With ball-striking accuracy and short-game precision, longtime Pro V1 golf ball player Viktor Hovland etched his name on the FedExCup with a 7-under 63 Sunday, winning his first TOUR Championship in a runaway, five-shot victory.
Hovland rolled his Pro V1 in for birdie on each of East Lake’s final three holes, finishing off a bogey-free 63 that set the TOUR Championship record for low finish by a winner.
It marked Hovland’s 11th-consecutive round in the 60’s and seventh round of 66 or better during the FedExCup Playoffs. His closing 10-birdie 61 to win last week’s BMW Championship, Hovland’s career-low on TOUR, is also the lowest final round ever shot during the FedExCup Playoffs. In his back-to-back wins, Hovland played the eight rounds in 36 under par.
All week in Atlanta, Hovland was locked in, leading the field with 10.647 strokes gained tee to green. More than half of those came on approach shots (+4.730) and around the green (+1.103). No one hit more greens in regulation (58 of 72, 81%, T1) and he also ranked first in Scrambling (12 of 14, 86%) and Sand Saves (5 of 6, 83%).
– “First of all, it gives me a lot of consistency around the greens. I like how it feels off the face. I like how I’m able to spin the ball around the greens. But at the same time, I don’t sacrifice anything to the full shots. When I hit a drive on a par-5 and I’m trying to get after it, I don’t have to worry about the spin creeping up too high. I can still hit a high launch with low spin and then if I missed the green in two, I can still hit a short-sided shot with a lot of spin. So I think just the versatility is the key with the Pro V1 ball for me – and especially in the wind because we do play in a lot of wind. And I think that’s kind of the biggest challenge. If you don’t have a good ball in the wind, it really plays a big difference. The consistency in the wind, knowing how much it’s going to curve in certain wind directions and stuff like that – it just plays really well for me.”
– “I think for me, when I hear or feel the clickier feel, it’s hard for me to get the right distance control because sound and feel does matter for how hard you feel like you need to hit it. And I just feel like the Pro V1 kind of stays on the face a little bit longer. It’s like you’re almost throwing it to the hole instead of it kind of shooting off the face a little bit more, even though that’s not what it does. But in my mind, that’s kind of how it feels like.”
– “I mean, I've played it since I was a junior. Going out fishing for lake balls, trying to find the Pro V1’s and just been playing those. Growing up in Norway, we had a cabin growing up about two hours away from Oslo. It’s a tree-lined kind of golf course in the woods and it had a lot of rivers, so that’d be a perfect spot to sit there after a member guest or something where everyone's just dumping Pro V1’s in the water. The next morning we’d be out there trying to catch as many as possible. Those would kind of be the balls that we played for the whole summer.”
Viktor Hovland, who marks his Pro V1 with a long, black line that he uses to help line up putts, is among the group of players who inspired the launch of the new Performance Alignment marking now available on Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls.
“I use a black line, because I cannot putt without this,” said Hovland, who used his line to roll in birdies putts of 10, 11 and 7 feet on his final three holes Sunday, as well as key 23-foot par saver on the 14th. “I literally cannot aim.”
A long, straight line is one of the most common markings found on the Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls that are put in play across the worldwide professional tours, helping players take dead aim and hit their start-lines with confidence.
Titleist’s new Performance Alignment aid provides golfers with this tour-proven marking straight out of the sleeve.
Available in black, red, blue and green, the Performance Alignment aid is designed with a subtle arrow shape, 105 degrees in length, custom printed on each golf ball opposite the Pro V1 or Pro V1x sidestamp. The marking is 60 percent longer than a standard Titleist sidestamp.
“I’ve just never been good at just standing over the ball and being able to aim that way,” Hovland said. “I’ve found it’s really helped my putting, especially on the short ones, when there’s not too much break involved. I just did a blind test with a line on and then without a line, and I just aimed it miles better with a line on.”
The TOUR Champion gamed a NEW Titleist U•505 3 utility iron which he put in play for the first time at this summer’s U.S. Open. He has carried a Titleist U-Series driving iron ever since the Tokyo Olympics, having been searching for high-launching hybrid-like performance in an iron construction.
