FootJoy Blog

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 →]

We’re back with a sneak peek at some products you’ll see only at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. We’ll be bringing you all sorts of material from the season’s third major, including inside-the-ropes photos and video so check back throughout the week for the latest.

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Keep an eye on these players to see if they rock the MyJoys

FootJoy is proud to welcome the NFL to the MyJoys program with all 32 team logos now available in hundreds of color combinations! Choose from the DryJoys Tech, DryJoys Traditional (spiked or spikeless) or Contours shoes and then select from a number of color combinations that are precisely matched with the colors of your favorite teams. Whether you’re a member of the Dog Pound, the Black Hole, Buccaneer Cove, a Cheesehead, a 12th Man or just a big-time fan, you can match your shoes with your team hat, team shirt, team socks and team club headcovers. Vikings’ purple, Giants’ blue, Packers’ green, Browns’ brown (and orange)…they’re all there. Click here to order your MyJoys.

FootJoy player Ben Curtis will kick things off when he debuts three NFL team logos at this year’s Open Championship. Click on the image below to get a first look at the shoes he’ll wear this week as well as some you may see him wear the rest of the year and others that are sure to be best-sellers!

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Are you ready for some…golf?

Check out these preview interviews to hear how players are preparing to tackle Royal Birkdale. As you’ll learn, players have to make a lot of adjustments, from simple ones like the time difference to more complicated changes like altering their natural shot-shape and trajectory to battle the wind and course set-up that is not like anything they’ve faced this year.

Zach also talks about the flooding that has devastated his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and what he and the PGA Tour are doing to help people recover.

With the season’s third major championship looming this week at Royal Birkdale, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (Classics Dry Premiere style #50603) fired a final round 3-under 68 Sunday to win The Barclays Scottish Open by two shots at Loch Lomond Golf Club. The win, McDowell’s second on The European Tour this season after a victory at the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea in March, lifted the 28 year old from tenth to sixth in the standings for The Ryder Cup. More importantly, he demonstrated steady nerves down the stretch as he rolled in three consecutive birdies on the back nine to pull away from a world-class field of players, including three of the top six in the World Golf Rankings, who had come to Loch Lomond to tune up for this week’s Open Championship.
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SciFlex loyalist Kenny Perry emerged victorious from a three-man playoff Sunday to win the John Deere Classic and escape with his third victory in five starts. Perry finished regulation tied for the lead with a 16-under 268 total and returned to the 18th tee for the first extra hole. After both his competitors hit their approach shots into the pond, Perry tapped in from 16 inches for par and the win. He picked the ball out of the cup and raised both arms, an ear-to-ear grin crossing his face…and for good reason.

He’s enjoying the best stretch of his career, collected $756,000 with his 12th career victory, moved into second place in the FedEx Cup Standings and second on the season’s Money List. He’s also all but guaranteed himself a spot on the Ryder Cup Team, something that has been top priority all season with the chance to play for the U.S. team in front of his home fans in Kentucky.

Perry lost a playoff at the AT&T Classic in May and won the Memorial two weeks later. He tied for sixth at the Travelers Championship and closed out June with another win at the Buick Open, giving him four top-six finishes in six starts.

FootJoy was the most worn glove and shoe at the John Deere Classic with twice as many gloves and more than three times as many shoes as the nearest competitor.

Check out this video to find out whether FootJoy Product Assistant Duncan McCarthy made it through Local Final Qualifying for the Open Championship. Hear all the details about the difficult course and weather conditions at West Lancashire where only one player finished under par, what equipment changes he made for the week and who he picks to win the Open.

Click here to view Part I recorded before the qualifier.

Click the image of Duncan to start the video.

As the Midwest continues to recover from massive flooding that hit the area in June, residents and volunteers across the country are pulling together to raise funds that will help rebuild the communities. Cedar Rapids, Iowa resident Zach Johnson, whose family lives and owns businesses in the areas that were severely damaged, has worked with the PGA Tour and other players, including fellow FootJoy player Jeffy Kelly, to establish the PGA Tour Flood Relief Fund which will assist people and businesses in the area.

Click here to read the full story on pgatour.com.

To view the PGA Tour Public Service Announcement, make donations, or get more information about the PGA TOUR Flood Relief Fund, visit pgatour.com/floodrelief.