NEWS
Odyssey Rolls To WGC Win
Odyssey continued its dominant performance on Tour this year with a spectacular win at the WGC-HSBC Champions, where a White Hot XG #7 made clutch putt after clutch putt during the final round and rolled to a two-shot win. With the victory, Odyssey captured another big pay day – $1.2 million to be exact. Note to all PGA Tour players, if you’re going to win an event, the World Golf Championships are a good place to start. The seven figure payouts sound like a good time.
With the win on Sunday, Odyssey leads all putter brands with 51 victories across the six major worldwide Tours in 2012. The #1 Putter in Golf has hoisted the Open Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Women’s British Open, Tour Championship and FedExCup trophies this year, just to name a few. For more information on all of Odyssey’s wins, please visit their wins archive page.
Els and Mickelson Finish T2
If the White Hot XG #7 hadn’t taken home the win, Callaway/Odyssey staffers Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els would have duked it out for the victory. They wouldn’t have actually thrown fisticuffs, but they’d have been part of a four-man playoff. You get the point. Anyway, Phil and Ernie both finished T2 with a final score of 19-under. Even on a course that yielded low rounds all week, the two hall-of-famers stood out with their magnificent shot-making and birdie streaks.
Els used a RAZR Fit Driver (9.5°), HEX Black Tour Ball, RAZR X Muscleback Irons and two X Utility Prototype Irons (21°, 24°) during the event. The Big Easy controlled his game throughout the week and played bogey-free golf over his first 50 holes of the tournament. In an unrelated note, the Callaway Tour Blog team played 18 on Saturday morning, and we were all bogey-free through the first, wait for it, five holes! Just think, only two-and-a-half more rounds without a bogey and we’d be just like Ernie. Oh, you don’t think we can do it? Challenge accepted.
Meanwhile, Mickelson shot 66-69-66-68 and made three eagles over the first two rounds. The four-time major winner used RAZR X Muscleback Irons and an Odyssey PT ix 18 Putter while he navigated his way through the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills. Mickelson has now finished T4 or better in three of his last four starts. That’s some pretty good playing, Lefty. Pretty good, indeed.
Browne Posts T8 At Champions Tour Season Finale
Olin Browne’s hot putter served him well at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, where he posted a strong T8 finish. Browne ranked second in the field in putting and eighth in putts per GIR with his White Ice 330 Mallet. He also carried a RAZR Fit Driver (8.5°), RAZR X Muscleback Irons and two RAZR X Tour Hybrids. Always a model of consistency, Browne recorded seven top-10 finishes and made 22 of 23 cuts this year.
NOTES
Els Playing A White Hot XG #7 Belly Putter
If you watched any of the WGC-HSBC Champions coverage over the weekend, you might have noticed a new putter in Els’ hands. The 2012 Open Champion is now using a White Hot XG #7 Belly Putter and his new gamer is already making an impact, just look at his scorecards and birdie numbers from the event. Els told our Tour Reps that he likes the stability of the #7 head, and it looks like this putter could stay in his bag for a long time.
ANECDOTES
List Hits Ball. Ball Goes Far. (Part 2)
When we ask Tour Reps what it’s like to watch Luke List hit golf balls, particularly with his RAZR Fit Driver, they all just laugh and shake their heads. The Callaway staffer consistently bombs it over 300 yards with his 3-wood, plays short irons into par-5s and generally hits the ball farther than a golf ball is designed to be hit. Just for fun we thumbed through his Web.com Tour stats from this year and these were some of our favorites:
- 324 yards per drive (#1 on the Web.com Tour and over 8 yards longer than the driving distance leader on the PGA Tour)
- #1 in par-5 birdie percentage
- Web.com Tour’s longest drive of the year: 405 yards
- #4 on the final money list
- Winner of the 2012 South Georgia Classic
- 5th in birdie average
- 2nd in total eagles
He hits it a mile, racks up birdies and drains big putts on Sunday afternoons. That’s a recipe for success on the PGA Tour, where List will play as a rookie next year. His super human distance should make him a hit on the driving range and among tournament galleries. To learn more about Luke and all of our staffers, please visit our Callaway Staff Pros page.
