A Winning Weekend For Callaway Golf’s New VFT Tungsten Injected Titanium Irons, ERC II Driver And Rule 35 Ball
A Winning Weekend For Callaway Golf’s New VFT Tungsten Injected Titanium Irons, ERC II Driver And Rule 35 Ball
September 4, 2001 at 12:00 AM EDT
CONTACT(S): Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, Millie Speirs (760) 931-1771
CARLSBAD, CA., Sept. 4, 2001 – Clubs and balls from Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) were once again used in professional tour victories around the world this past weekend. Staff Professional Jim Thorpe became the first tour professional to win using the Company's new Hawk Eye® VFT™ Tungsten Injected Titanium Irons and Staff Professional Dean Wilson became the latest pro to win using the ERC® II Forged Titanium Driver. Both Thorpe and Wilson used Callaway Golf's Rule 35® Firmfeel™ ball in their victories.
At the rain-shortened Kroger Senior Classic near Cincinnati, Thorpe used his new Hawk Eye VFT Irons to post matching 65s and then won the tournament with a birdie on the first playoff hole. He led the field by hitting 83.3 percent of greens in regulation at the Golf Center at Kings Island. “This week was my week,” said Thorpe, whose victory elevated him to sixth on the Senior PGA Tour money list with $1,371,130. “I felt like I was going to hit it tight every time I had an iron in my hand.”
Wilson's victory in Japan was his second this year with the ERC II Forged Titanium Driver, following his win at the Japan PGA Championship. In his victory Sunday at the Japan PGA Match Play Championship, Wilson used 10 Callaway Golf® clubs, including a Steelhead Plus™ 4-wood, Steelhead™ X-14® Pro Series Irons and an Odyssey® White Hot® 5 Putter, along with the Rule 35 Firmfeel ball. Wilson is enjoying an outstanding season, leading the Japan Golf Tour 2001 Order of Merit.
Thorpe made spectacular use of three other pieces of Callaway Golf equipment to force the playoff. Needing an eagle-3 on the final hole of regulation, Thorpe found the middle of the fairway with a 301-yard drive using his Big Bertha® Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Driver and then hit a monster approach shot with his Big Bertha Steelhead Plus 3-wood from 245 yards that rolled to within two feet for a tap-in eagle.
Thorpe's victory was the third consecutive win on the Senior PGA Tour for the Rule 35 ball, and the triumph also extends Callaway Golf's streak of five consecutive weeks with at least one golf ball win. The Rule 35 ball has now been used to win a total of 40 pro victories in 2001, with 31 of the wins coming on the world's five major professional tours combined this year through Sept. 2. Callaway Golf is No. 2 in golf ball wins and usage (15.2 percent) across the PGA, Senior PGA, LPGA, Buy.com and PGA European tours combined this year.
Odyssey Golf, a brand of Callaway Golf, also recorded a pair of putter victories in North America this past week. The winner of the Air Canada Championship earned the first victory of his PGA Tour career using an Odyssey TriHot™ 3 Putter. Meanwhile, the winner of the LPGA State Farm Classic shot a final-round 63 using her Odyssey Dual Force® Rossie® 2 Putter. Callaway Golf Staff Professionals Annika Sorenstam, Emilee Klein and Jill McGill all finished in the event's top 10 using Odyssey Putters and Rule 35 balls.
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 VFT 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.