FootJoy Blog

Despite battling cerebral palsy, DJ Gregory recently finished walking every hole of every round at every PGA Tour tournament in 2008. Watch his absolutely incredible story in this ESPN feature. One of the most heartwarming and inspirational stories you’ll see this year.

Camilo Villegas (white Classics Dry Premiere style #50666, StaSof glove) made it a clean sweep for FJ players in the FedEx Cup Playoffs as he picked up his second win in a row, firing a final round 4-under 66 that featured six birdies over his final 11 holes, to win THE TOUR Championship in a playoff. He rallied from five shots back to start the day and completed the comeback by making birdie at the 17th hole from 12 feet to tie for the lead, then twice hit beautiful lag putts from outside 45 feet on the par three 18th hole, once in regulation to finish at 7-under 273, then in the playoff to cap off his TOUR season in style. The 26-year-old Columbian also won the BMW Championship in St. Louis three weeks ago.

Villegas, who should move to No. 7 in the world ranking Monday, earned $1.26 million for winning THE TOUR Championship and another $3 million for finishing second in the FedEx Cup Playoffs behind fellow FJ player Vijay Singh. With Singh winning the first two events (The Barclays, Deutsche Bank Championship) and Camilo winning the final two, FJ players swept the playoff events and finished 1-2 in the final standings. Singh finished a mere 551 points ahead of Villegas and picked up the $10 million firs place prize. Here’s a story in Golf Digest about Camilo leading a pack of young superstars that will be a force to reckon with in the coming years.

Click on the images below to hear post round interviews with THE TOUR Championship winner, Camilo Villegas, and the winner of the FedEx Cup, Vijay Singh.

Camilo Villegas (Classics Dry Premiere style #50672, StaSof) captured his first PGA Tour win Sunday at the BMW Championship, going wire-to-wire for a two shot victory over fellow FJ player Dudley Hart.

Villegas closed with a 2-under 68 that featured some huge putts on the back nine, including back-to-back birdie putts of 18 and 35 feet on the 13th and 14th holes that all but assured him of his maiden win. After splitting the fairway on 18 with the longest drive of his career (370 yds), Camilo made par to finish the week with a 15-under 265 total. He moves into second position in the FedEx Cup standings and likely moves into the top 20 in the World golf Rankings. Camilo’s great play this week is a continuation of what he has done in huge events over the last few weeks, giving himself a chance to win almost every time he tees it up. He was near the lead going into the weekend at the British Open, rallied to finish fourth in the PGA Championship, then started the final round last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship one shot off the lead.

“It’s awesome to be here,” said Villegas. “Hopefully, it’s the first of many.”

Dudley Hart birdied his final two holes to earn a trip to the Masters with his highest finish in two years.

Camilo Villegas holds the lead at the BMW Championship after a stellar first round 5-under 65. After rain delayed the start of the tournament until Friday, Camilo came roaring out of the gate with five birdies on his front nine, including four in a row at one point. Click on the image below to hear Camilo’s thoughts on his round, the course conditions and his expectations for the rest of the weekend when players will play 36 holes on Saturday.

Vijay Singh (DryJoys Traditional style #53597, SciFlex glove) won his second consecutive FedEx Cup Playoff event on Monday, firing an 8-under 63 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship. Vijay finished the week with a 22-under 262 total to break the tournament scoring record by two and pull away with a five stroke victory, thanks in large part to his putter. Singh needed just 23 putts over the final round and amassed 174 feet, 7 inches of total distance with the short stick, including birdie putts of 37 feet and 60 feet on the 13th and 14th holes. His 72-hole score of 262 breaks the tournament record by two shots.

Combined with his win last week at The Barclays Singh is clearly in the drivers seat to win the FedEx Cup, having eliminated all but three other players from claiming the $10 million first prize at the conclusion of The Tour Championship. Singh will aim for his third straight win this week at the BMW Championship.

Click on the image below to hear Vijay’s post-round interview.

