Annika Sorenstam Wins Fourth Straight LPGA Tour Title With Callaway Golf's Hawk Eye VFT Titanium Driver, 'Rule 35' Ball
Annika Sorenstam Wins Fourth Straight LPGA Tour Title With Callaway Golf's Hawk Eye VFT Titanium Driver, 'Rule 35' Ball
April 16, 2001 at 12:00 AM EDT
CONTACT(S): Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, Millie Speirs (760) 931-1771
CARLSBAD, CA., April 16, 2001 – Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) Staff Professional Annika Sorenstam continued one of the most impressive streaks in golf history with her playoff victory Saturday at The Office Depot – her fourth consecutive LPGA Tour title. It was another record-setting performance for Sorenstam, who started the final round 10 shots back of the lead. She rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to complete a 6-under-par 66, then won a sudden-death playoff with a par on the first extra hole.
“I felt inside that I had a chance because I was so calm and confident in my own game,” said Sorenstam, who joined LPGA Hall of Famers Mickey Wright and Kathy Whitworth as the only players to win four consecutively played events. Sorenstam has a chance to tie Nancy Lopez’s LPGA-record winning streak at this week’s Longs Drugs Challenge. Lopez won five times over a stretch of seven tournaments in 1978, winning three events, skipping two, then winning the next two weeks she played.
“For anyone to come from 10 shots down to win is unbelievable,” said Sorenstam, who has 27 career LPGA Tour victories. “This year I have complete confidence, and I can’t wait to play in Sacramento this week.” The 10-stroke comeback is the biggest in LPGA Tour history. Sorenstam also became the tour’s all-time leading money winner with $6,957,044 in career earnings, and she has reached $700,000 in single-season earnings faster than any other player in LPGA Tour history.
Sorenstam’s 2001 season has been nothing short of spectacular. In six starts, she has four wins and two second-place finishes. After opening the year with a pair of seconds in Hawaii, Sorenstam won the Welch’s/Circle K Championship, the Standard Register Ping – where she became the first golfer to shoot 59 on the LPGA Tour – and the Nabisco Championship in consecutive weeks. After the LPGA Tour’s two-week break, Sorenstam continued her remarkable streak by winning The Office Depot.
Sorenstam’s victory at Wilshire Country Club also extends the LPGA Tour winning streak for Callaway Golf’s “Rule 35” ball to six consecutive tournaments. Prior to Sorenstam’s four consecutive victories using the “Rule 35” Softfeel (blue logo) model, the previous two tournaments on the tour’s schedule were won by golfers using the Firmfeel (red logo) “Rule 35” ball. The “Rule 35” ball now has been used to win nine tournaments on the world’s five major professional tours combined this year, the second-highest total among all ball manufacturers.
As she has all season, Sorenstam used 11 Callaway Golf® clubs at The Office Depot, including a Big Bertha® 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.
Elsewhere, Callaway Golf’s Big Bertha ERC™ II Forged Titanium Driver continues to be the most-used driver model on the PGA European Tour this year. A total of 42 golfers at the Moroccan Open used an ERC II Forged Titanium Driver. The high usage number is notable because only three Callaway Golf staff professionals competed in the event, meaning nearly every golfer who used an ERC II Driver did so without any financial incentive. Overall, drivers made by Callaway Golf are #1 on the PGA European Tour in the first 10 tournaments 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.