Annika Sorenstam And Bruce Fleisher Are Victorious Again With Callaway Golf’s Hawk Eye VFT Driver And ‘Rule 35’ Ball
Annika Sorenstam And Bruce Fleisher Are Victorious Again With Callaway Golf’s Hawk Eye VFT Driver And ‘Rule 35’ Ball
May 7, 2001 at 12:00 AM EDT
CONTACT(S): Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, Millie Speirs (760) 931-1771
CARLSBAD, CA., May 7, 2001 – Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) Staff Professionals Annika Sorenstam and Bruce Fleisher continued their multiple-win seasons with a pair of victories yesterday. Each relied on the potent combination of a Big Bertha® Hawk Eye® VFT™ Pro Series Titanium Driver and the “Rule 35”® golf ball in their triumphs – the fifth of the year for Sorenstam, the second for Fleisher. This marks the latest high point in what has been a victorious 2001 season for Callaway Golf, which leads all manufacturers in driver, iron and putter victories across the world's five major professional tours combined.
The victories were the latest examples of the precision shotmaking Sorenstam and Fleisher achieve with the “Rule 35” ball. Sorenstam uses the Softfeel™ (blue logo) model and currently leads the LPGA Tour in greens in regulation at 83.3 percent and is second in driving accuracy at 85.4 percent. Meanwhile, Fleisher – using the Firmfeel™ (red logo) model – is third on the Senior PGA Tour in greens hit in regulation at 71.9 percent and is fifth in driving accuracy at 81.2 percent.
Sorenstam completed another spirited comeback with her playoff victory at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, birdieing five of the final six holes in regulation to force extra holes. Sorenstam's par on the second playoff hole clinched the 28th victory of her LPGA Tour career – and her 10th playoff win in 13 tries. Sorenstam used 11 Callaway Golf® clubs at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, including a Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Driver, Steelhead Plus™ 4-wood and 7-wood, Steelhead® X-14® Irons and an Odyssey® Dual Force® Rossie® 2 Putter. Sorenstam has now won five of her last six events and leads the LPGA Tour in money won, scoring average and player of the year points. Eight of the 12 LPGA Tour events this year have been won by players using “Rule 35” golf balls.
Meanwhile, Fleisher became the fifth player in Senior PGA Tour history to win the same event three years running with his victory at the Home Depot Invitational. Fleisher felt the “Rule 35” Firmfeel ball gave him an advantage during the windy final round. “I feel very confident that I can control my ball in the wind,” said Fleisher. “I think the wind allows fewer players into that circle.”
Fleisher used 13 Callaway Golf clubs in the victory, including his Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Driver, Steelhead Plus 4-wood and 5-wood, Hawk Eye Tungsten Injected Titanium Irons and an Odyssey TriForce™ Putter. He led the Home Depot Invitational field in greens hit in regulation at 87 percent and was third in driving accuracy at 81 percent. Over his last six starts, Fleisher has posted two victories and five top-10 finishes.
In addition to the victories by Fleisher and Sorenstam, it was a very successful weekend for the Big Bertha Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Drivers. On the PGA Tour, Callaway Golf Staff Professionals Charles Howell III and Stephen Ames each used the drivers – along with Steelhead X-14 Pro Series Irons and “Rule 35” balls – to score top-10 finishes at the Compaq Classic on the PGA Tour. On the Senior PGA Tour, Fleisher was joined in the top five at the Home Depot Invitational by Jim Colbert and Jim Thorpe, each of whom used a Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Driver. Sorenstam was one of two top-10 finishers to use the driver at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, and the driver was also used to card a top-3 finish on the Buy.com Tour. The Big Bertha Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Drivers feature neutral weighting, which is intended to help professional and skilled amateur players shape and control ball flight.
Callaway Golf's Big Bertha ERC™ II Forged Titanium Driver also had an exceptional showing on the PGA European Tour. A total of 40 golfers at the French Open used ERC II Forged Titanium Drivers, including five top-10 finishers. Callaway Golf Staff Professionals accounted for only five of the 40 ERC II Drivers in play at the event, meaning the other 35 golfers who used an ERC II did so without any financial incentive. The ERC II is the most-played driver model on the PGA European Tour this season, and Callaway Golf is the most-played driver brand on the PGA European Tour in 2001.
Callaway Golf Company makes and sells Big Bertha® Metal Woods and Irons, including Big Bertha ERC™ II Forged Titanium Drivers, Big Bertha Hawk Eye® VFT™ and Big Bertha Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Drivers and Fairway Woods, Big Bertha Steelhead Plus™ Stainless Steel Drivers and Fairway Woods, Hawk Eye Tungsten Injected™ Titanium Irons, Steelhead™ X-14® and Steelhead X-14 Pro Series Stainless Steel Irons. Callaway Golf Company also makes and sells Odyssey® Putters, including White Hot®, TriHot™, and Dual Force® Putters. Callaway Golf Company makes and sells the Callaway Golf® “Rule 35”® Firmfeel™ and Softfeel™ golf balls, and the CB1™ Red and CB1 Blue golf balls. For more information about Callaway Golf Company, please visit our Web sites at www.callawaygolf.com, www.callawaygolfball.com and www.odysseygolf.com.