FootJoy Blog

More players wore FootJoy shoes than any other shoe brand at the 2008 Legends Reno-Tahoe Open.

He loves skateboarding and fast boats, fired a 60 at the 2007 Nationwide Tour Championship to help earn his first PGA Tour card and recently boarded a private jet to play in his first major, The 2008 Open Championship. He also has three top 10’s this year and appears in good position to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Click here to read more about FootJoy player, and PGA Tour rookie, Michael Letzig.

Chez Reavie closed out his first PGA Tour win with a 1-under 70 Sunday en route to winning the RBC Canadian Open - Canada’s national championship. Playing for the sixth consecutive week on Tour, Reavie finished the week with a 17-under 267 total for a three shot victory over fellow FootJoy player, and fellow Arizona State alum, Billy Mayfair.

Reavie, wearing a pair of black Classics Tour (style #51315), came out early on Sunday to finish the last two holes of his third round and ended up regaining the lead with a tap-in birdie on the par 5 18th. Later in the day, after a slow start on his final round, Reavie broke away from the field with back-to-back birdies on 9 and 10 and sealed the win with a 12-foot birdie on 18. Not a long hitter, the 26-year-old Tour rookie relied on accuracy all week, hitting 44 of 56 fairways in regulation and 54 of 72 greens. He earned $900,000 and spots the next two weeks in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship.

Click on the image below to hear Chez’s comments following the victory.

FootJoy player Bruce Vaughan holed a 20-foot putt to win the Senior British Open in a playoff, his first tournament victory on either the Champions Tour or PGA TOUR.

In a dramatic turnaround at Royal Troon on Sunday, Vaughan stormed back from three down with nine to play to force a playoff. Trailing by one on the 18th green in regulation, Vaughan made par then watched as the leader came up 15 feet short on a putt from off the green. He made the putt for bogey which left both players tied at 6-under 278 and headed back to the 18th tee for the playoff.

Vaughan pitched to the center of the green and then holed his putt. Cook, however, missed his putt from 12 feet and the former firefighter from Hutchinson, Kansas, collected his biggest-ever paycheck of $312,258. Vaughan, who has had six operations on his left knee, celebrated his first tournament triumph and one that gets him into the field for next year’s British Open at Turnberry.

“Money is great but until you win, you’re just another player. It’s all about winning. You only get a few of these,” said Vaughan, whose mother Maxine died in a car crash seven weeks ago after returning from watching him play a tournament in Iowa.

In our ongoing effort to introduce you to the people who drive the FootJoy brand, we occasionally will focus on someone who is not technically an FJ employee but is just as vital to the success of our business. Someone like James Antonelli, the head golf professional at Marshfield Country Club in Marshfield, MA. Click on the image below to meet James, find out about his favorite FJ products and to learn more about Marshfield Country Club - a beautiful club about 30 minutes south of Boston.

More players wore FootJoy shoes than any other shoe brand at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open.

Defending champion, Per-Ulrik Johansson, was singing the praises of the ReelFit this week in Moscow. He ordered two more pairs in time for the Scandinavian Masters in his native Stockholm in a couple of weeks.

Danny Willett was seen sporting a new pair of white Classics as he continues his quest to secure his European Tour card from sponsors’ invitations ahead of the Qualifying School this autumn.

Fresh from an excellent showing at last week’s Open Championship, Paul Waring (right) boasted how his FJ Outerwear, RainGrip glove and DryJoys PODS Tech (style #53502) kept him dry and comfortable during the wet weather at Royal Birkdale.

Fashion-conscious Welshman, Jamie Donaldson, was anxiously enquiring about new styles for 2009. There is often some excitement at this time of the year when the new styles are revealed to the tour players.

Sam Walker was enquiring if his exotic Classics had arrived and asked to receive them at the Scandinavian Masters. Anticipating a warm, dry week in Stockholm, he wants to give them a debut at Arlandastad early next month!!

Check out the slideshow from the Russian Open where, once again, FootJoy is the #1 shoe, trusted by 69% of the players, compared to 17% for the nearest competitor.

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“I’m like every other person, I got a mortgage to pay off as well, so that probably will happen a little bit. It’s just such a neat feeling now I can play the rest of the year and — you know, my mom’s biggest dream has always been to go to Hawaii, and she’s turning 60 in December so I guess we’re going to Hawaii.”

That was Richard S. Johnson on how his life will change after winning the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee on Sunday. Johnson wrapped up his first PGA Tour victory in dramatic fashion, dropping birdies on three of his last four holes to shoot 6-under par 64 and win by one shot. He finished 16-under par on the 6,759-yard Brown Deer Park Golf Course to win the $720,000 first prize.

