Patrick Cantlay Defends His Title at the BMW Championship

PGA TOUR | BMW Championship

Titleist Brand Ambassador Patrick Cantlay won the BMW Championship for the second straight season, making birdie on the 17th hole Sunday at Wilmington Country Club on his way to a one-shot victory.

  • Playing a Pro V1x golf ball and full bag of Titleist equipment, Cantlay became the first player to successfully defend a FedEx Cup Playoffs event, following last year’s playoff victory at Caves Valley.
  • It marked the eighth-career PGA TOUR title for Cantlay, who finished the week 14 under after four rounds in the 60’s (68-68-65-69).
  • For the week, he finished second in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (+8.821), third in SG: Off the Tee (+4.011), sixth in SG: Approach (+5.173) and T2 in Scrambling (80%).
  • Cantlay, also the defending TOUR Championship and FedEx Cup winner, enters next week’s finale at No. 2 in the FedEx Cup rankings.

What’s in Patrick Cantlay’s Titleist Golf Bag?

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: TS3 9.5° | Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX
Fairway: 915F 15.0° | Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 70 TX
Hybrid: TS2 21.0° | Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 80 TX
Irons: 718 AP2 (4-9) irons | True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Vokey SM7 46.10F, 52.08F & SM9 56.08M (@57), WedgeWorks 60T wedges | True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S300
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 tour prototype

SEVEN IN A ROW FOR TITLEIST GOLF BALL PLAYERS

  • With Cantlay's victory, Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf ball players have now won seven consecutive events on the PGA TOUR and 31 times overall this season.
  • On Sunday, Cantlay and fellow Pro V1x player Scott Stallings, who finished second by one shot, topped a leader board that featured Titleist golf ball players in six of the top-7 positions. 

CANTLAY ON PERFORMANCE, CONSISTENCY OF PRO V1x

  • “Pro V1x has been the right fit for me because it's the best. I think it’s the best ball that I’ve ever played. I don’t think twice about it when I tee it up. I just know that it’s the best golf ball.”
  • “I want the golf ball to feel consistent, so I want it to do the same thing the most amount of times over and over and over again. That way, it’s predictable. I think golf ball being a fixed variable for what I do is very important. There’s always equipment changes going on or tweaks to suit conditions or suit maybe holes in your game. And so, the golf ball being a constant opposed to also a variable is really important to me. And having it perform well when you hit it solid and when you mishit it slightly, and not seeing a big difference between spin numbers or launch numbers when you do inevitably miss a couple, that’s really important for shooting good scores.”
  • “If you hit a 5-iron, even if you hit it out of the bunker and scuff it up a little bit, you’re still hitting the same 5-iron, so you don’t worry about that component. With golf ball, it’s not necessarily a sure thing, because it is a new golf ball every time you put it in. I might play six different golf balls in a round of golf. And so, the quality control I think is extremely important and something maybe that I take for granted, because I know how difficult it is to replicate something time after time after time. Not having even a percent difference between any of the golf balls in a dozen must be particularly difficult. It’s something that at this point, I don’t even think about. I trust that all the golf balls are exactly the same and are going to perform exactly the same. And that gives me a ton of confidence, so much so that I don’t even think about it when I switch golf balls out there.”

12 STRAIGHT WINS FOR VOKEY WEDGE PLAYERS ON PGA TOUR

  • Playing a set of four Vokey Design wedges, Cantlay became the 12th-consecutive winner on the PGA TOUR to have at least one Vokey in the bag (and 32nd overall this season).
  • He finished the week sixth in Strokes Gained: Approach (+5.173) and T2 in Scrambling (80%). 
  •  “You’re always looking for a little edge on controlling distance and I was able to control the flight and distance really well with the SM9, and so it went straight in the bag,” said Cantlay, after making the switch to his new SM9 56.08M at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. (He put his SM9 WedgeWorks 60T in play for the first time at the Masters.) 
  • “When you’re testing a new wedge you want to see that it’s interacting with the turf the right way and is able to perform no matter what kind of shot you’re hitting. And I feel very comfortable that this wedge does that.”

