FJ Blog

1st and 20 for Love

Davis Love III secured the first  win for SYNR-G , winning the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney on Sunday with a final round 8-under 64. It was the second consecutive 64 for Love, the best final 36-hole score in......

1st and 20 for Love, SYNR-G

Davis Love III secured the first win for SYNR-G, winning the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney on Sunday with a final round 8-under 64. It was the second consecutive 64 for Love, the best final 36-hole score in the tournament’s 38-year history, en route to his 20th career victory. He becomes one of only four active players to reach the 20 win plateau and with it, earns a lifetime exemption on the PGA Tour.

Love, who finished at 25-under 263, saved the best for last, as his weekend 64s were both season-low rounds in the final PGA Tour event of 2008.  The win was the first in more than two years for the 22-year PGA TOUR veteran who last won at the 2006 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro (now the Wyndham Championship).

“I always questioned, ‘Am I doing the right thing? Why am I still doing this?’” the 44-year-old Love said. “I didn’t doubt my desire, or that I could still compete; it was just the little things I had to do.”

With a two-shot lead, Love’s tee shot on the 17th was buried in deep rough, leaving him no shot at the green. He laid up 100 yards short, hit wedge to 7 feet and saved par. From the right rough on the 18th, his ball flew the green into a back bunker. Needing par to win, he blasted out to 3 feet and made the putt.

“I was in trouble (on 18), but I was still confident I could get the ball up and in,” Love said. “I didn’t worry about winning or losing or screwing up.”

The win was Love’s seventh top-five finish in the tournament and his 15th straight round in the tournament in the 60s, breaking the record held by the #1 player in the world.

When does your golf season end?

Would you play in these conditions?

With the arrival of short days and cold temperatures here in the Northeast, it’s just about time to hang up the FJ’s for the year. While the cold weather gear is certainly available, personally, my benchmark is 50 degrees. Anything at or above and I’m calling around for a foursome. We’ve been fortunate the past few winters to meet that threshold so the spikes are never really that far from reach. In fact, we’ve developed a bit of a tradition where we play CrossWinds golf course each January around my birthday. We’re up to three years in a row now which is pretty unlikely when you live in the frozen tundra of Massachusetts.

So when does your season end? Is there a minimum temperature? First snowfall? Are you a fortunate year-rounder?

Clutch Performance

Ryan Palmer drains birdie on 18th hole to secure his second career win, and Tour card, at the Gin sur Mer Classic.

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FootJoy Reigns at Volvo Masters

FootJoy reigned at the Volvo Masters Sunday as Robert Karlsson (Classics Dry Premiere, StaSof glove) became the first Swede to win the Order of Merit title and Soren Kjeldsen (Classics Dry Premiere, StaSof glove) earned his third career European Tour victory.

“It was a very special atmosphere and obviously nerve wracking for me but a very special day,” said Kjeldsen whose 708,000 euros ($899,000) winning cheque was nearly as much as he won in his first four years on tour.

Kjeldsen became the third wire-to-wire champion after an even par 71 gave him an 8-under 276 total for a two shot victory.

A new Order of Merit winner was crowned for the fifth straight year as Karlsson’s consistency through the season proved the difference. In 23 events, Karlsson finished outside of the top 20 only six times while winning twice.

“In the last three and a half years I have taken myself to a new level and this is fantastic. But this has been the hardest week I’ve ever experienced in golf. It’s one of those situations where you have it in your own hands, but not really, and your focus wanders quite a bit.”

“This is by far my greatest achievement in golf – I never thought I would be in this position so it’s just incredible,” said Karlsson.

Final Day at the Ginn sur Mer

With all the players onsite getting used to a new, very long and difficult golf course and the pro-am teeing off in two waves, Wednesday was a busy day at the Ginn sur Mer. JB Holmes was one player we spoke with on Wednesday who could have a huge advantage this week with his length. As we said previously, this is the longest course on Tour this season and with a wind that is expected to stick around through the weekend, he’s one of few players who might be able to reach the lengthy par fives in two. Check out the slideshow to see what surprised us about JB’s footwear, what Florida fan was wearing these SYNR-Gs and to see some of the other key holes at The Conservatory.

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Monday at the Ginn sur Mer Classic

Pretty quiet Monday as players slowly arrived from around the country, with many coming cross-country from last week’s Frys.com Open. With only two weeks left in the season, players have a lot to play for this week, whether it’s their Tour card for next year or invites to the majors and some of the limited-field tournaments. This Tom Watson-designed course is located between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach on Flordia’s east coast and, with cool temperatures and gusty winds expected the remainder of the week, will give the players all they can handle at over 7,600 yards. Keep an eye on the blog for more throughout the week and let us know if you have any questions for us or for the players!

Click here to begin the slideshow.:

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Tuesday at the Ginn sur Mer

The same weather that’s causing havoc with the World Series, is also bringing record cold temperatures to the Ginn sur Mer Classic in Florida. Temps in the 50’s and north-west wind gusts up to 25 mph had players and fans scrambling for ski hats and extra layers. However, with so much to play for this week, and with players facing the longest course this year on the PGA Tour, it was time to get to work. We saw some interesting sites on Tuesday, including more SYNR-G sightings, caddies getting advice from players and some interesting adjustments at the Titleist tour truck.

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FootJoy Diary - Castello Masters

Check out this update from our Tour reps on the European Tour…

Approaching the end of the season, there is plenty of interest in the new styles for the 2009 season. We are fielding lots of questions about SYNR-G and the new styles of Classics for next year. Over the course of the next month or so, all the FootJoy players will get the chance to order shoes for next season.

This week at the Castello Masters near Valencia, world no.7 Camilo Villegas is making a rare appearance. He turned out in todays pro am wearing a gleaming white pair of shield-tip Classics (style 50666).

Henrik Stenson, no.10 in the world rankings, collected two new pairs of Classic Tour BOA. He is a regular wearer of orthotics and wears ReelFits exclusively. This week he picked up a few custom pairs - a black shoe with a dark brown saddle, and white with a black saddle.

Young staffer Rory McIlroy is planning his wardrobe for 2009 and inquired about some retro custom Classics in suede leather. Watch out for him in some funky styles next year!!

Following a packing error, Peter O’Malley needed a pair of shoes in an emergency for this week and was delighted with a new pair of white ReelFit (style 53843). He put them on straight out of the box and went to the tee to play his practice round.

Young English professional, Chris Wood, has been working with the European Tour physiotherapy team on a problem with his heel. We are going to arrange a laser fitting for him so we can try to help with a change of style and size. The physio team also think that his feet are different sizes so we are likely to be ordering customs for him in future.

That’s all for this week from Spain… the next stop is Valderrama for the season-ending Volvo Masters!!

Davis Loves Them, Too…

“I have worn the SYNR-G every week since I got them. I love them. I feel closer to the ground and more stable. There’s absolutely no rolling over the shoe with these, very stable and comfortable.” – Davis Love III

We hope to get more with Davis, and other Tour players, next week when we’re onsite at the Ginn sur Mer.