CARLSBAD, Calif., Jun 17, 2002 (BW SportsWire) -- Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) Staff Professional Annika Sorenstam surged to a resounding four-stroke victory Saturday at the Evian Masters in France. This was the fifth LPGA Tour victory of the year for the world's No. 1-ranked woman golfer, and her sixth victory overall since switching to the Big Bertha C4(TM) Driver and HX(TM) Red golf ball at the beginning of the year. Sorenstam won $315,000 -- the second-largest first-place check on the LPGA Tour -- for her victory at the Evian Masters, boosting her earnings for the season to a tour-leading $1,354,054. With more than half of the tour schedule remaining, Sorenstam is on pace to break the earnings record of $2,105,868 she set in 2001.

Sorenstam is also in position to improve upon the career-best eight victories she posted last season. "I really feel like I'm playing even better than last year," said Sorenstam, who has won five of the 11 LPGA Tour events she's played in 2002. "I'm striking the ball better and I'm making more putts, so in turn I'm scoring better. That's what I'm looking for."

That's certainly what Sorenstam was looking for when she switched drivers and golf balls prior to the season. Since switching to the unique Big Bertha C4 Driver and revolutionary HX golf ball, Sorenstam has improved in nearly every statistical category. "I am hitting the ball much longer now, so I'm actually hitting 4-wood off the tee more. But when I do hit my driver, it's going about 270 yards," said Sorenstam, whose driving distance average has increased nine yards this year, from 252.3 yards last year to 261.3 yards in 2002. "And I've gained six to seven yards with my irons. Add that up and it's one to two clubs less I'm hitting into each green. That makes a huge difference. It lets me be more aggressive on all my approach shots."

Sorenstam used 11 Callaway Golf(R) clubs at the Evian Masters, including Steelhead(TM) X-14(R) Irons and an Odyssey(R) White Hot(R) "2-Ball" Putter. Sorenstam has now won seven of 14 LPGA Tour events since switching to the Odyssey White Hot "2-Ball" Putter near the end of 2001. Her stroke average of 68.87 is amazing, nearly two strokes better than her nearest competitor. In addition, Sorenstam currently leads the LPGA Tour in money won, Rolex Player of the Year points, greens hit in regulation and rounds under par, and is in the top 10 in driving accuracy, birdies and top-10 finishes. Sorenstam has now won 36 LPGA Tour events and has qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame at the conclusion of the 2003 season.

Callaway Golf Company makes and sells Big Bertha(R) Metal Woods and Irons, including Big Bertha C4(TM) Compression Cured Carbon Composite Drivers, Big Bertha ERC(R) II Forged Titanium Drivers, Big Bertha ERC Forged Titanium Fairway Woods, Big Bertha Hawk Eye(R) VFT(R) and Big Bertha Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Drivers and Fairway Woods, Big Bertha Steelhead(TM) III Stainless Steel Drivers and Fairway Woods, Hawk Eye VFT Tungsten Injected(TM) Titanium Irons, Big Bertha Stainless Steel Irons, Steelhead X-14(R) and Steelhead X-14 Pro Series Stainless Steel Irons. Callaway Golf Company also makes and sells Odyssey(R) Putters, including White Hot(R), TriHot(TM), and Dual Force(R) Putters. Callaway Golf Company makes and sells the Callaway Golf(R) HX(TM) Blue and HX Red balls, Rule 35(R) Firmfeel(TM) and Softfeel(TM) balls, the CTU 30(TM) Blue and CTU 30 Red balls, the HX 2-Piece Blue and HX 2-Piece Red balls, and the CB1(TM) Blue and CB1 Red balls. For more information about Callaway Golf Company, please visit our Web sites at www.callawaygolf.com and www.odysseygolf.com.

CONTACT:
Callaway Golf, Carlsbad
Larry Dorman/Mike Galeski/Millie Speirs
760/931-1771

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