ERC II Driver, ‘Rule 35’ Ball Win Japan PGA Championship; ‘Rule 35’ Ball Used In U.S. PGA Senior Tour Victory
ERC II Driver, ‘Rule 35’ Ball Win Japan PGA Championship; ‘Rule 35’ Ball Used In U.S. PGA Senior Tour Victory
May 14, 2001 at 12:00 AM EDT
CONTACT(S): Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, Millie Speirs (760) 931-1771
CARLSBAD, CA., May 14, 2001 – Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) Staff Professional Dean Wilson won the Japan PGA Championship using a Big Bertha® ERC™ II Forged Titanium Driver and the “Rule 35”® golf ball yesterday. Wilson also used fairway woods, irons and a putter made by Callaway Golf in earning the second win of his career on the Japan Golf Tour. This marks the third victory for the ERC II Forged Titanium Driver this year, including two victories on the PGA European Tour.
Wilson outpaced the field by four shots at Queen's Hill Golf Club in Maebara, shooting a 3-under-par 281. The victory moves him to third on the Japan Golf Tour order of merit this season. Wilson used 12 Callaway Golf® clubs in his victory, including his ERC II Forged Titanium Driver, Steelhead Plus™ 4-wood, Steelhead® X-14® Pro Series Irons and an Odyssey® White Hot™ 5 Putter. Wilson used the “Rule 35” Firmfeel™ (red logo) ball.
Wilson was one of three top-10 finishers to use an ERC II Driver and the “Rule 35” ball at the Japan PGA Championship. The fifth-place finisher used an ERC II Driver and the “Rule 35” Firmfeel model, while Callaway Golf Staff Professional Kenichi Kuboya tied for ninth using the ERC II and the “Rule 35” Softfeel™ (blue logo) ball.
The Firmfeel model of the “Rule 35” ball was also used by Leonard Thompson to win the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Match Play Championship yesterday. Thompson upset Hale Irwin in the semifinals, then beat Vicente Fernandez in the finals, 2-up. Thompson played bogey-free golf over his final 41 holes for the third victory of his Senior PGA Tour career. Thompson was one of five top-10 finishers to use a “Rule 35” ball at the event.
The victories by Thompson and Wilson take the “Rule 35” victory total to 16 in 2001. Callaway Golf is the second-winningest ball manufacturer on the world's major professional tours this year.
Callaway Golf also monopolized the top of the leaderboard at the Electrolux USA Championship. The top three finishers at the LPGA Tour event all used drivers and fairway woods made by Callaway Golf. The hall-of-fame golfer who won the event used a Steelhead Plus Driver, along with Steelhead Plus 4- and 5-woods and a Big Bertha Steelhead 7-wood. The second- and third-place finishers each used Big Bertha Hawk Eye® VFT™ Pro Series Titanium Drivers and Steelhead Plus Fairway Woods – and “Rule 35” balls. Catriona Matthew finished second using the “Rule 35” Firmfeel ball, while Callaway Golf Staff Professional Annika Sorenstam continued her superb season by finishing third with the “Rule 35” Softfeel ball and 11 Callaway Golf clubs. Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Jill McGill and Wendy Doolan also carded top-10 finishes at the event using “Rule 35” Firmfeel balls.
The winner of the Benson and Hedges International Open also used a Callaway Golf titanium driver, giving Callaway Golf 25 driver victories on the world's five major tours combined this season – more than any other driver manufacturer. The ERC II Forged Titanium Driver also had an exceptional showing on the PGA European Tour, as 33 golfers at the Benson and Hedges International Open used ERC II Forged Titanium Drivers. Callaway Golf Staff Professionals accounted for only seven of the ERC II Drivers in play at the event, which means the other 26 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.