Viktor Hovland Secures Second Career Win at Mayakoba Classic

Viktor Hovland (Pro V1)
Viktor Hovland (Pro V1)1/4
Antoine Rozner (Pro V1x)
Antoine Rozner (Pro V1x)2/4
Angela Stanford (Pro V1)
Angela Stanford (Pro V1)3/4
Chan Kim (Pro V1)
Chan Kim (Pro V1)4/4

PGA TOUR

For the second time this season, Viktor Hovland (Pro V1) converted a birdie putt on the final hole of regulation to claim victory. Hovland earned his first career win at the Puerto Rico Open in February in similar fashion.

  • Hovland closed with a 6-under 65 to finish at 20-under 264, one shot clear of another Pro V1 player.
  • In fact, Hovland topped a leaderboard on which the top seven finishers, and 10 of the 11 players who placed among the Top 10 and ties trusted a Titleist golf ball for their success.
  • As the 2020 curtain falls on the PGA TOUR schedule, Titleist golf ball players accounted for eight (8) wins through the first 12 events during the fall campaign, four times the nearest competitor with 2. 

JUSTIN THOMAS PLAYS NEW PRO V1x FOR FIRST TIME IN COMPETITION

Titleist Brand Ambassador Justin Thomas made a golf ball switch to the NEW Pro V1x this week in Mayakoba, finishing T12.

    • On Saturday, JT fired the lowest score of the third round - a 9-under par 62 and closed with a 2-under 69, to finish six shots behind Hovland.
    • Inside JT’s Golf Ball Switch: According to Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Tour Consultant who’s fit players for golf balls on the PGA Tour and across the worldwide professional tours for over 20 years, he and Justin worked together at his home club in Florida during Thanksgiving week, testing golf balls and discussing his performance goals for next season. “One of the things JT has been talking about wanting to see is a slightly higher trajectory in the long game so he was really excited to see the ball flight and distance he was getting with New Pro V1x,” Pitts said. “He also pointed out how well it held its line in windy conditions. We tested other options, but he wanted to put the New Pro V1x in play this week in Mayakoba and see how it performed under the gun in competition.”

TWO TSi DRIVERS IN TOP 5

Two of the top five finishers relied upon New TSi drivers.

  • One was Titleist Brand Ambassador Tom Hoge, who tied for 3rd playing Titleist equipment from tee-to-green, including the TSi2 (9.0°) driver.
  • Another shot back, in a three-way tie for 5th, was a player who has a TSi3 driver (9.0°) and two TSi2 fairway metals (15.0°, 18.0°) in his bag. He fired a 65-64 on the weekend to race up the leaderboard. 

EUROPEAN TOUR | GOLF IN DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIP

Titleist Brand Ambassador Antoine Rozner claimed his maiden European Tour title at the Golf in Dubai Championship following a final round 8-under par performance that helped him come from four shots back to a two-stroke victory.

  • The 27-year-old European Tour rookie edged four Titleist golf ball players [Andy Sullivan/Pro V1x, Matt Wallace/Pro V1, Francesco Laporta/Pro V1 and Michael Lorenzo-Vera/Pro V1] who tied for 2nd, by converting a two-putt birdie on the par-five 18th hole to close with a 64 en route to a 25-under 263 victory total.
  • The win advanced Rozner to 24th in the Race to Dubai Rankings and he will participate in his first DP World Championship next week.

Trusting Titleist from Tee-to-Green

  • Rozner put on a driving display with his Pro V1x golf ball and NEW TSi3 driver, averaging 334 yards off the tee with 71.4% accuracy.
  • The TSi3 was the most played driver model in Dubai with 24 in play.
  • Rozner’s win was the second in three weeks on the European Tour with the New TSi3 driver - the hottest driver in golf.
  • Titleist was also the overwhelming field favorite in the golf ball category with 77 players (72%), more than five times the nearest competitor with 15

What’s in Antoine Rozner’s Winning Titleist Bag?:

Titleist Pro V1x golf ball, NEW TSi3 (9.0°) driver, TS3 fairway metal, U-500 2-iron, 620 CB (3-4) and 620 MB (5-9) irons, Vokey Design SM8 pitching (46°), sand (52°) and lob (58°) wedges

NEW TSi3 (9.0°) driver
NEW TSi3 (9.0°) driver1/4
TS3 (15°) fairway metal
TS3 (15°) fairway metal 2/4
U-500 2-iron
U-500 2-iron3/4
620 MB (3-9) irons
620 MB (3-9) irons4/4

Continued Success for TSi on European Tour

The top two players in the Race to Dubai rankings are both currently playing the NEW TSi3 drivers as well – without an agreement. In fact, there are currently 18 non-agreement players trusting a Titleist TSi driver in competition heading into the final event of the 2020 season.

