The Nationwide Tour Championship is underway with the top 60 players vying for one of the 2009 PGA TOUR cards that will be awarded to the top 25 finishers on the season-ending money list come Sunday.  We caught up with several Titleist Brand Ambassadors who shared their thoughts about what is on the line this weekend and their motivation to advance to the big tour ... check out the video below.

Competitive. Driven. Focused. Committed. These are all words easily used to describe Hunter Haas the golfer. They are also words well suited to Hunter Haas the chef. The man who entered the week at 26th on the Nationwide Tour Official Money List is also an accomplished barbecue cook. Cooking competitively is such a passion of his, that Hunter skipped this year’s Mexico Open to compete at the Zops Abilene Wild Game Feast. While working to perfect recipes for chili, pork spare ribs, steak fajitas, and all sorts of chicken dishes, Haas shares his hobby with his friends and colleagues. Last month he packed up his smoker and grill and towed his trailer to Midland, Texas where he cooked as much food as he could for the players, caddies and staff of the WNB Golf Classic. Rumor has it the food was so good the crowd cleaned him out in 30 minutes! To be sure, Haas is passionate about his vocation as well. He postponed by a year his decision to turn professional when he won the 1999 U.S. Public Links. That victory garnered him an invitation to the 2000 Masters Tournament, an experience he simply could not let pass. That week was one of many events which propelled Hunter to a tie for 8th at the 2000 PGA Tour Qualifying School, a full exemption to the 2001 PGA Tour, and a hot start to his professional career. Haas in now in his eighth year as a pro and is well positioned to return to the PGA Tour following this week's season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship. Haas sits a mere $469 outside of the Top 25 and a ticket to 2009 PGA Tour. Since every player in the 59-man field will cash a check, Hunter would like to decide his own fate with a strong performance. Haas fired a first round 3-under 68, good for a share of ninth place at TPC Craig Ranch, just outside of Dallas and in proximity to his Fort Worth home. In fact, when he is home, Hunter plays at least 6o percent of his golf at Craig Ranch. While that may not give him a huge advantage in the Tour Championship, Haas contends, “it sure doesn’t hurt!” What's in Hunter Haas' Bag?: Titleist Pro V1 golf ball, 907D2 driver (9.5), 904F 3-wood (15.0), AP2 irons (4-9), Vokey Design Spin Milled pitching (50), gap (52), sand (56) and lob (60) wedges.

Titleist Brand Ambassador Adam Scott returns to action this week at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, China. The event features seven of the top eight players in the Official World Golf Ranking and is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, which is kicking off its 2009 schedule and newly established Race to Dubai season-long competition. This will be Adam's first official tour event since the BMW Championship on the PGA Tour in September. Here's what he'll have in the bag when he tees it up Thursday at Sheshan International Golf Club.

Adam Scott	Golf Ball	Pro V1
	Driver	909D2 (9.5°) UST Proforce V2 85X
	Fairway	909F2 (13.5°) UST Proforce V2 95X
	Hybrid	909H (21°) UST Proforce V2 Hybrid 100X
	Irons	AP2 (3-9) True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100
	Wedges	Vokey Design 200 Series (49°) Vokey Design Spin Milled (55° & 60-T) True Temper Dynamic Gold
	Putter	Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS

 

To win the Order of Merit one must perform at a consistently high level, week in and week out, against world-class players. For Titleist Brand Ambassador Robert Karlsson, it confirms what he called “a fantastic season.” In a career year, Robert posted Top 10 finishes in three major championships, earned a position on the European Ryder Cup Team, captured two wins on the PGA European Tour and is now sixth in the Official World Golf Rankings. He also became the first Swede to earn the coveted Harry Vardon Trophy. Congratulations to Robert for this notable achievement and for helping to personify the Titleist standard of excellence. For those of you who don’t know Robert, take a look at this video where we ask Robert about growing up playing golf, pro-am experiences, his successful 2008 season, the Ryder Cup and more.

Ryan Palmer started last week looking to break into the Top 125 on the Money List. He finished a two-time PGA Tour champion. With a birdie on the 72nd hole, Palmer secured a one-shot win at the Ginn sur Mer Classic in Palm Coast, Florida, for his second career PGA Tour title. He was at or near the top of the leaderboard the entire tournament. In fact, he was the lone 36-hole leader, and was tied for second after Saturday’s third round. His winning score was 7-under par. This one didn’t come easy. “Having to come and wait, it wasn’t what I wanted to do but it’s kind of the way it goes with the weather," said Palmer, regarding the weather delays on Sunday. "I just didn’t let it get me down. I just kept grinding and grinding." He credits staying focused on himself, and on the things he could control, for keeping himself calm and balanced through the tournament. “I focused so much last week and this week on my rhythm, the pace that I was walking, taking my club out of the bag, how slow, how fast I was doing it. I just focused on that and it kept me calm and loose and determined to hit the shots perfectly." He and the rest of the field at the Ginn not only faced the longest course of the 2008 PGA Tour season at 7,663 yards, but also had to deal with high winds all week and rain delays late on Sunday. Just how hard was it to score on this course? Seven-under led the tournament after Round 1, and it was the winning score Sunday night. Runner-up Vaughn Taylor was the only player in the field to post at least two rounds in the 60’s going into Sunday’s final round, and the field averaged about a full stroke over par for the week at 72.96. Interestingly enough, both of Ryan’s victories have come in Florida just days before the presidential election. Palmer notched this win less than 48 hours before Election Day, and his 2004 win at the FUNAI Classic at Disney World came just ten days before that election. We think he'll be in the winners' circle again before 2012! Click on the link below to watch Ryan's winning interview.