Super Ball Sunday for Singh, Titleist

Vijay Singh Captures Phoenix Open. Marks Third Straight Win on 2003 PGA Tour for New Pro V1 Golf Ball.

Fairhaven, MA - Just three weeks into the PGA Tour season and Titleist has an impressive 3-0 start. Following Ernie Els' brilliant back-to-back wins to start the year, Vijay Singh turned in a stellar final round 8-under-par 63 performance to capture his second Phoenix Open title. Like Els, Singh relied upon the Titleist Pro V1x prototype golf ball to earn his 12th career PGA Tour victory and his 21st worldwide. In fact, 7 of the top 10 finishers trusted one of Titleist's two new Pro V1 golf ball models. Retief Goosen, Robert Gamez and Harrison Frazar all tied for third playing the Pro V1x, while Joe Durant tied for seventh (Pro V1x), and Phil Mickelson (Pro V1x) and Mike Weir (New Pro V1) tied for ninth. Singh's victory is already the ninth for Titleist Pro V1 golf balls across the 2003 worldwide professional tours.

Singh registered a career low for total score (261) and score in relation to par (-23) in the victory, besting his previous 72-hole lows of 266 by five strokes and 22-under par by one stroke. He carded a 22-under-par 270 in finishing in a tie for fourth at the 2003 Mercedes Championships. Singh's impressive performance at the Phoenix Open came on the same Super Sunday as Els' quest for a third straight victory in 2003 at the PGA European Tour's Caltex Singapore Open. Els, Titleist's newest brand ambassador, came within one stroke of achieving the triple win with a second place finish. Els continues to rely upon the new Titleist Pro V1x prototype golf ball, Titleist Titanium 983K prototype driver, Titleist 980 prototype fairway metal, Titleist Forged 690MB irons, Scotty Cameron by Titleist Studio Stainless Newport putter, Titleist Players glove and FootJoy shoes.

Additional Titleist Highlights for Week Ending January 19, 2003

2 FOR LAST 4: Singh has played in all three PGA TOUR events this season and was victorious at the season-ending 2002 TOUR Championship, giving him two victories in his last four official starts. His first-place check of $720,000 at Phoenix moves him into second place behind Els on the 2003 PGA TOUR season money list with $990,929. Singh also surpassed the $19 million mark on the PGA TOUR Career Money List, where he is currently fourth, accumulating $19,271,944 since joining the PGA TOUR in 1993.

GOING DEEP: Phil Mickelson, playing for the first time in 2003, relied upon his combination of the Titleist Pro V1x prototype golf ball and Titleist Titanium 983K prototype driver to lead the Phoenix Open in driving distance with an average of 322.8 yards. Mickelson, who seeks to defend his Bob Hope Chrysler Classic title this week, is the third player in as many PGA TOUR events this season to lead the driving distance category relying upon the Titleist Pro V1x golf ball/Titleist Titanium 983K driver combination. Ernie Els led the season-opening Mercedes Championships and Sony Open in Hawaii tournaments with driving distance averages of 323.4 and 315.8 yards, respectively.

GOING LOW: Defending Phoenix Open champion Chris DiMarco, also relying upon the Titleist Pro V1x prototype golf ball, carded four birdies and two eagles en route to a course-record 7-under par 28 for nine holes on his back nine (the course's front nine) during his third round. He completed the round with a 9-under par 62. Harrison Frazar, who switched to the Titleist Pro V1x this season, tied a career-best with a 9-under par 62 to take the first round lead.

#1 BALL IN GOLF: Titleist was the number one golf ball choice among the Phoenix Open in field with 76 players, nearly four times the nearest competitor with 19. The result was similar on the PGA European Tour, where 80 players trusted Titleist, compared to 28 for the nearest competitor.

MOVIN' ON UP: Singh, who started the season ranked No. 8 in the World Rankings and began the Phoenix Open in seventh position, improved to No. 4 following the victory. Titleist Pro V1 loyalists own 7 of the top 10 positions in the World Rankings, including Ernie Els (No. 2), Phil Mickelson (No. 3), Singh, Retief Goosen (No. 5), David Toms (No. 6), Davis Love III (No. 9) and Chris DiMarco (No. 10). No other competitor has more than one player among the Top 10.

ON A ROLL: In addition to the Titleist Pro V1x golf ball being played by the champion at each of the first three events on the 2003 PGA TOUR, so was a Scotty Cameron by Titleist putter. Ernie Els relied upon a Studio Stainless Newport putter in his first two victories, while the Phoenix Open champion trusted a Scotty Cameron by Titleist Mid-Sur model. The winner had eight one-putt greens on the front side in the final round en route to a 6-under par 29. ''When you're making putts and hitting it close, you can have a good score. That's what I did on the front side. I think that's what won the golf tournament,” said the champion following the victory.

WEST COAST SWING UPDATE: With the victory, Singh (145 points) also moves into second place in the West Coast Swing point standings behind Els (200 points).

January 27, 2003