Annika Sorenstam’s Sixth Victory Of The Year Leads Two-win Weekend For Callaway Golf’s Rule 35 Ball
Annika Sorenstam’s Sixth Victory Of The Year Leads Two-win Weekend For Callaway Golf’s Rule 35 Ball
August 20, 2001 at 12:00 AM EDT
CONTACT(S): Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, Millie Speirs (760) 931-1771
CARLSBAD, CA., August 20, 2001 – Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) Staff Professional Annika Sorenstam won the Bank of Montreal Canadian Women's Open yesterday, registering her sixth LPGA Tour victory of the season using the Rule 35® Softfeel™ (blue logo) ball. Coupled with Steve Veriato's victory at the Novell Utah Showdown on the Senior PGA Tour, Rule 35 balls have been used to win 29 tournaments across the world's five major professional tours combined this year – placing Callaway Golf second in wins among golf ball manufacturers.
Sorenstam's win gives Callaway Golf back-to-back ball victories on the LPGA Tour. Wendy Ward also used the Rule 35 Softfeel model to win last week's Wendy's Championship for Children while setting the LPGA Tour 54-hole scoring record. Sorenstam set the 18-, 36- and 72-hole standards earlier this season. Callaway Golf is the winningest golf ball brand on the LPGA Tour this year, with victories in 15 of the tour's 27 events.
Sorenstam used 11 Callaway Golf® clubs and her Rule 35 ball to outdistance a tough field and rough weather at Angus Glen Golf Club. She hit 50 of 56 fairways while shooting a 16-under-par 272 for a two-stroke victory – the 29th of her remarkable career. The Callaway Golf equipment in Sorenstam's bag this week included a Big Bertha® Hawk Eye® VFT™ Pro Series Titanium Driver, Big Bertha Steelhead Plus™ 4-wood and 7-wood, Steelhead™ X-14® Irons and an Odyssey® Dual Force® Rossie® 2 Putter. Sorenstam leads the LPGA Tour in money won and Rolex Player of the Year Points, and she is also leading the tour in greens hit in regulation at 80 percent. Callaway Golf leads the LPGA Tour in drivers, fairway woods, irons and putters in play this season and is second in golf ball usage.
Meanwhile, Veriato earned the first victory of his Senior PGA Tour career by shooting three consecutive rounds of 68 at Park Meadows Country Club. Veriato used the Rule 35 Firmfeel™ (red logo) ball to average 313.2 yards in driving distance while hitting 72.2 percent of greens in regulation as he posted a one-stroke victory at the Novell Utah Showdown. Callaway Golf was the No. 2 golf ball brand in use at the event with 36 balls in play, compared with 37 for Titleist, while three of the top five finishers used Rule 35 golf balls.
Callaway Golf also had a strong showing at the PGA Championship, where the Rule 35 ball was No. 2 in usage at the final PGA Tour major championship of the year. Callaway Golf was first in fairway wood usage at the event, with a number of top players choosing to use the Company's 7-woods on what was one of the longest layouts in major championship history. In fact, one of the top five finishers even used a Big Bertha Steelhead 9-wood, making the Japanese star perhaps the first man to ever score a top-5 finish in a major championship using a 9-wood.
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 and www.odysseygolf.com.