Inside the Ropes

Titleist Tour Representative Liam McDougall worked with Rozner and a few other top players on their long game prior to the event in Dubai.

  • In addition to optimizing driver performance, Rozner also changed the 3-iron in his bag to a 620 CB, which was used to hit his second shot in to 18 to win the tournament.
  • According to McDougall, “Antoine was looking for something with more flight and softer land angle, which exactly what happened on No. 18. That was the type of shot he put that club in the bag for and he had confidence in it when he needed it most. Antoine is a great player and just needed to have confidence in himself. It was great to see him put it all together this week.”
  • McDougall also worked with another top player who had not changed his driver from a competitive brand or model in the last three years. The player – who had risen to as high as No. 23 in the Official World Golf Rankings three years ago and now stands No. 53 in the Race to Dubai – preferred the shape and weighting of the NEW TSi2 with 10.0° of loft and picked up 2 mph ball speed. The SureFit hosel was set to C1 with a Tensei AV Orange shaft.

EUROPEAN TOUR | SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Pro V1) secured back-to-back European Tour wins on home soil following a five-shot victory at the South African Open.

  • He becomes the first player to achieve a winning double on the European Tour since 2017.
  • The 26-year-old began his final round with a five-shot advantage over Jamie Donaldson (Pro V1x), and that was the way it ended, despite the margin being cut to two.
  • The eventual champion birdied Nos. 10, 11 and 12 to pull away over the final nine holes.
  • After firing three consecutive 67’s, Bezuidenhout closed with a 3-under 69 en route to an 18-under 270 victory total, sealing his third career European Tour title.
  • Bezuidenhout earned a four-shot victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship just seven days ago and will enter next week's season-ending DP World Tour Championship ranked No. 5 in the Race to Dubai standings.
  • In combination with the win at the Golf in Dubai Championship, the victory was the 16th for Titleist golf ball players on the 2020 European Tour, more than twice the nearest competitor (7).

Equipment Dominance

  • Titleist was the overwhelming field favorite in the golf ball category with 119 (76%) in play, 100 more than the nearest competitor with 19.
  • Titleist was also the top choice in drivers (48/31%), with the TSi3 the most played individual model with 25.
  • And rounding out the tee-to-green performance choice, Titleist was also most played in the iron (48/31%, and 20 more than the nearest competitor) and wedge (277/47%, and 195 more than the nearest competitor) categories.

LPGA

Angela Stanford (Pro V1) clinched her seventh career LPGA Tour title at the Volunteers of America Classic, closing with a 4-under 67 en route to a 7-under 277 victory total.

  • Stanford finished two shots clear of three players, including former World No. 1 So Yeon Ryu (Pro V1, TS3 driver, TS2 fairway metals, T100 irons, Vokey Design gap, sand and lob wedges, Scotty Cameron 1.5 Teryllium putter) and rookie Yealmi Noh (Pro V1x).
  • Current No. 1, Jin Young Ko (Pro V1), finished solo fifth, another shot back.

Equipment Dominance

  • Titleist was the overwhelming choice in golf balls with 78 of the 97 players in the field (80%) teeing up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x - 13 times more than the nearest competitor.
  • Titleist golf ball players have now won 13 of the 16 events played on the 2020 LPGA Tour, more than six times the nearest competitor with 2.

JAPAN

Chan Kim (Pro V1x) closed with a 3-under 67 en route to an 8-under par 272 victory total to win the season-ending Japan Series JT Cup yesterday.

  • The win was his fifth in six years on the Japan Tour.
  • This event marked the end of the 2020 JGTO schedule which will be carried over to 2021.

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