Johnson, who had a hole-in-one on Thursday, got the birdies when he needed them the most, first sinking a birdie putt of about 12 feet on the par-4 17th-hole to break away from a tie. However, with the title still up for grabs, he then birdied the par-5 18th after hitting a spectacular 3-wood approach to 20 feet and two-putting for birdie for the one shot win. Johnson wore DryJoys PODS Traditional (style #53597) during the victory.

Johnson, the sixth golfer from Sweden to win on TOUR and seventh first-time winner this season, had to go through q-school last fall to get his TOUR card back…something he won’t have to endure for at least a few years now.

While most of the golf world was focused on Royal Birkdale, Colt Knost was wrapping up his second professional victory by firing a remarkable final round 10-under 62 at Price Cutter Charity Championship. More importantly, he also wrapped up his PGA Tour card for 2009.

After making birdie on three of his first six holes, Knost was 3-under at the turn and then went on a tear, dropping back-to-back eagles on the par four 10th and par five 11th holes en route to a back nine 29. Knost finished the week with a 26-under 262 total to go wire-to-wire  and win by three shots. Colt’s previous victory came in May at the Fort Smith Classic. He wore FootJoy shoes and a SciFlex glove during both his victories.

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On the LPGA Tour, Ji Young Oh won the LPGA State Farm Classic, making a par on the first playoff hole to claim her first career victory. Oh fired four rounds in the 60’s, including back-to-back 6-under 66’s to start the tournament. She closed with a 69 to finish the week with an 18-under 270 total. Oh wore a SciFlex glove and white MyJoys with the Korean flag logo during her maiden triumph.

Oh bogeyed the 17th hole but after making par on 18 in regulation she watched from behind the green as the leader bogeyed 18 to force a playoff. The two returned to the 18th for sudden death where Oh chipped from the rough within 6 inches of the pin and then tapped in for victory at Panther Creek Country Club.

Ben Curtis went out early and posted an even par 70 during the third round of The Open Championship, one of only four players to be at level par or better on Saturday. Little did he realize how good that score would turn out to be! With winds howling anywhere from 30-50 mph, scores have soared in the afternoon and Curtis now finds himself tied for fifth heading into tomorrow’s final round. In this video, Ben explains just how adventurous the round was and what adjustments a player tries to make when winds are blowing that hard.

What a difference a day makes. While yesterday the story was the weather (or lack thereof for the afternoon guys), today it was players making leaps up the leaderboard. With conditions relatively docile compared to the previous day, several FJ players seized the opportunity to post a low round, led by Camilo Villegas who posted a 5-under 65 this morning. After a 6-over 76 in yesterday’s driving rain, Villegas posted the sixth lowest score ever at Royal Birkdale and will now enter the weekend just two shots off the lead. Of course, tomorrow’s forecast is for a “STRONG WIND HAZARD” so anything can happen from here on in…

Check out these images from Friday at The Open Championship.

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Camilo sits just two shots off the lead entering the weekend

Camilo Villegas went from trying to make the cut to one shot back of the lead after a stellar 5-under 65 during round two on Friday. Hear all about his round in this interview from Royal Birkdale.

They say winning The Open Championship often depends no the tee times you draw…and that pretty much sums up the first day at this year’s championship when a drastic turn in the weather almost made it seem like two different days. For those that went out first, they were greeted by 30 mph winds and sideways rain, leading to a scoring average that was three shots higher (77.4 vs, 74.4) than the afternoon wave of players. In fact, 19 of the 78 players who teed off in the morning shot 80 or higher. Not one player in the afternoon shot 80 or above. Not a great day for golf, but a perfect day for Footjoy Performance Outerwear!

Might be time to send a box of chocolates or a set of car keys to the guy who makes those tee times…

Check out these images from Thursday at The Open Championship.

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‘Hey, I got an extra ticket to The Open on Thursday. You wanna go?’

FootJoy will be bringing you updates from Royal Birkdale throughout the week with help from Guy Smith (Tour Rep) and Rich Fryer (Marketing Director), who are onsite and inside the ropes.

Check out these images from Wednesday at The Open Championship. Then read the full diary entry that follows.

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The distinct leaderboard of the season’s third major championship

The hotel may not be up to much, but the golf course is superb! All of the players were out and about today, braving the strong westerly wind coming from the Irish Sea, some playing a full round, some opting to play 4-5 holes and spend the rest of the day chipping, putting and hitting balls.

The Open Championship is where we do a substantial shoe issue to the players, including many new styles that, and with 4 experienced shoe-fitters on hand in the form of members of the UK FJ Salesforce. The Fitting Cabin has been flat-out from Monday through Wednesday with players coming in to collect new shoes, some to double check their sizing, others wanting to simply put some new spikes in…. [Read more →]

More players wore FootJoy shoes than any other shoe brand at the 2008 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.