Readers,

Srixon is pleased to announce that it has signed an endorsement contract with Na Yeon Choi, the winner of the 2010 Official Money List on the United States Ladies Professional Golf Association (USLPGA). In 2004, as an amateur, Choi earned her first victory on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Tour (KLPGT). She turned professional immediately following her first victory and proceeded to win three additional championships on the KLPGT. Choi began competing on the USLPGA in 2008, earning her first victory at the 2009 Samsung World Championship, before clinching the top spot on the 2010 USLPGA Official Money List.

“I am very excited to sign with Srixon, which is my first endorsement deal with any club maker since I turned professional,” said Choi. “I’ve always had a great impression of Srixon clubs, as well as their technical capabilities. I’m looking forward to working with Srixon to achieve great results on tour.”

“We are extremely pleased to have Ms. Choi as a member of our LPGA Tour staff,” said Greg Hopkins, CEO of Cleveland Golf/Srixon -U.S.A. “Her dedication and commitment to the game has helped her become one of today’s young stars on the LPGA, and her decision to sign her first club endorsement with Srixon also says a lot about the high quality products we are offering.”

What do you think of the signing of Na Yeon Choi?

Congratulations to Loren Roberts, winner of the 2012 Toshiba Classic!  Roberts won the event held at Newport Beach Country Club on Sunday with a final round of 69, good for a 2 stroke victory.  The win was Roberts 13th on the Champions Tour, but his first in nearly two years.

Roberts got off to a great start on Sunday by birdying holes 1, 2 and 4, but faltered slightly down the stretch.  Bogeys on 14, 16 and 17 had Roberts nervous towards the end of the day.  “We did make it interesting,” Roberts said. “I got off to a really good start. I hit a snag on the back and got out of rhythm.”

A birdie on 18 was a good way to get back into his rhythm at the end of the day and close out the two shot win.

Roberts is ranked fourth on the Champions Tour in putting average at 1.71 per GIR.

Roberts had a ZSTAR Golf ball in his bag this week.

George McNeill only needed to make par on the 72nd hole to secure a win at the 2012 Puerto Rico Open over the weekend, but instead decided to add some style points with a closing birdie en route to his second-career PGA Tour victory. McNeill, who finished the day with three consecutive birdies, won the tournament with rounds of 66-70-67-69 for a four-day score of -18, 272.

McNeill, who won previously at the 2007 Frys.com Open during his rookie year, was the 54-hole leader at Trump International Golf Club in Puerto Rico but still needed to make a Sunday charge since the leaderboard was filled with low scores.

“I was really nervous, but I knew what I had to do, and basically I just had to bear down and get it done,” said McNeill, a 36-year-old Florida State alum. “If not, then somebody else was going to win. I was trying to basically have control of myself, and that’s all I was looking for.”

He earned $630,000 for the triumph, along with 250 FedEx Cup points.

McNeill’s story really is that of a journeyman. He turned professional in 1998 and tried to make a name for himself on the Nationwide Tour and mini-tours. After a few years with varying results, McNeill gave up playing competitive golf completely and returned to Florida to work as a teaching professional. After nine months of working at two different golf courses, McNeill had had enough and made the decision to get back to what he loved – playing golf at the highest level.

In 145 career PGA Tour starts, McNeill now has two wins, six runner-ups and two playoff losses. He’s learned a lot since his first victory.

“I think I was a little dumb, for lack of a better word, in 2007,” McNeill said. “I really didn’t know any better.

“It’s not easy to be the best even if it’s only for one week, and that’s why it’s tough. And you got to take in golf what you can and move on.”

In his bag this week was:

Driver: Cleveland Golf Launcher Ultralite TL310, 9.5°

Irons: Cleveland Golf588 Forged MB, 3-PW

Wedges: Cleveland Golf 588 Forged 54° & 60°

Ball: Srixon Z-STAR XV
Finishing right behind McNeill was Srixon ball loyalist Ryo Ishikawa, whose second-place effort was his best to date on the PGA Tour. Ishikawa, a 20-year-old Japanese superstar who plays the Z-STAR ball, has already won multiple times overseas and competed on two Presidents Cup squads.

Cleveland Golf would like to congratulate Keegan Bradley on being named the 2011 PGA Tour Rookie Of The Year! The award was announced Tuesday from PGA Tour Headquarters in Florida by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem.

