FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (Feb. 27, 2006) -- With steely determination, Geoff Ogilvy
topped six higher-ranked opponents en route to capturing the 2006
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. It marked the second career victory
for Ogilvy, who won the 36-hole final by edging fellow Pro V1x player and
Titleist brand ambassador Davis Love III, 3 and 2. Zach Johnson, another
full-line Titleist staff player, captured the consolation match to give
Titleist golf ball loyalists a 1-2-3 sweep. Additional victories on the
Champions, LPGA and Nationwide Tours advanced Titleist's 2006 worldwide win
count to 24, six times more than the nearest competitor with 4.
WGC: In addition to the reliance on Titleist golf balls, Titleist golf
clubs also proved valuable in the success of the top three finishers at the
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. The champion carried Titleist
prototype 3- and 5-metals, Vokey Design pitching, sand and Spin Milled lob
wedges, and a Scotty Cameron by Titleist prototype putter.
Runner-up Davis Love III trusted Titleist golf clubs from tee-to-green,
including the new Titleist Pro Titanium 905R driver, a prototype 3-metal,
Forged 695MB irons, Vokey Design sand and lob wedges and a Scotty Cameron
prototype putter. Like Love, Zach Johnson relied upon the new Pro Titanium
905R driver, as well as the 503.H utility iron, Forged 735.CM (3-4) and
Forged 695CB (5-9) irons, and Vokey Design pitching, sand and lob wedges.
Ogilvy played a tournament record 129 holes in the event, which included
four consecutive sudden death matches at the start of the week. Ogilvy
topped a Grand Slam list of players on his way to the title, including the
defending U.S. Open champion, 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir, the 1996
British Open champion, and Love, the 1997 PGA Championship winner.
Following the success of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship winner,
a Scotty Cameron by Titleist putter has been played by a PGA Tour champion
each of the past five weeks.
Titleist was the golf ball choice of 34 players at the select-field event,
more than three times the nearest competitor with 11. It was also the most
played brand in the wedge (35) and putter (18t) categories.
PGA TOUR: At the Chrysler Classic of Tucson, 4 of the top 5 finishers
relied upon Titleist golf balls, including runner-up Jerry Kelly (Pro V1x),
who fired a final round 7-under 65 to finish one shot back at 21-under.
Second and third round leader Duffy Waldorf (Pro V1) tied for third with
Heath Slocum (Pro V1) and rookie Bubba Watson (Pro V1x).
Watson became the first player to play an entire 72-hole PGA Tour event
without a bogey since the 1974 Greater New Orleans Open.
Titleist was the golf ball choice of 111 players, more than eight times the
nearest competitor with 12. It was also the most played brand in the iron
(33t), wedge (117) and putter (57) categories.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Jerry Pate (Pro V1x) birdied the final hole to break a
four-way tie and win the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, his first professional
victory in 24 years. Pate shot a final round 5-under 66 to finish at
11-under 202 for the tournament, one shot clear of three players including
Mark James (Pro V1x) and Morris Hatalsky (Pro V1). Loren Roberts (Pro V1)
came within three shots of winning his fourth straight Champions Tour
event, finishing in a five-way tie for fifth.
Titleist was the golf ball of choice for 55 players (72%), five times more
than the nearest competitor with 10, including 7 of the top 10 finishers.
LPGA TOUR: Meena Lee (Pro V1x) won the Fields Open for her second LPGA
Tour victory in two years, topping rookie and fellow South Korean Seon Hwa
Lee (Pro V1x) on the third hole of a playoff. Meena closed with a 7-under
65 to match 20-year-old Seon Hwa at 14-under 202. Meena won with a 6-foot
birdie putt on the third extra hole. Last week, another South Korean, Joo
Mi Kim, won the season-opening SBS Open playing a Pro V1x.
Titleist was the golf ball of choice for 106 players (80%), more than eight
times the nearest competitor with 12, including 7 of the top 10 finishers.
NATIONWIDE TOUR: Jim Rutledge (Pro V1, Forged 690CB irons, Scotty Cameron
Red X putter), a 46-year old six-time winner on the Canadian Tour, earned
his first career Nationwide Tour title at the ING New Zealand PGA
Championship. Rutledge fired a final round 8-under-par 64 to finish at
9-under 279, one shot clear of third-round leader Jarrod Lyle (Pro V1x, Pro
Titanium 905S driver, Pro Trajectory 904F 3-wood, Forged 670 irons, Vokey
Design approach, sand and lob wedges, SC-303 putter) and Brett Rumford (Pro
V1x, Pro Titanium 905T driver, Pro Trajectory 904F 3-wood, Forged 695MB
irons, Vokey Design approach wedge and Spin Milled lob wedge).
Rutledge, who began Sunday nine strokes behind Lyle, claimed the third
largest come-from-behind victory in Tour history. He holed a sand wedge
from 111 yards for an eagle on the par-4 17th hole, followed by a 25-footer
for birdie, and then had to wait nearly two hours until the rest of the
leaders finished. It marked the second consecutive Top 5 finish for
runner-up Lyle who posted a T4 at the season-opening Jacob's Creek Open
Championship.
A total of 122 players (78%) teed up a Titleist golf ball, over 15 times
more than the nearest competitor with 8. In fact, 13 of the 15 players who
finished among the Top 10 and ties at the event relied upon Titleist golf
balls for their success, including the top six.
In addition to being the top choice in golf balls, Titleist was the field
favorite in the iron (42 vs. 25), utility iron (7 vs. 6), wedge (144 vs.
74) and putter (56-43) categories, second in drivers (38) and a close third
in fairway metals (34), just two behind the second position.
DIRECT FROM THE TOUR: To view exclusive round-by-round interviews with
Accenture Match Play Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy and runner-up Davis
Love III, as well as other top Titleist players from every PGA Tour event,
please visit our Direct from the Tour feature online at:
http://titleist.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1
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