Titleist Weekly Tour Highlights
PGA TOUR:
Justin Thomas captured the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges for the second time in three years, this time with a two-shot win over Danny Lee (Pro V1x) his main competitor throughout the final round. The pair entered Sunday tied for the lead and it stayed that way through the front nine until Thomas took the lead with a birdie on No. 14 and didn’t look back, closing with a 5-under par 67 en route to a 20-under 268 victory total.
He topped a leaderboard on which nine (9) of the 11 players who finished among the top 10 and ties relied upon Titleist golf balls for their success.
Three players tied for 3rd place, five shots behind Thomas, including fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Cameron Smith (Pro V1x, TS2/9.5° driver, TS2/15.0° fairway, U500 3-iron, T100/4-9 irons, Vokey Design SM7 pitching/46°, gap/52°, sand/56° and lob/60° wedges, Scotty Cameron TFB 1.5 putter), and last year’s runner-up and U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland (Pro V1, TS2 fairway metal, Vokey Design SM7 wedges, Scotty Cameron GSS putter).
The victory was the 11th of Thomas’ PGA TOUR career – all of them accomplished with a Titleist golf ball and a complete bag of Titleist golf clubs.
Thomas’ victory makes it back-to-back wins on the PGA TOUR for Titleist full product line players, as he follows Lanto Griffin, who also trusted Titleist from tee-to-green to capture his first career crown at the Houston Open.
The win was the fifth for Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball players through the first six events on the 2019-20 PGA TOUR. Thomas joins Griffin (Houston Open), Kevin Na (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open), Sebastian Munoz (Sanderson Farms Championship) and Joaquin Niemann (A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier) into the Titleist Winners’ Circle in the 2019-2020 season.
In addition to golf balls, Titleist was also the top tee-to-green choice in six major club categories, including: driver (22), fairway metals (31), hybrids (11), utility irons (23), irons (23) and wedges (110).
The 2019 Barracuda Championship winner, who earned his first career PGA TOUR title relying upon the Titleist Pro V1x without an agreement, is back playing it again this week. He started the new PGA TOUR season playing his major equipment sponsor’s golf ball, but returned to the Pro V1x at the CJ Cup after just two weeks.
Europe:
On the European Tour, for the second time in two months, a full product line player from another different competitive brand, made the switch to a Titleist golf ball and won.
In September, the KLM Open champion, who made his switch at The Northern Trust, claimed victory in just his third event after transitioning to the Pro V1.
This week, another player — fighting to keep his European Tour card and having fallen from No. 32 to No. 424 in the World Ranking — switched to the Titleist Pro V1x at the KLM Open from the same competitive brand and captured the French Open in just his sixth event since putting it in play. The 2012 Ryder Cup participant returned to the winners’ circle for the first time in seven years.
The champion also chose to play Vokey Design SM7 gap/50°, sand/56° and lob/60° wedges for his winning success.
A pair of Titleist Brand Ambassadors followed the winner on the leaderboard. Joachim B Hansen (Pro V1x, TS3/10.5 driver, TS3/16.5 fairway, TS3/19 hybrid, 620 CB/3-9 irons, Vokey Design SM7 pitching/46°, gap/52° and lob/58° wedges, Scotty Cameron T5 putter) carded a final round 3-under 68 to finish solo 2nd, while George Coetzee (Pro V1x, TS2/10.5° driver, U510 1-iron, T200/3-iron, 620 CB/4-PW irons, Vokey Design SM7 gap/50°, sand/56° and lob/60° wedges, Scotty Cameron Newport putter) finished alone in 3rd, another shot back.
In addition to golf balls, Titleist topped the field in seven major equipment categories, including: drivers (36), fairway metals (45), hybrids (15), utility irons (28), irons (40) and wedges (190).
The win is the 19th for Titleist players on the 2018-19 Euro Tour, more than twice the nearest competitor (8).
LPGA:
Danielle Kang (Pro V1x) will always remember her 27th birthday as the day she captured the Buick Shanghai, successfully defending her title by one shot over Jessica Korda (Pro V1).
Kang closed with a bogey-free 2-under par 70 en route to a 16-under 272 victory total, breaking her own tournament scoring record set at the inaugural event last year. The win was the third of Kang’s LPGA Tour career, having also won the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship.
The win was the 22nd for Titleist golf ball players on the 2019 LPGA Tour, more than five times the nearest competitor with 4.
In addition to the golf balls, both the winner and the runner-up relied upon Vokey Design wedges and a Scotty Cameron putter for their success.
JAPAN:
Chan Kim (Pro V1x), who started the final round of the Japan Open eight shots off the lead, closed with a 4-under par 67 en route to a one shot win over two players, including fellow Pro V1x player Shaun Norris. The win was the fourth of Kim’s four-year career on the JGTO.
Adam Scott (Pro V1, TS3/11.5° driver, TS2/16.5° fairway metal, 716 T-MB 3-iron, 680/4-9 irons, Vokey Design SM7 pitching/48°, gap/52°, sand/56° and prototype lob/60° wedges, Scotty Cameron Xperimental long putter), making his fifth appearance in the Japan Open in the last six years, was among five players who tied for 5th, three shots back.
#1 Ball
What's in Justin Thomas' Winning Titleist Bag?
Pro V1x, TS3 (9.5°) driver, TS3 (15.0°) and 915Fd (18.0°) fairway metals, T100 (4) and 620 MB (5-9) irons, Vokey Design SM7 pitching (46°), gap (52°), sand (56°) and lob (60°) wedges.
A Closer Look
Thomas, who put a T100 4-iron into his bag the first week it was available at the U.S. Open, worked with the remainder of his iron set during his off-season. Thomas moved into the new 620 MB irons (5-9) at the Safeway Open, replacing the 718 MB's that he played for the last two years.
This marks Justin’s first win since putting the new 620 MB’s in the bag.
Thomas has also been gaming some fresh wedges, having just replaced his Vokey Design SM6 lob wedge with a new prototype 60T at the very end of September.