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Posted: November 21, 2008
Titleist Brand Ambassador Zach Johnson and his 909D2 driver. Titleist Brand Ambassador Zach Johnson was fit recently for his 909 driver by Titleist PGA Tour Representative Fordie Pitts. Having three driver models with unique performance characteristics allowed Zach to dramatically increase his driver performance. "Our goal during Zach's fitting was to increase launch and reduce spin while meeting his preferred look, feel, and ball flight preferences," said Fordie. "Zach is a player who's swing produces a fairly steep angle of attack. This condition with a driver will typically produce low launch and high spin launch conditions - the most difficult conditions to fit. If you increase launch with loft you will typically increase spin resulting in a loss of distance. The great news with Zach is that we were able increase his launch and reduce his spin. This was due to Zach shallowing his angle of attack and the lower and deeper CG location of the 909D2." Zach notes, "I'm very pleased with the performance, great looks and outstanding feel of my new 909D2. At the Valero Texas Open, I really noticed the 909D2 increased my launch angle and decreased my spin and helped guide me to victory." See a summary of Zach's before and after launch conditions below:
Titleist Brand Ambassador Steve Stricker and his 909D3 driver.
Titleist Brand Ambassador Steve Stricker was fit for his 909 Driver earlier this summer by Titleist PGA Tour Representative Fordie Pitts. Having three driver models with unique performance characteristics allowed Strick to select a driver that both fits his eye and significantly increases his driver performance.
"Strick is a high ball speed player who could use less spin, and he likes the look of a driver with a smaller head," said Fordie. "It's been difficult for him to move into a 460cc head and maintain the profile he likes. I knew we had the driver for him. The more compact profile of the 440cc 909D3 exceeded Strick's demand for great looks, and the lower CG reduced his spin rate almost 300 rpm giving him valuable gains in distance and accuracy."
Strick added, "I like a driver that sits square at address and a profile that's pleasing to my eye. In addition, I want to turn the ball over with less spin. My 909D3 does all of that. I can even tee the ball lower with this driver and hit bullets without worrying about the ball up-shooting."
See a summary of Steve's before and after launch conditions below:
Posted: November 19, 2008
Davis Love III's golf equipment is similar to the man himself, in that "what you see is what you get." He doesn't have the club builders do a lot of custom grinding, nor are his specs far from standard; his bag is pretty plain vanilla.
His driver is the new 909D3, 8.5°. It contains a UST Proforce V2 76g shaft in an X flex, and the finished length is 45" with a swingweight of D-5. Not surprisingly, his F3•05 (13°) and 906F3 (18°) prototype fairways are similar, both with UST Proforce V2 86g shafts in X flex and D-5 swingweights.
Sometimes Davis replaces the 18° fairway with a 2-iron depending on course set up and conditions. That 2-iron matches the rest of his 680 forged iron set (3-9). The heads are standard, the shafts are Dynamic Gold X-100s. The length is 1/4" longer than standard and all the lies are 1° flat.
DL3 carries 3 Vokey Design wedges. His pitching wedge is a 250-08 in tour chrome and like all three of his wedges, has a Dynamic Gold X-100 shaft cut to 1/2" over standard. Davis' sand wedge is a bit customized in that he started with a raw finish Vokey 456-10 and had it bent to 55° of loft and 9° of bounce. His lob wedges is a 60° with a standard E grind and raw finish.
True to his Tarheel roots, all of Davis Love's clubs have "Carolina Blue" Golf Pride New Decade grips, 60 Round put on upside down (logo underneath).
Posted: November 10, 2008
The 2008 Nationwide Tour season came to a close after an exciting finish at the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch. PGA TOUR cards for 2009 were awarded to the Top 25 finishers on the season-ending money list. Nineteen of the Top 25 are Titleist golf ball loyalists, including nine who are considered Titleist Brand Ambassadors, those who rely upon Titleist golf balls and equipment throughout the bag.
Titleist Brand Ambassadors and their position on the final money list include: Brendon de Jonge (2nd), Jarrod Lyle (4th), Colt Knost (6th), Darron Stiles (7th), Greg Chalmers (8th), Aron Price (18th), Marc Leishman (T19), Bryce Molder (23rd) and Matt Weibring (24th). The ten additional golf ball loyalists who trust the Pro V1 or Pro V1x for their success include: Jeff Klauk (3rd), Bill Lunde (5th), Scott Piercy (9th), Greg Owen (10th), Peter Tomasulo (11th), Rick Price (12th), David Mathis (14th), D.A. Points (16th), Arjun Atwal (17th) and Spencer Levin (22nd).
Titleist was the overwhelming most played golf ball at the Nationwide Tour Championship with 47 players, which was 80 percent of the field and more than 11 times the nearest competitor with four players. Titleist was also the top choice in the iron sets (23), wedge (59) and putter (24) categories.
We caught up with several graduating Titleist Brand Ambassadors who shared their thoughts as they look ahead to playing on the 2009 PGA TOUR… check out the video below:
Titleist Brand Ambassador Davis Love III won the Children's Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart, closing with a second consecutive 8-under 64 for a one-shot victory in the final PGA TOUR event of the year. Love scrambled for pars on the final two holes, including a tough bunker shot to 3 feet on the 18th, to hold off a late charge from the runner-up. Love, who finished at 25-under 263, saved the best for last, as his weekend 64s were both season-low rounds. The win was the first in more than two years for the 22-year PGA TOUR veteran who last won at the 2006 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro (now the Wyndham Championship). It was also his 20th career victory, earning him a lifetime exemption on the PGA TOUR. Only three other active players have won more than 20 TOUR events.
Hear what Davis had to say in his post-victory interview by clicking on the video player below.
Davis Love III
Here's what Davis had in the bag for his 20th PGA Tour win:
Posted: November 9, 2008
Bryce Molder Titleist Brand Ambassador Bryce Molder had a strong back nine on Saturday to earn himself a share of the lead heading into Sunday’s final round at the Nationwide Tour Championship. After birdies on both par 5’s on the front, Molder’s third round 64 really picked up steam on the par 4 12th hole. He birdied that hole, and then the next three on his way to posting a 5 under par 30 on the back 9. “Once you make one, the hole looks a lot bigger,” Molder noted. Molder started the week 32 on the Nationwide Tour Official Money List and this former member of the PGA Tour (2002, 2007) knows Saturday’s round didn’t guarantee him a return trip. “I have a lot of work to do tomorrow to head back to the Tour. Right now I’m trying to chase down and win a golf tournament.” The weather report for Sunday is calling for more wind than the field has seen so far, and perhaps even some late day rain. Bryce commented, “It’s going to be a tough day and if the wind picks up, you’re just going to have to be a little more patient.” Molder is confident enough in his ball striking to know that he has the shots to combat any conditions. Of the shots he know he can hit under pressure, Molder said “The best shot I have going for me right now is a little bunt driver. It’s a lower ball flight and doesn’t spin as much; it doesn’t get off line and I just feel comfortable hitting it so that’s been my go-to shot.” Molder uses a 909 D3 to hit that “go-to” shot. He put in play earlier this season and told us, “I get the same shot pattern as my last Titleist driver but the spin rate is a little less. The first week I used it, I hit the balls as long as I had hit it all year so I kept it in the bag!”