|
Nike Golf Tour Staff Rolls To Impressive Weekend Stadler's Magic 63 Leads Nine Top 10 Finishers Contact Dean Stoyer BEAVERTON, Ore. (July 20, 2003) - Nike Golf's Tour Staff dotted the Top 10 on leader boards around the world this past weekend, due in part to the success of the Tour Accuracy 2 and the prototype Nike One TW from the design mastery of golf ball engineer Rock Ishii. Nine Tour Staff players representing Nike Golf and playing the TA2 and the prototype Nike One TW combined for Nike Golf's best all-around weekend of the 2003 season. Ishii, unavailable for comment, is responsible for the faster core design of the TA2 and the first-of-its-kind construction of the Nike One. The Nike One, the TA2 (available in LNG and SPN), and the Power Distance Super Series (low compression distance golf balls - Super Fly, Super Far, Super Soft - also from Ishii) comprise the new look of Nike Golf's ball business, which still includes the Double C (Distance and Tour). A look at Nike Golf's Tour Staff success this past weekend and what they used to get there: B.C. Open/Endicott, NY Craig Stadler continued his winning ways this past weekend. One week after capturing the Senior Players Championship, Stadler won the B.C. Open, becoming the first player to ever win on the Champions Tour and PGA Tour after his 50th birthday. Stadler posted a tournament low 63 on Sunday to come from 8 strokes behind for the win. Along with more than 70 other Tour professionals worldwide, Stadler plays Nike Golf's TA2 - specifically the LNG ball. Glen Day and PGA Tour rookie John E. Morgan, both playing the TA2 LNG, finished tied for 5th at the B.C. Open, held in Endicott, NY. Both Morgan and Day play Nike Golf's Forged Pro Combo Irons while Day tees up Nike Golf's Forged Titanium Driver and Forged Wedges, in addition. Sybase Big Apple Classic/New Rochelle, NY Grace Park teed up Nike Golf's 400cc Forged Titanium Driver and the faster core TA2 LNG golf ball, finishing in third place for the second week in a row. Last week, Park was lighting up the leader board at the Canadian Women's Open. This week it was the Sybase Big Apple Classic in New Rochelle, NY. She entered the weekend ranked fourth on the LPGA Tour in Driving Distance at 267.2, yet averaged 269.3 through the weekend. Just behind Park were Denise Killeen (T5) and Beth Daniel (T9). Daniel, testing the new Nike One but playing the TA2 LNG, was last week's winner at the Canadian Women's Open. Killeen scored her first career hole-in-one on the par-3 7th with the TA2 LNG during the final round of the Sybase on her way to a share of fifth place. While Park and Killeen sport Nike Golf apparel and bags, all three women don footwear from Nike Golf. Henrico County Open/Richmond, VA Elsewhere in the U.S., Bo Van Pelt was just two strokes off the lead yet finished in a tie for fourth at the Henrico County Open on the Nationwide Tour. Van Pelt plays the TA2 LNG. British Open Championship/Sandwich, England At Royal St. George's in Sandwich, England, Nick Faldo's third-round 67 was tied for the lowest score of the weekend. Combined with some fourth round heroics to offset the challenging course and conditions, Faldo finished the Open Championship tied for eighth. Faldo plays both the TA2 LNG and the TA2 SPN, although it was uncertain which ball he teed up on Sunday at Royal St. George's. Both Faldo and Tiger Woods, who finished with a share of fourth place at the British Open, play Nike Golf's Forged Titanium Driver. And while Faldo uses the Forged Pro Combo Irons, Woods uses Forged (blade-style) Irons from Nike Golf. Woods used a prototype of the Nike One TW at the British Open, the first three-cover construction ball designed for Tour play. Nike Golf, located in Beaverton, Oregon, is passionately dedicated to honoring and respecting the traditions and heritage of the game, and to providing committed golfers with the absolute best equipment in the game in every product category. For more information on Nike Golf, visit our Web site at www.nikegolf.com. Editors and journalists seeking editorial information and downloadable images, visit www.nikegolf.com/presscenter. |