Titleist is on a Small Roll...

Back in the day, one of my buds had a saying.... "I'm on a small roll". To the world, that meant "I managed to get a girl to talk to me more than once in a 72 hour period without slapping my face" - however, to Jim it meant " I am having a great deal of success with something that is my primary focus in life".

Well, based on the results thus far in 2010 on the PGA Tour, the folks at Titleist are "on a small roll"... Check This Out...

Event	Winner	Irons	Ball
Northern Trust Open	Stricker	Titleist 755	Pro V1
Farmer's Insurance Open	Crane	Titleist AP2	Pro V1x
Bob Hope Classic	Haas	Titleist CB Forged	Pro V1
Sony Open	Palmer	Titleist AP2	Pro V1
SBS Classic	Ogilvy	Titleist MB	Pro V1

No question, this is a pretty impressive showing. I've previously written about Titleist, and given them some grief for losing young players soon after they join the pro ranks (Danny Lee, etc.). However, in addition to the impressive list above, they have done a kick a$$ job in the last year snagging some real young guns....ponder this list:

• Rory McIlroy
• Rickie (Aerosmith) Fowler
• Michael Sim
• Nick Watney

They also migrated Geoff Ogilvy over from sister company Cobra (can Camilo,Ian, and JB be next ??). Hat's off to Titleist for keeping the pedal to the metal and setting the standard among the Tour players. Another thought provoking factoid:

- 2010 Results - 5 Winners, All played Titleist Irons and Balls

- 2nd half of 2009: 21 Winners, 4 played Titleist Irons, 9 Played Titleist Balls

For the Math nerds among us, that means that Titleist has improved their iron's success rate by more than 500%, and have ALREADY had more different Winners in 2010 than they had in all of 2009 ( 5 vs. 3). In addition, their ball success rate has improved by more than 2X.

Just curious about a couple of things...

(1) I wonder how long it will be until a ball made by anyone ELSE wins a 2010 event ? My guess... March.

(2) Could the new grooves have anything to do with Titleist's dominance thus far ? Are their balls performing better with the new grooves ? Are their "new grooves" somehow better ?

(3) Is this the Tiger effect ? (sorry, could not ignore that....)

And you thought Bushwood never did any real research....take THAT Waggleroom !

The Ghost of Bob Hope and the Pucker Factor

The annual birdie fest known as the Bob Hope Classic is always a fun way to start the season, and this year has been even more eventful than normal. Consider this after the first four rounds:

• Pat Perez fired a 61-63 start to tie the lowest 36 hole score ever


• Steve Stricker sat at 33 under headed into the final round - another record


• Stricker took something like 24 putts on Saturday while carding a 62


• The cut was MINUS 15!!!

Just when you thought a minus 40 was a certainty, things started to get wacky... the wind started blowing on Sunday, and the ghost of Bob Hope showed up to tweak a few noses. With the final group on 15, here is what we have seen today.

• Stricker now sits a 6 OVER for the day, courtesy of a triple bogey 7 at #7, and a set of dog balls at #10 (aka a "snowman").


• Perez is one under for the day, and shares the lead at minus 31.


• Co-Leader John Merrick yanked his tee shot at # 16, and it heads for the water hazard (or worse)...until a gentle breeze catches it, directing it toward the concrete bank of the ditch - which it caroms off of, and bounces into the MIDDLE of the fairway. Merrick then hits his approach on, and calmly two putts for a par.

I'm sure Bob,Dino, Bing, and the rest of the original Palm Springs royalty are looking down on this action smiling....

P.S. - Pat Perez sealed the deal with a killer approach on 18 and an eagle putt - Congrats Pat for your first PGA tour win !!