For the player seeking increased launch and speed at the top end of their bag, the NEW U•505 is an extremely versatile, high-launching utility iron that now looks and feels dramatically better.
NEW U•505 features an updated, clean design that inspires confidence at address, while the refined Max Impact Technology, re-engineered chassis and new Variable Bounce Sole work together to drastically improve feel and playability. The result is an extremely fast, forgiving and versatile utility iron.
“Between all the changes that we made to U•505, the performance goal was to make all launch parameters across the face more consistent – from spin to launch to speed,” said Marni Ines, Director, Titleist Irons Development, Golf Club R&D. “And along with improving U•505’s playability, feel and looks were paramount. We worked extremely hard on fine-tuning sound on this iron so that impact feels fantastic. Along with that improved feel, U•505 also got an updated, tour inspired profile, so that from address, it presents a really clean and player-preferred shape.”
Week in and week out, Titleist is the most played utility iron on the PGA TOUR, providing players an unparalleled combination of high launch, increased ball speed and forgiveness at the top end of their set.”
Read more: https://mediacenter.titleist.com/en-US/228350-titleist-introduces-new-u-505-and-t200-utility-irons
Megan Khang (Pro V1) earned her breakthrough LPGA victory, prevailing from a sudden-death playoff after pouring in a must-make birdie on the 72nd hole. Khang’s 3 on the par-4 18th got her to 9 under, matching Jin Young Ko (Pro V1)’s clubhouse lead and forcing extra holes. The 25-year-old found the fairway with her tee shot and the green with her approach, setting up a two-putt and a tournament-winning par.
Over 72 holes of regulation play at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, Khang made 19 birdies, more than anyone in the field.
– “I've used Titleist almost my whole golfing career from junior golf on, and it’s always been very consistent. I know what it's going to do for me. I think that alone, the confidence of knowing what my ball's going to do helps me perform my best.
– “I would probably say any time I have a hundred-yard shot or in, I know whether or not if I give it a little extra juice, it’s going to spin back and check up or not. And I mean, everyone always says that those are the money shots and it’s no lie… It’s stuff that you’re going to have to do and rely on, and I think a ball’s a huge part of it.”
Titleist Brand Ambassador Todd Clements claimed his first DP World Tour title Sunday in Prague, shooting a flawless final round 9-under 63 to win by one. Clements, playing a Pro V1x golf ball and TSR3 driver among his Titleist setup, began the day three shots back of the lead and went out in 30, birdieing Nos. 1-3 and 6-9. The Englishman made another string of birdies (Nos. 11-13) on the back nine to hold off Matt Wallace (Pro V1x), who finished runner-up.
“Given the circumstances that’s got to be the best round of my life. I’m over the moon,” Clements said. “Three shots to make up is a tough ask but I knew I was playing well enough to get in amongst it. I feel like I did my job on every shot and obviously the luck was with me today because I holed a few long ones.”
WITB | Todd Clements: Titleist Pro V1x golf ball; TSR3 10.0 driver; U•500 4 iron, 620 CB 5-9 irons; Vokey Design SM9 46.10F, 50.08F, WedgeWorks 54M, 58.08M wedges; Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7.2 tour prototype putter
Titleist was the most played driver this week at the Albatross Golf Resort with 59 players (38% of the field). Six of the top 10 finishers played a Titleist driver, with Clements (TSR3) and the runner-up (TSR3) leading the way. Also gaming a Titleist driver: the No. 1 player in the 2023 PGA TOUR University ranking (TSR2), the Genesis Scottish Open runner-up (TSi3) and Yannik Paul (TSR3), along with another T4 finisher (TSR3).
Chan Kim (Pro V1) locked up his PGA TOUR card after winning in back-to-back starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. A week after breaking through for his first KFT title at the Magnit Championship, Kim shot four rounds of 66 or better (66-62-64-64) on his way to posting 28 under for the week, two shots clear of second place. In total control of his Pro V1, the 33-year-old did not surrender a single bogey over 72 holes around Hillcrest Country Club (becoming the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history to go bogey-free for the week and win) and made five birdies and an eagle on Sunday to claim the trophy.
