Na's Greenbrier Victory Leads 5-Win Week for Titleist Players

When it comes to excitement, the 2018 golf season continues to raise the bar, treating us to a variety of inspired performances and one dramatic finish after another. Over the weekend, we saw Titleist players capture five more professional victories around the globe.

We saw one player shatter an LPGA Tour scoring record, another win in convincing fashion in Japan and two more players claim maiden victories on their respective tours. We also saw that persistence pays off, in the form of a PGA Tour veteran who returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in seven years.

All told, Titleist players have now accumulated 120 wins across the worldwide professional golf tours, more than 100 wins and more than seven times the nearest competing brand with just 16.

This record of success is something we’re extremely proud of. And grateful for. All of our team members work very hard to make sure that every player who tees up a Titleist has absolute confidence that it is the highest quality, most consistent and best-performing golf ball in the game. To all the players who put their trust in the #1 ball in golf, whether you're a professional or a weekend warrior, thank you from everyone at Titleist.

Congratulations to all of our winners! Let’s take a look at this past week’s Titleist tour highlight…

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"I’m so happy to win. I felt like it was my day, maybe somebody up there is looking out for me.”

These were the words of Kevin Na (Pro V1x) shortly after he pulled away from the field to capture his second career PGA Tour title with a five-shot win at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. Na fired a final round 6-under-par 64, including six birdies through his first 10 holes en route to a 19-under 261 victory total. It was his first victory since the 2011 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He started the day one shot behind the leaders.

"I'm always up there," said an emotional Na, referring to his 65 career top-10 finishes. "I have been close so many times. I saw the trophy when I walked on the tee every day and I thought about how good it would look at home. Obviously a big confidence boost, and it’s nice to get that second trophy.”

Na topped a leaderboard that included 9 of the top 10 finishers relying upon Titleist golf balls for their success, including the runner-up (Pro V1) and Jason Kokrak (Pro V1, new TS3/9.5° driver, TS2/15° fairway metal, 716 T-MB 3-iron, 718 CB/4-5 and 718 MB/6-PW irons, Vokey Design SM7 52.08 F grind gap wedge, 56.08 M grind sand wedge and 60.04 L grind lob wedge, Scotty Cameron Timeless putter), who tied for 3rd at 13-under.

There was a five-way, all-Titleist golf ball tie for 5th at 12-under, including Austin Cook (Pro V1), Joel Dahmen (Pro V1x), Joaquin Niemann (Pro V1x), Sam Saunders (Pro V1) and Harold Varner III (Pro V1x). The 19-year old Niemann fired a final-round 6-under-par 64 to vault up the leaderboard. He now has four top-8 finishes this season. The runner-up, Kokrak and Cook all qualified for the Open Championship with their performances.

Russell Henley (Pro V1x, 917D2 driver, 917F2 fairway metals, 818H2 hybrid, 716 AP2 irons, Vokey Design SM7 wedges, Scotty Cameron Tour Rat putter) closed with a 7-under-par 63 to round out the Top 10 at 11-under. He fired four straight rounds in the 60s.

Na’s winning performance marked the 24th victory for Titleist golf ball players on the 2017-18 season, three times the nearest competitor with 8.

 Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, with 118 players in the field of 156 trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than six times the nearest competitor with 19 and more than all competitors combined.

Titleist was also the top choice in the hybrids (32) and irons categories (48). Vokey Design Wedges topped the approach, sand and lob wedge (223) category and Scotty Cameron putters are the choice of more players than any other brand with 63 in play.

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Three weeks after their official PGA Tour launch, the momentum continued to roll at The Greenbrier for new Titleist TS drivers. Of the 37 players gaming a Titleist driver at the event, 16 played a new TS model (TS2: 9 | TS3: 7).

To date, 31 different players have put a new Titleist TS driver in play on the PGA Tour, including:

