Wendy Ward Uses Callaway Golf’s Rule 35 Ball To Set 54-hole Scoring Records In LPGA Victory
Wendy Ward Uses Callaway Golf’s Rule 35 Ball To Set 54-hole Scoring Records In LPGA Victory
August 13, 2001 at 12:00 AM EDT
CONTACT(S): Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, Millie Speirs (760) 931-1771
CARLSBAD, CA., August 13, 2001 – The Rule 35® ball from Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) continues to rewrite the LPGA Tour record books. Wendy Ward used the Rule 35 Softfeel™ (blue logo) ball to win the Wendy's Championship for Children yesterday, setting 54-hole scoring records in the process. The Rule 35 ball has already been used by Annika Sorenstam to establish several scoring records this year, and it is the winningest ball on the LPGA Tour this season with 14 wins in 26 events. Ward's victory is the 27th ball victory for Callaway Golf on the world's five major professional tours combined this year.
Four of the LPGA Tour's main scoring records have been broken this year by players using the Rule 35 Softfeel ball. Ward's 21-under-par total of 195 now stands as the LPGA Tour scoring record for 54 holes, both in relation to par and for total score. Sorenstam holds the LPGA Tour scoring records for 18 holes (13-under 59), 36 holes (20-under 124), and 72 holes (27-under 261), all established earlier this year at the Standard Register Ping using the Rule 35 Softfeel model.
Ward wrote her name into the record books with a combination of power and precision, averaging 272 yards in driving distance while hitting 90 percent of the greens in regulation. “It's fun to go out and play great golf,” said Ward, who has now won three LPGA Tour events. “These are the weeks you dream about, that you work so hard for. I'll cherish this week.” Ward's week to remember included a career-low 62 in the second round and 22 birdies over 54 holes.
Callaway Golf was No. 2 in ball usage at the Wendy's Championship for Children with 50 balls in play, and three of the top four finishers at the event used Rule 35 balls. Callaway Golf was the leader in drivers, fairway woods, irons and putters in play at the event, as it is for the season as a whole on the LPGA Tour, according to the Darrell Survey.
In finishing tied for second, Sorenstam moved back into first place on the LPGA Tour money list with $1,326,209. She also leads the tour in scoring average (69.43), greens in regulation (75.1 percent) and Rolex Player of the Year points. Sorenstam used 11 Callaway Golf® clubs at the Wendy's Championship for Children, including a Big Bertha® Hawk Eye® VFT™ Pro Series Titanium Driver, Big Bertha Steelhead Plus™ 4-wood and 7-wood, Steelhead™ X-14® Irons and an Odyssey® Dual Force® Rossie® 2 Putter.
An Odyssey Putter was also used to win on the PGA Tour yesterday. The winner of the Buick Open used an Odyssey Dual Force Rossie 1 Putter to earn his first victory in six years. The victory was the 41st of the year for Odyssey Putters, which are the most-played putters on the world's five major professional tours combined this year.
Callaway Golf Company makes and sells Big Bertha® Metal Woods and Irons, including Big Bertha ERC® II Forged Titanium Drivers, Big Bertha Hawk Eye® VFT™ and Big Bertha Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Drivers and Fairway Woods, Big Bertha Steelhead Plus™ Stainless Steel Drivers and Fairway Woods, Hawk Eye Tungsten Injected™ Titanium Irons, Steelhead™ X-14® and Steelhead X-14 Pro Series Stainless Steel Irons. Callaway Golf Company also makes and sells Odyssey® Putters, including White Hot®, TriHot™, and Dual Force® Putters. Callaway Golf Company makes and sells the Callaway Golf® Rule 35® Firmfeel™ and Softfeel™ golf balls, and the CB1™ Red and CB1 Blue golf balls. For more information about Callaway Golf Company, please visit our Web sites at www.callawaygolf.com and www.odysseygolf.com.