The PGA TOUR is Back

Charles Schwab ChallengeJordan Spieth (Pro V1x) plays his shot from the 13th tee during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 14, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

PGA TOUR:

The PGA TOUR is back! In the first event since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down professional golf following the first round of The PLAYERS on March 12, the winner of the Charles Schwab Challenge, who finished with an up-and-down par on the first hole of a sudden death playoff, played a Pro V1 golf ball.

The winner closed with a 4-under 66, marking his 28th consecutive round at par or better dating back to the Houston Open in October. He birdied the final hole of regulation to reach 15-under 265 and earn a spot in the playoff.

The Charles Schwab Challenge win marked the 18th for Titleist golf ball players through the first 23 events on the 2019-20 PGA TOUR – that’s nine times the nearest competitor with 2.

With another victory on the Korn Ferry Tour, Titleist now has 40 wins across the worldwide professional tours, five times the nearest competitor (8).

Jason Kokrak (Pro V1) raced up the leaderboard on the weekend, firing a 65-64 to finish T3, one shot out of the playoff. His Sunday 64 tied for the lowest score of the final round with Brian Stuard (Pro V1x).

Inside the Ropes:

Titleist tour representatives adhered to new safety protocols from the PGA TOUR and Acushnet Company. There was limited access to players and practice facilities, which included no direct contact or exchange of product with players or caddies. With 33 Titleist full product line players in the Charles Schwab Challenge field (and 28 at Korn Ferry Challenge) the pre-tournament communication and work done by the Titleist team via telephone, text and video allowed the players to prepare in advance and reduced the amount of building on site. There were considerable requests for new grips and to confirm lofts and lies.

Justin ThomasJustin Thomas (Pro V1x) reacts to his birdie on the ninth green during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Justin Thomas was among the first to secure fresh grips and get his lofts and lies checked – and it paid off with a T10 finish.

Thomas dropped his clubs off on Monday afternoon and the team put on new grips, tweaked and confirmed his lofts and lies back to his preferred specifications, and built him a new TS3 (15.0) fairway metal. The clubs were dropped back off at the cleaning station where he then picked them up, allowing Thomas to prep for the tournament knowing he was dialed in.

Jordan SpiethJordan Spieth plays his shot from the ninth tee during the third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

In the weeks prior to the Charles Schwab Challenge, Jordan Spieth wanted to work with some new Titleist drivers. According to Director of Player Promotions J.J. VanWezenbeeck, he was shipped a couple TS3’s. Upon testing, Jordan and his instructor Cameron McCormick agreed and confirmed his original gamer (TS3/10.5*/Fujikura Ventus 6 Blue X) was still the best option even with the swing changes they had made. Spieth did have his Titleist U500 4-iron adjusted this week, weakening it by one degree to fit the gaps in his bag better.  At the event, the Titleist tour team utilized Spieth’s caddie Michael Greller and the drop off area to communicate and safely adjust the equipment. Like Thomas, Spieth tied for 10th.

KORN FERRY:

Luke ListLuke List poses with the trophy after the final round at the Korn Ferry Tour's Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass at Dyes Valley Course on June 14, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Luke List (Pro V1) closed with a 3-under 67 to earn a one-stroke victory at the Korn Ferry Challenge over Joseph Bramlett (Pro V1, TS3 driver and fairway metal, Vokey Design SM8 pitching, gap, sand and lob wedges) and Shad Tuten (Pro V1, TS3 fairway metal, 816H2 hybrid, T100 irons, Vokey Design SM8 gap, sand and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron Select Squareback 2 putter).

List topped a leaderboard on which 12 of the 13 players who finished among the top 10 and ties relied upon a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, including each of the top seven (7).

The winner also played a full set of Titleist T100 (4-P) irons and Vokey Design SM8 gap (50), sand (54) and WedgeWorks 60K lob wedges en route to his win.

Titleist topped the golf ball count with 104 (67%) players in the field of 156, nearly five times the nearest competitor with 21.

Titleist was also the field favorite in drivers (39), hybrids (19), utility irons (35), irons (44) and wedges (216).