FootJoy Blog

Chris Sleeper, PGA Director of Golf at Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy, MA recently tried the new SYNR-G shoe from FootJoy and had some interesting things to say about stability in the golf swing and what he felt through the shoes that might help your golf game. Click on the image below to play the video.

Check out these interviews with Boo Weekley from the victorious United States Team as well as Ian Poulter and Robert Karlsson from the European Team.

Click on the image below to see photos from our factory where some of the initial SYNR-G shoes are coming off the line! The buzz is really building around these so keep an eye out for players starting to wear them…specifically players who really launch the ball! And be sure to visit the new SYNR-G microsite where you can see video of players talking about the importance of stability in the golf swing and enter to win your own pair of SYNR-G (and a top-of-the-line SkyCaddie SG5 Range Finder) before they hit store shelves in January.

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Team USA, featuring FootJoy players, and Ryder Cup rookies, Ben Curtis, Boo Weekley, Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan and JB Holmes outdueled the European team in Sunday’s Singles to win the Ryder Cup for the first time in nine years. The final tally was 16.5 - 11.5, the Americans’ largest margin of victory since 1981.

The European Team, seeking it’s fourth consecutive Cup and threatening to make this competition irrelevant with another dominating performance, included FJ players Soren Hansen, Graeme McDowell, Robert Karlsson, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood.

The rookies were the story of this competition, especially under the intense pressure Sunday afternoon, as JB Holmes (2&1), Boo Weekley (4&2) and Ben Curtis (2&1) grabbed huge points in the singles matches while Mahan grabbed an important half point in a duel that came down to the 18th hole. JB and Boo were crowd-favorites and point producers throughout the week with both posting records of 2-0-1 in the chase for the elusive Ryder Cup. Hunter Mahan was also strong with a 2-0-3 record. Not bad for the three first-timers.

On the European side, Ian Poulter was the star of this year’s matches with a final record of 4-1-0.

Visit the official Ryder Cup site for more.

Check out these interviews with two of the stars from Saturday at the Ryder Cup, Boo Weekley and Ian Poulter.

The United States Ryder Cup team continues to hold a slim 2 point lead (9-7) over the Europeans after a wild Saturday in Kentucky. The U.S. captain found some magic in two all-FootJoy pairings that battled two of Europe’s strongest teams and fired up the already-raucous crowd with some stellar golf in the afternoon fourball. Boo Weekley (white ReelFit, SciFlex glove) and J.B. Holmes (brown DryJoys Traditional, RainGrip glove) had the gallery behind them as they battled back-and-forth with fellow FootJoy players Lee Westwood (white Classics Dry Premiere) and Soren Hansen (white Classics) en route to a 2&1 upset victory. Also scoring a win for the U.S. team with a halve was the duo of Steve Stricker (custom brown ReelFit, StaSof glove) and Ben Curtis (brown MyJoys with American flag logo, StaSof glove). Talk about a nailbiter, this match featured only two lead changes, on the 2nd hole when Curtis sank an 8-footer for the lead and the 10th hole when the Europeans squared the match. All the remaining holes were halved, as was the match after the teams both made clutch birdies on the 18th green. The U.S. team now needs 5.5 points in tomorrow’s 12 Singles matches to capture the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1999 while the Europeans need seven to win the Cup for the fourth consecutive time.

To commemorate the 37th Ryder Cup, and to ensure our players are sporting the best and most stylish equipment available, we’ve once again developed some exclusive products for the players competing this week at Valhalla. Check out the slideshow below to see the limited edition product and then click below and enter to win your very own!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE SWEEPSTAKES (begins Fri. 9/19)…

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One of the reasons Europe has won the last three, and five of the last six, Ryder Cup matches is 35-year-old Englishman Lee Westwood. About to compete in his sixth Ryder Cup, Westwood is quietly dominant, having amassed 15.5 points in his career which is the most of any player who will tee it up on both teams this year. He’s competed in 25 matches, overall, and, with rookies playing a huge part on both squads, Westwood’s experience could go a long way towards victory. Something to watch as the matches get underway tomorrow morning. Westwood is almost exclusively a Classics guy and, so far this week, has been wearing these all white traditional Classics Dry Premiere, as well as this new “wave” pattern which has been very popular.

Click here for a great story on Westwood from Jim McCabe at the Boston Globe.

Check out these preview interviews following Wednesday’s practice rounds.

The teams have arrived at Valhalla and the 37th Ryder Cup is underway as the players took to the course yesterday for the first practice round. Always a very loose, entertaining day and an opportunity to interact with the fans, practice rounds also enable the captains to try out some of their potential pairings. Did the captains give a preview of who might play together on Friday morning? Click here for analysis.

Following Tuesdays practice rounds, the players from the U.S. team filed into the media center for individual interviews. Click on the following links to hear what some of the FJ players had to say: Boo Weekley (a must-read), JB Holmes (who drove the island green at 330-yard par 4 13th hole), Kenny Perry, Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan.

When you design a golf shoe geared towards high swing speed players who demand stability and motion control, why not put them to the ultimate test with “Golfzilla?” When Jason Zuback visited the Acushnet Company’s Testing Faciltiy in Massachsuetts recently, we did just that. We asked Jason to try out the new SYNR-G shoes from FootJoy and he was very pleased. Launching into a slight headwind, Jason hit about 30-40 balls…all traveled in excess of 320 yards (carry) and all of his ball speeds were over 200 m.p.h. (high of 206 m.p.h.).

Click on the image below to hear how important stability is to Zuback, his most memorable drives and to see some of his amazing swings and foot action.

“The Big Swede,” Robert Karlsson, gave himself and the European team the perfect boost ahead of this week’s Ryder Cup by claiming his first victory in two years at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. Karlsson began the final day with a three stroke lead and carded a closing 1-under 71 at Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof in Germany for a two shot victory. Karlsson now moves into second place on the European Tour Order of Merit.

For Karlsson, who wore some sweet red croc print Classics and a StaSof glove, it was the first victory since he won the 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship, also in Germany, and it was a victory richly deserved after he qualified for his second Ryder Cup on the strength of nine top ten finishes this season - including eighth in the Masters, fourth in the US Open and seventh in The Open Championship.

“It’s very nice to win, a great relief and it would have felt a bit strange not to win this season because I’ve been playing so well,” he added.

Looking for a feel-good story about perspective and perseverance? Look no further than Dudley Hart who has played the best golf of his career in the last nine months to, not only retain full playing status on the PGA Tour, but earn some nice perks in the process. Well deserved for a guy who left golf for most of last year to care for his wife and the couples 6-year-old triplets as she recovered from a cancer scare that involved major surgery.

After reading this story from Craig Dolch at pgatour.com, it would be difficult to find a better candidate for Comeback Player of the Year than Dudley Hart.

UPDATE: Here’s a story in the Miami Herald about Dudley capping a great season by qualifying for this week’s TOUR Championship in Atlanta.

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.

We’re serious. The 2nd Annual Mustache Week has officially begun at the Nationwide Tour’s Utah Championship with more than 30 players participating in this very unofficial and unsanctioned display of hair growth. With sleet greeting the players on Monday, icicles became a real concern for Mustache Week participants until the weather broke and sun came out for what will be a spectacular week at Willow Creek C.C. in Sandy, Utah. Tune in to the Golf Channel this weekend to see more from Mustache Week. Until then, enjoy these photos from the event…

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