Keegan’s rookie campaign is sure to be talked about for years to come. The clear highlight of his season – and of his career to date – was the dramatic come-from-behind PGA Championship win at Atlanta Athletic Club in August. Being five shots down with just three holes to play didn’t rattle the 25-year-old St. John’s University alum, as he made stunning birdies on holes 16 and 17 to hold a share of the lead at the end of regulation. When the dust settled following the ensuing three-hole playoff, Bradley was indeed the PGA Champion, becoming only the third player ever to win in his first major start.

Before the PGA Championship, Keegan broke through with a playoff triumph at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May for his first career PGA Tour victory. The native of Woodstock, Vt., capped his two-win regular season with a pair of off-season wins, one at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda in October and another this month at the Franklin Templeton Shootout in Florida.

All told, he ranked 13th on the money list with $3,758,600. Not bad for someone who had never competed in a PGA Tour event prior to 2011.

“I’m thrilled to win the Rookie of the Year,” Bradley said “it’s an award you can only win one time, that you only get one chance to win. It’s a huge honor.”

Because of his accolades inside the ropes, Bradley, a devout New England sports fan who now resides in Jupiter, Fla., was selected to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park prior to a Boston Red Sox game and handle the pre-game coin toss for a New England Patriots game at Gillette Stadium. Keegan even received a congratulatory text from Patriots Super Bowl MVP quarterback and childhood hero Tom Brady, who said he’d like to tee it up with Bradley following the NFL season.

So congrats on a great year, Keegan! May it be the first of many!

Readers,

We have exciting news from the European Tour this week: Srixon Loyalist, Garth Mulroy has won the Alfred Dunhill Championship for his first European Tour win.  Not only was it a win for a Srixon golf ball, but it was a win for Tour Yellow!  Mulroy relied on the Srixon Z-STAR XV Tour Yellow golf ball during his two stroke win in his native South Africa.  This marks the first European victory for Tour Yellow.

Mulroy strung together four great rounds, capped off with Sunday 68 to finish at -19 for the week.

“I just tried to play smart golf and hit it in the right spots,” Mulroy said. “I had allowed my thoughts to get a little ahead of themselves earlier on, but I managed to concentrate on the job at hand.”

This certainly puts an exclamation mark on Mulroy’s season which included a Nationwide Tour victory earlier in the season.

Also in Mulroy’s bag this week were Cleveland Golf CG16 Wedges.

Beating the field by seven shots in professional golf almost never happens, but don’t you dare say that to Jason Kokrak.  The Nationwide Tour standout dominated the field at the Miccosukee Championship this week in Miami, FL where he was the leader after all four tournament rounds.  This is the second Nationwide Tour victory for Kokrak in the last 5 weeks, and one that he will not soon forget.  Kokrak led the field in birdies and Greens in Regulation, as well as ranking inside the top ten in driving distance and Putts per GIR.  Kokrak relied on rounds of 63, 66, 69, and 66 to get him to a four day total of -20, seven shots removed from the runner-up.

“I would never have dreamt this. At the beginning of the year you set goals that you want to meet and then you set some that maybe are a little out of reach. I’ve already exceeded all the goals that I set for myself this year.”

By virtue of this tournament, Kokrak moves into fourth place on the Nationwide Tour Money List with only two events left in the season.  Cleveland Golf/Srixon currently holds three of the top four places on the money list, including money leader J.J. Killeen and Ted Potter, Jr.  Kokrak currently ranks number one on tour in driving distance at 320 yards.

In Kokrak’s bag this week was:

Ball: Z-Star XV

Driver: Cleveland Launcher SL290 with Miyazaki Kusala 83 Shaft

Fairway Wood: Cleveland FL with Miyazaki Kusala 83 Shaft

Irons: CG16 (3-PW)

Wedges: 588 Forged, 52, 56 and 60

“It seems like a dream.  I am afraid I am going to wake up here in the next five minutes and it’s not going to be real.”  Keegan Bradley said after accepting the Wanamaker Trophy and becoming the 93rd PGA Champion.  Guess what, Keegan… This isn’t a dream.  This is real life and you just won the PGA Championship in your first ever major attempt.  When you wake up, you have a press tour coming at you that would make even your idol, Tom Brady’s head spin.

With this win, the Bradley name is added to the uber-short list of Francis Ouimet and Ben Curtis. Those are the three golfers since 1913 to win a major in their first attempt.  Keegan Bradley locked up his 2nd win of the year on Sunday in absolutely ridiculous fashion coming down the stretch.  At one point, with three holes to play, Bradley was 5 shots back of the lead and the metaphorical fat lady had all but taken the stage for her big solo.  A triple bogey on the Par 3, 15th hole left Bradley seemingly out of the Championship, leaving viewers thinking he had a nice week but it wasn’t meant to be. However, back-to-back birdies (including one jaw dropping putt on 17) and a steady par on 18 were enough to force a playoff.