Vijay Singh won The Barclays for a record fourth time Sunday, closing out his playoff opponents with birdies on the first two extra holes. After finishing regulation tied with an 8-under 276 total, one of Singh’s playoff opponents dropped a 27-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. Singh, who wore DryJoys Traditional and a SciFlex glove on Sunday, calmly matched him with a birdie putt of his own from 26 feet and then had a tap-in birdie on the next hole for the victory, the 33rd of his career on the PGA Tour. The 45-year-old Fijian was also best at the Barclays in 1993, 1995 and 2006, although this was the first time the event was held at Ridgewood Country Club. The win moves Singh to the top of the FedEx Cup points race after one event as the Tour now moves to the TPC Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Click on the image below to hear Vijay’s post-round interview.

The suspense builds as players battle for a prestigious PGA Tour win, entry into next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship, FedEx Cup points, Ryder Cup points and more during round two of the Barclays. Defending champion Steve Stricker (right, top), with all that to play for and more, came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and followed fellow FootJoy player Hunter Mahan’s 9-under 62 yesterday with an impressive bogey-free 7-under 64 of his own to take the early lead. Inclusive of his tidy first round 3-under 68 in challenging afternoon conditions, Stricker sits at 10-under for the tournament. Wearing all-white DryJoys Traditional (available through MyJoys), he’s hit 27 of 35 greens in regulation so far, and needed only 25 putts during his round on Friday, both strengths in his game. Could we be seeing the Stricker from last year who caught fire during the Playoffs? Let’s hope so…

Another player heading into the weekend with some momentum is Ben Curtis (right, bottom). Wearing the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants colors, including DryJoys Traditional style MyJoys, Ben fired a 3-under 68 on Friday and sits near the top of the leaderboard. In the last month, Ben has finished top 10 in two majors (T7 - British Open, T2 - PGA Championship) and made his first United States Ryder Cup team. He’s another guy to keep an eye on, and not just to see how he alternates between the Giants and Jets this week while in New Jersey.

Hunter Mahan opened his round with an eagle and finished it with a birdie. All he did in between was drop seven birdies against one bogey as he flirted with 59 before posting a 9-under 62. Not a bad start for the Ryder Cup hopeful who was wearing the new black patent shield-tip Classics Dry Premiere and a StaSof glove during round one at the Barclays on Thursday. Click on the image below to hear Mahan’s post round interview.

In this wide-ranging preview interview from the Barclays, SciFlex fan Kenny Perry explains the eye injury that forced him to withdraw from the PGA Championship. The injury was apparently more severe than originally thought and even had Perry practicing with one eye closed, just in case the eye didn’t heal quick enough! Kenny also gives his initial thoughts on Ridgewood Country Club, site of this weeks tournament, where he says hitting the winding, sloping fairways will be a major factor for success.

One of our players to watch during the FedEx Cup Playoffs is…

Steve Stricker (ReelFit, StaSof)

Strick’s been quiet this year, but if you really dig into the stats, you see he’s having a pretty solid season. He’s 21st in FedEx Cup points, he’s 23rd on the season’s Money List and he’s ranked #10 in the world. So clearly he’s been playing some good golf. Granted, not as many wins as the last two season’s but that was a pace few could keep up with. Not only does our man from Wisconsin have five top ten finishes (one less than this time last year), but he’s the defending champion this week, beginning a playoff system that was very kind to him last year and anxious to earn his spot on his first United States Ryder Cup team.

Need more concrete stats? How about these from our friends at PGA Tour ShotLink, which you would consider important coming into the playoffs…4th in Final Round Scoring Avg. (ex. 5th lowest Sunday round at the PGA Championship with a 69), 2nd in GIR under 125 yards, 6th in putting from over 25 feet and 4th in Scrambling from the Rough. And after switching to the new Titleist 909 driver before the PGA Championship, he hit 69% of the tight fairways at Oakland Hills.

In conclusion, whether you consider hard stats or personal motivation a key indicator for success, Steve Stricker looks like someone to keep an eye on over the next month.

In response to one of the greatest NFL press conferences in history (thank you , Mr. Jim Mora), yes, we are talking about the playoffs as the FedEx Cup playoffs get underway this week at the Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club. Click here for an explanation on the new points system that is intended to create more movement in the rankings and, ultimately, more drama. Click here for a story on the traditional styling of Ridgewood CC, a “classic woodland course.” Click here for the updated FedEx Cup points list.

And no, you don’t win a new FedEx Cup truck for a hole-in-one, but you may need it to get your $10 million home if you win the Cup!