CANTLAY’S SUCCESS CONTINUES WITH PHANTOM X 5

  • A year ago at the BMW Championship, Cantlay – playing his Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 tour prototype putter – gained more strokes putting (+14.6) than any player in a single tournament since they began tracking the statistic in 2004.
  • The success has continued throughout 2022. Heading into next week’s season finale, he ranks third in One-Putt Percentage (43.33%), while leading the TOUR in Approach Putt Performance (lag putting).
  • He’s second in Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage at 37.21%.
  • Cantlay was a perfect 15-for-15 from inside seven feet on Sunday and was T-4 for the week in putting from 10-15 feet (57.1%), as he made it 21 wins for Scotty Cameron players this season on the PGA TOUR, more than any other competitor.
  • Cantlay first switched to his Phantom X 5 mid-mallet model last April at the Zurich Classic, seeking added stability through the putter’s compact wingback construction. Three starts later, he used it to win The Memorial.
  • “A little different for me, I switched over into a mallet,” said Cantlay, who for years had played a blade-style Newport 2 GSS tour prototype. “It’s more face-balanced, so it felt just a little easier to aim and it felt a little easier to swing just straight back and straight through. Launch conditions have been really good and I’ve been making some putts.”
  • Cantlay’s Memorial-winning Phantom X 5 featured a double bend shaft without alignment features.
  • Following the second round of the 2021 Northern Trust, Cantlay switched into his current Phantom X 5 configuration with a sight line on the topline (like the stock model).
  • Around that time, Cantlay also began marking a line on his Pro V1x golf ball to help with alignment on short putts.

DP WORLD TOUR | D+D Real Czech Masters

Max Kieffer (Pro V1) won his first DP World Tour title, posting a final round 6-under 66 including a birdie on the 17th hole to win by one shot.

  • Kieffer led the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (+1.86 per round), while finishing seventh in Scrambling (83.33%).
  • Eleven of the top-12 finishers trusted a Titleist golf ball in Prague, while three of the top five gamed a NEW TSR driver, including Titleist Brand Ambassadors Tapio Pulkannen (TSR2), Louis De Jager (TSR2) and Zander Lombard (TSR3). 

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR | Aramco Team Series Sotogrande

Titleist Brand Ambassador Nelly Korda came from seven shots back to start the final round, closing in 5-under 67 to win by three shots.

What’s in Nelly Korda’s Titleist Golf Bag?

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1 golf ball
Driver: TSi1 10.0° | Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 6 S
Fairway Metals: TSi2 16.5° | Fujikura Ventus Red 70 S and TSi2 21.0° fairway | Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue 75 S
Irons: T100 5-PW | Aerotech SteelFiber i80cw F4
Wedges: Vokey SM8 50.08F, 54.10S, 58.08M | Aerotech SteelFiber i95cw S
Putter: Scotty Cameron Special Select Squareback 2 tour prototype

PGA TOUR Champions | DICK’s Sporting Goods Open

Padraig Harrington (Pro V1) posted three rounds of 67 or better – making just one bogey over his final 36 holes – to earn his second PGA TOUR Champions title of 2022.

  • Harrington, 50, closed with a bogey-free 67 to win by three shots over Thongchai Jaidee (Pro V1x) and Mike Weir (Pro V1x Left Dash), leading a 1-2-3 finish for Titleist golf ball players.
  • Harrington made 20 birdies over the three rounds and finished the week 4th in Scrambling (86.67%) while going 2-for-2 in sand saves.

CHAMPION WINS WITH NEW TSR DRIVER

  • The winner of the DICK’s Sporting Goods Open gamed a NEW TSR3 9.0° driver, marking the first win on PGA TOUR Champions for the new TSR models.
  • Over the three rounds in New York, he led the field in Driving Distance at 323 yards.

KORN FERRY TOUR | Albertsons Boise Open

Playing a Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot golf ball, the winner of the Albertsons Boise Open captured his first-career Korn Ferry Tour victory after posting a career-low 8-under 63 Sunday and emerging victorious from a three-man, all-Titleist playoff.

Japan Golf Tour | Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup

This week’s winner on the Japan Golf Tour used a Titleist TSi3 driver (10.0°) and Vokey Design SM8 58-degree lob wedge, posting a final-round 67 to win by two.

