MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- Augusta National has never been as challenging as it was for the 71st annual Masters tournament. Unseasonably cold weather and glass-like greens took the field of players on a strange ride that saved the biggest surprise for the very end. On Easter Sunday, the eventual Masters Champion pulled a rabbit out of his hat and held off the number one player in the world to earn the coveted green jacket for his first Major victory.
This Master chose CHAMP Cermec® to lead him to victory on the treacherous course. The champion closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory over the game’s best player, for just his second career Tour win. Saving his best for last, the victor took control on the back nine, keeping the rest of the field at bay, with three birdies in a four-hole stretch.
Ten of the top twelve finishers turned to CHAMP spikes for superior traction and durability. On an uncharacteristically hard and fast course, many of the players chose the CHAMP Cermec, the ultimate in metal spike technology performance and the preferred choice of tour traditionalists with its highly abrasion and impact resistant ceramic ball fused to a hardened tool steel spike.
“It’s always great for us to see the winner wearing our spikes,” said Harris MacNeill, President of CHAMP. “To see 10 of the top 12 finishers wearing CHAMP Spikes is extremely gratifying. Last week the focus was on our Stinger spike. This week players chose something different, our Cermec. Different conditions require different spikes and CHAMP has the answer. We produce the traditional metal spikes that many of the players wore this past week as well as our hugely successful Stinger™ that won on all tours the week before and the industry’s only hybrid metal/plastic spike, the Pro Stinger™.”
CHAMP continues to be the number one brand on Tour, winning the first Major of the 2007 season, after a banner 2006 season that culminated in wining the Grand Slam. CHAMP now has won more events than any other spike manufacturer this season.
About MacNeill Engineering and CHAMP Spikes
CHAMP is a division of MacNeill Engineering Worldwide, which has been designing and manufacturing athletic footwear components since 1931. The company has been a pioneer in cleat technology since it introduced the world's first locking spike: SURE-LOK. Since then, MacNeill Engineering has grown to be the world leader in the sport cleat industry with revolutionary offerings which include the CHAMP Q-LOK System®, used in all Nike®, Hi-Tec® and ECCO® golf shoes; the CHAMP TRI-LOK® system, which fits shoes by Foot Joy®, Adidas® and Etonic®; as well as the most complete line of innovative spikes in the world, including the new CHAMP Scorpion STINGER™ spikes, CHAMP ScorpionSpike®; and CHAMP TRAC™ spikes.