(I think now would be a good time to point out that in most Tour events, if a player is done and thinks he could be involved in a playoff he usually hits the range or rolls some putts.  What did Bradley do?  He played with his 10 month old nephew, hugged his sister and headed back out to the course, smiling the whole time.)

Once the playoff began, Keegan wasted no time extending the momentum he had going from the previous three holes. He started off with a birdie, hitting his approach shot on 16 to four feet with one of the more beautiful 8 Iron shots you will see in a major championship.  He followed that up with two “run of the mill” pars on 17 and 18 before hoisting his nephew into the air and being surrounded by family members.

So, congratulations Keegan Bradley! You have just joined an elite club!  It should also be noted that you are currently the only player to win 100% of your major championships.  Hopefully you can keep that up, come April!

Here are the tools Keegan used to win the PGA Championship:

DRIVER: Cleveland Launcher UltraLite TL 310 (10.5°) with a Miyazaki Kusala 61 shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: Cleveland Launcher FL (14°) with a Miyazaki Kusala 83 shaft
HYBRIDS: Cleveland Launcher DST (18°) with a Project X XHB6 shaft; Mashie TM3 (20.5°) with a Miyazaki C Kua 105 shaft
IRONS: Cleveland CG7 Tour (4-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
WEDGES: Cleveland CG14 (52°, 58°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts
BALL: Srixon Z-Star

J.J. Killeen is on a hot streak this summer. After winning the Utah Championship last week, Killeen backed it up with a win at the Cox Classic in Omaha, NE on Sunday. Killeen becomes the first Nationwide Tour player to win back-to-back tournaments since 2005, an accolade he is no-doubt proud to own.

The win puts Killeen into elite status on the Nationwide Tour. He now sits 2nd on the money list for the season; and with the Top 25 advancing to the PGA Tour in 2012, you have to like Killeen’s chances of making a name for himself in the years to come. Along with being in 2nd place, the win now puts Killeen just one win away from an immediate promotion to full time PGA Tour status*. As of right now, Killeen is one of only two players to have two wins this year on the Nationwide Tour.

In J.J.’s bag this week was:

Ball: Z STAR XV
Wedges: CG16; 54* and CG14; 60*

As well as Killeen making a run, the Cleveland Golf/Srixon family had plenty of other names atop the leader board this weekend. In the Cox Classic, Staffers Ken Duke and Gary Christian both finished T2, and Russell Knox finished T7. On the Champions Tour, Staffers John Huston and Larry Mize both finished T8 and on the PGA Tour, Staffers David Toms and Keegan Bradley finished T9 and T15, respectively.

*If any Nationwide player wins three tournaments in one season, he get an immediate bump to “the big leagues”.

Is a Tour level ball really right for a 12 handicapper?  If much of your spin is side spin, why do you want more of it?  What benefits does a 3 piece ball have that a 2 piece ball not have for my game?

Have you asked yourself all these questions?  If you have not, you should.  Odds are, if you are above a 10 handicap, a Tour caliber or 3 piece ball can actually hurt your game.  The average 10 handicapper produces more side spin than he/she produces backspin, which is not necessarily a good thing if you cannot control your ball flight.  So why would you look for a ball that increases that spin?  The Q-STAR is engineered for less spin off the driver, but developed to keep that soft feel around the greens.  It also was given a bigger core to increase distance.

In addition to asking yourself these questions, we thought we would develop site for you to find out the answers to all your golf ball related questions.  Visit www.questionyourball.com for a Q&A list, a list of common misconceptions, technical features, and a live chat feature.  The live chat is available M-F from 8-5 PST.

Firing a 65 on Sunday on the Nationwide Tour is good for anyone.  When you combine it with an opening round 62, a Friday 67 and a Saturday 68, you know you are in a good spot.  Those are the four rounds that helped J.J. Killeen close out a four shot victory in the Utah Championship yesterday.

What made this week extra special for Killeen was having a caddy on the bag that he could relate to; his father.

“He wouldn’t accept a cent from me in a million years,” Killeen said about his father/caddy. “I could offer it, and he would tell me to take a hike, for sure.”

This was the first win of the year for Killeen, moving him from 25th to 4th place on the Nationwide Tour Money List.  This certainly moves him into a good spot on the list, as the Top 25 at the end of the season will gain 2012 PGA Tour status.

“Nothing is guaranteed out here, so I’m just going to keep grinding,” he said.

In J.J.’s bag this week was:

Ball: Z STAR XV
Wedges: CG16; 54* and CG14; 60*