  • Tomoharu Otsuki (Pro V1) finished solo second after a closing 7-under 65.

Asian Tour | International Series Korea

Taehoon Ok (Pro V1) birdied the final hole Sunday to earn his first Asian Tour victory.

  • Ok, 23, rolled his Pro V1 in from 5 feet for birdie on the 18th hole at Lotte Skyhill CC to close in 3-under 68 and finish the week at 15 under, one shot clear of Bio Kim (Pro V1x).
  • “I asked my caddie on 17 if he really thought I can birdie 18 and he said, ‘go for it’,” Ok said. “I have learned a lot by playing in the final pairings recently so that really helped.”
  • It was a 1-2-3 finish for Titleist golf ball players, as Titleist Brand Ambassador Trevor Simsby (Pro V1x) finished another shot back in third.
  • Eleven of the 14 players finishing T10 or better trusted a Titleist ball for the week.

SUNSHINE TOUR | Sunbet Challenge

Albert Venter (Pro V1) captured his second Sunshine Tour win while leading a 1-2-3-4-5 finish for Titleist golf ball players.

  • Venter opened with a 9-under 63 on his way to a six-shot victory.
  • Pro V1 players Ruan Korb and Titleist Brand Ambassador Estiaan Conradie finished second and third, respectively, with Titleist golf ball players claiming the top-five positions on the leader board.

CHINA TOUR | Shenyang International Open

Pro V1x loyalist Zihan She earned his first China Tour victory while leading a 1-2-3 finish for Titleist golf ball players.

  • She, the only player to finish the week at even par, won by one shot over Jia Zhang (Pro V1x).
  • Yang Tong (Pro V1x) finished another shot back in third.
  • Titleist golf ball players made up 11 of the top 12 finishers at Shenyang Century Golf Club, as 96 percent of the field trusted a Titleist golf ball.

AMATEUR | U.S. Amateur

The winner of the U.S. Amateur trusted his Pro V1 golf ball to a 1-up victory in the all-Titleist golf ball final at Ridgewood Country Club.

  • The champion, ranked third in the World Amateur Golf Ranking coming into the week, hit his approach on the 36th hole to 12 feet and two-putted for the halve to claim the Havemeyer Trophy.
  • The runner-up, playing a Pro V1x golf ball and 13 Titleist clubs, battled back from a 5-down deficit early in the day, birdieing the 35th hole to extend the match to No. 36.

TITLEIST SWEEPS EQUIPMENT COUNTS AT U.S. AMATEUR

  • Titleist was the overwhelming #1 golf ball and most played brand in every major equipment category as the field of 312 players chased history at Ridgewood Country Club.
  • This season on the PGA TOUR, Titleist has topped every major equipment category three times, and 26 times since the start of the 2019 calendar year – a feat that has never been matched by any other brand.
  • Titleist also swept the counts across this summer’s seven Elite Amateur Series events, the six NCAA Men’s Regional Championships and the U.S. Junior Championship.
  • At the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Titleist was also the most played golf ball, driver (T1), hybridutility ironwedge and putter.

This week in New Jersey:

  • A total of 271 players (87%) teed up a Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1 Left Dot or Pro V1x Left Dash, more than 11 times the nearest competitor (24) – including the champion, all four semifinalists, seven of the eight quarterfinalists and three of the stroke-play co-medalists.
  • There were more Titleist drivers (121/39%), fairways (121 players/39%) and hybrids (36/40%) in players’ bags than any other brand – with a total of 285 (39%) total metalwoods in play, compared to 188 for the nearest competitor.
  • Titleist was the most played utility iron with 118 (65%), more than five times the nearest competitor (23), with T200 (Utility Build) being the most popular model.
  • Titleist irons were the top choice of U.S. Amateur contestants with 125 (40%) sets in play, more than double the nearest competitor (59). T100 irons were the most trusted model.
  • There were more Vokey Design gap, sand and lob wedges (544/59%) in play than all other brands combined.
  • More players trusted Scotty Cameron putters (102/33%) than any other brand, compared to 68 for the nearest competitor.

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