“[Earning a PGA TOUR card] definitely means the world to me,” Kim said. “This is what I came here to do. That was a goal from the beginning of the year. I took the risk of coming over here to play instead of just playing in Japan. Yeah, to achieve the goal is great. Now I'd like to finish off strong in the last three.”
Trish Johnson (Pro V1) captured the fifth U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship, posting 4 under to win by one shot. The Englishwoman shot the lowest round of the week on Saturday – a 5-under 67 – and remained steady on Sunday with a closing round of even par.
Johnson had finished T2 in 2019 and third in 2018 before breaking through this week at Waverley Country Club. She is now exempt into the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club.
Titleist Brand Ambassador Yubin Jang shot a final round 7-under 65, posting 20 under for the week and winning in a sudden-death, all-Titleist golf ball playoff. Jang, playing a Pro V1x golf ball, TSR3 driver and full bag of Titleist equipment, prevailed on the first extra hole, beating Galam Jeon (Pro V1x) for his first KPGA Tour victory.
WITB | Yubin Jang: Titleist Pro V1x golf ball; TSR3 9.0 driver; TSR2 15.0 fairway; 718 T-MB 2-3 irons, 620 CB 4-5 irons, 620 MB 6-9 irons; Vokey Design SM9 46.10F, 52.08F, 58.08M wedges; Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5S putter
Young-Han Song (Pro V1) shot a final round 3-under 69 to post 17 under for the week and win by one. The 32-year-old South Korean made six birdies on Sunday to pull ahead from the chasing pack, breaking into the winner’s circle for the first time this season on the JGTO.
The winner of the St. Andrews Bay Championship played a Pro V1 golf ball on his way to victory, prevailing in a grueling 10-hole sudden-death playoff. The champion made birdie on the 72nd hole to shoot 5-under 67 around the Torrance Course at Fairmont St. Andrews, posting 19 under and joining his opponent (Pro V1x) in extra holes. It took until the 10th playoff hole to break the deadlock, with the champion making a winning par to claim the title.
At this week’s U.S. Senior Amateur, more players are trusting their performance to Titleist than any other brand – including the stroke-play medalist, who posted even-par rounds of 72-72 over the weekend at Martis Camp Club to head into Monday’s first round of match play as the No. 1 seed.
2023 U.S. Senior Amateur Medalist | WITB: Pro V1x golf ball, TSR3 8.0 driver; TSi 13.5 & 16.5 fairways; U•500 3-4 utility irons; 620 MB 5-P irons; Vokey Design SM9 50 & 56 wedges; Scotty Cameron California Monterey putter.
Of the 156 players competing at Martis Camp Club, Titleist is the overwhelming #1 golf ball and most played driver, hybrid, utility iron, iron and wedge:
- 91% of the field (142 players) is teeing up either a Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash or AVX golf ball, more than 23 times the nearest competitor (6).
- There are more Titleist iron sets (35, 22%) and utility irons (19, 63%) in players’ bags than any other brand.
- There are 259 Vokey Design gap, sand and lob wedges in play, more than four times the nearest competitor (62).
Titleist Brand Ambassador Hayden Springer shot a final round 66 to earn his first professional victory. Springer, gaming a Pro V1 golf ball and TSR3 driver, made 27 birdies for the week en route to a three-shot win and is now projected to move up to No. 7 in the Fortinet Cup standings.
WITB | Hayden Springer: Titleist Pro V1 golf ball; TSR3 8.0 driver; TSR2 13.5, TSR3 18.0 fairways; T100•S 4-P irons; Vokey Design SM9 50.08F, 56.10S, 60.08M wedges
Titleist Brand Ambassador Linqiang Li earned his second career China Tour victory and second win in just five starts this season. Gaming his Pro V1x golf ball and TSR2 driver among his Titleist setup, Li defeated fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Enhua Liu, 1 up, in Saturday’s championship match.
WITB | Linqiang Li: Titleist Pro V1x golf ball; TSR2 9.0 driver; TSR2 15.0 fairway; T200 3 iron, T100 4-P irons; Vokey Design SM9 50, 54, 58 wedges
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- Eric Soderstrom
- Director, Tour Communications
- eric_soderstrom@acushnetgolf.com
- 508-979-3028