, to go along with six birdies in a 5-under 65.
- Young, a first-time member on the Korn Ferry Tour, having earned guaranteed starts for the first eight events of 2022 through the final stage of Q-School, was playing in just his 10th KFT event ever.
- “What I've dreamed of ever since I turned pro is to win on the Korn Ferry Tour,” Young told PGATOUR.com. “This is a really special moment for me. Had some good practice rounds. I was feeling good with my game. I felt like this course set up well for me. You had to be a pretty good ball-striker. I just played really solid golf. Hit a bunch of fairways, bunch of greens, and made a few putts here and there that ended up turning out to be good enough.”
WITB | Carson Young
Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: TSi3 9.0°
Fairway Metal: TS3 15.0°
Hybrid: 816H2 19.0°
Irons: 620 CB (4) and 620 MB (5-9)
Wedges: Vokey Design SM8 46.10F, 52.12F, 56.10S, 60.08M
PGA TOUR AUSTRALASIA | TPS Victoria Hosted by Geoff Ogilvy
Todd Sinnott (Pro V1) earned his first professional win in over four years, closing in 5-under 66 for a one-shot victory at Rosebud CC.
- Sinnott, who missed two years of golf with stress fractures in his back, finished the four rounds at 20 under par to claim his first title since the 2017 Myanmar Open in Asia.
- It was an emotional win for Sinnott whose swing has been rebuilt by TPI Advisory Staff Professional Denis McDade over the last 12 months.
- “I’m not going to lie, it was really, really hard,” he said after the win. “But I have a belief and I practice my butt off. My coach Denis (McDade), I don’t think I’d be here without his help. I honestly don’t believe I’d be here. I think we can go places together.”
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