Adam Scott TS3 (10.5) Andrew Yun TS2 (10.5)
Bill Haas TS2 (9.5) Blayne Barber TS2 (9.5)
Bronson Burgoon TS3 (8.5) Byeong-Hun An TS2 (9.5)
Cam Smith TS2 (9.5) Charley Hoffman TS3 (9.5)
Chesson Hadley TS2 (10.5) Derek Fathauer TS2 (10.5)
Dominic Bozzelli TS2 (9.5) Eric Axley TS3 (9.5)
Ethan Tracy TS2 (8.5) Geoff Ogilvy TS2 (10.5)
Jason Kokrak TS3 (9.5) Jimmy Walker TS3 (8.5)
JustinThomas TS3 (9.5) Lanto Griffin TS2 (10.5)
Matt Jones TS2 (10.5) Michael Kim TS2 (10.5)
Mike Miller TS2 (9.5) Patton Kizzire TS3 (10.5)
Peter Malnati TS2 (9.5) Rafa Cabrera Bello TS3 (9.5)
Richy Werenski TS3 (9.5) Robert Streb TS2 (10.5)
Webb Simpson TS3 (10.5) Will Zalatoris TS3 (9.5)
Zac Blair TS2 (9.5)

This also marks the second week since Titleist introduced the new TS2 and TS3 fairway metals. Of the 51 Titleist fairway metals in play at The Greenbrier, 19 were a new TS model (TS2: 11 | TS3: 8).

Click here to sign up for alerts on the latest TS driver and fairway metal news and updates

• • •

Sei-Young Kim (Pro V1) posted a record-setting performance at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic, firing a final round 7-under-par 65 en route to a 31-under-par 257 victory total.

Kim, who fired rounds of 63-65-64-65, shattered the LPGA’s 72-hole scoring record to par (previously 27-under) by four shots with her 31-under mark. She also set the 72-hole scoring record at 257, breaking the previous record by one shot. She had already tied the 54-hole mark of 24-under on Saturday.

Kim had 31 birdies and one eagle for the week, and hit 67 out of 72 greens in regulation.

 Titleist was the most played golf ball with 121 players trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x, more than 15 times the nearest competitor with 8.

Kim’s first victory of the year marks the 14th for Titleist golf ball players on the 2018 LPGA Tour, 11 more than the nearest competitor with 3.

•••

 

Argentina’s Nelson Ledesma (Pro V1x) fired a final round 5-under-par 67 en route to a 22-under 266 victory total at the LECOM Health Challenge.

It marked the first career Web.com Tour title for Ledesma who finished two shots clear of Kyle Jones (Pro V1x) and Sebastian Munoz (Pro V1).

 Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice at the LECOM Health Challenge with 108 players trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, nearly five times the nearest competitor with 23 and more than all competitors combined.

Titleist was also the top choice in the irons category (45) and Vokey Design Wedges topped the approach, sand and lob wedge (210) category.

Ledesma’s win marks the 12th for Titleist golf ball players through the first 17 Web.com Tour events this season, four times the nearest competitor with 3.

 •••

Brad Kennedy (Pro V1x) fired a final round 8-under-par 64 en route to a 12-under 204 victory total at the Sega Sammy Cup. It was a Titleist 1-2 finish as Kennedy finished three shots clear of Hyung-Sung Kim (Pro V1).

The win is the third of Kennedy’s eight-year JGTO career.

 Titleist was the most played golf ball at the event with 87 players, more than all other golf balls combined.

• • •

Let’s take a closer look at the Titleist equipment that Brad had in the bag in Hokkaido.

Golf Ball: Pro V1x

Driver: 917D2 (8.5º) 

Hybrids: 818H2 (19º), 915Hd (20.5°)

Irons: VG3 (5-PW)

Wedges: Vokey Design SM5 gap (50°), sand (54°) and lob (60°)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Concept 2 NB

•••

It was an all-Titleist golf ball playoff at the NS Home Shopping Jeonbuk Open where SukWoan Ko (Pro V1x) topped HanGu Lee (Pro V1x, 917F2 fairway metal, 818H2 hybrid, 716 T-MB/AP2 irons, Vokey Design SM7 gap, sand and lob wedges) with a birdie on the first extra hole for his first career victory.

Ko and Lee both finished regulation at 9-under-par 275, one shot clear of WooHyun Kim (Pro V1x, 816H1 hybrids, Vokey Design SM4 wedges, Scotty Cameron T5W putter).

JunSeok Lee (Pro V1x, 917D2 driver, 917F3 fairway metal, 818H2 hybrid, 718 CB irons, Vokey Design SM7 wedges, Scotty Cameron Concept 2.5 putter) finished solo 4th, another shot back.

Nine of the top 10 finishers relied upon Titleist golf balls for their success.

 Titleist was the most played golf ball with 103 players trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x, more than four times the nearest competitor with 23.

 

•••

Congratulations to all of #TeamTitleist!

Click here for a listing of all Titleist golf ball wins this season.