With a clutch birdie on the last, Jhonattan Vegas (Pro V1x) earned his fourth career PGA TOUR victory, posting 17 under to win by one in Minnesota. Vegas, who carded rounds of 68-66-63-70 around TPC Twin Cities, was dialed in with his approach play, gaining over six strokes on the field (+6.386, 8th) and hitting 79% of his greens in regulation (57/72, T7). He also gained +2.564 strokes off the tee (18th).
“Golf is about hitting your numbers, right? So, to me it’s about being able to fly the ball consistently and hit the numbers that you’re trying to shoot, or as close as you can to that number,” Vegas said. “If you have 150, 142, 145 – I mean, the closer you can hit your numbers, the more confidence you gain from doing that. And [the Titleist golf ball] just frees you up to play really good golf.”
VEGAS WINS IN 4TH START AFTER MOVE TO PRO V1x
The 3M Open marked Jhonattan Vegas’ fourth start since making the move to a Pro V1x golf ball, having put the model in play for the first time at the Canadian Open. Vegas, who had played a Pro V1x Left Dash since 2021, was looking to gain more spin and control into and around the green and had been discussing possible options with Titleist’s golf ball reps on the PGA TOUR. In Canada, Titleist’s Jim Curran walked several holes with Vegas during one his practice rounds to test different models side by side with his gamer. That Thursday at Hamilton G&CC, Vegas teed up 2023 Pro V1x for the first time. “He immediately gained more spin and check in the short game, while maintaining his speed and a strong ball flight off the tee,” Curran said. Vegas said he also really liked the feel of Pro V1x off the putter face.
In his four starts since making the change, Vegas has:- Finished T27 or better in four straight starts, including Sunday’s victory; – Averaged 67.9 over those 16 rounds including his best round of the year (Saturday’s 63) – Registered his best rounds of the season in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (RBC Canadian, Rd. 4, +2.340); Approach (John Deere, Rd. 2, +3.745); Around the Green (John Deere, Rd. 2, +1.924); Tee-to-Green (John Deere, Rd. 2, +6.166); and Putting (RBC Canadian, Rd. 1, +2.281).
3M OPEN CHAMP GAMES TITLEIST DRIVER, VOKEY WEDGES
The winner of the 3M Open played a TSi3 9.0 driver (Fujikura Speeder NX 70 TX) on his way to victory, which he used to gain +2.564 strokes on the field off the tee (18th). He hit over 70 percent of his fairways (40/56, T12) and ranked seventh in driving distance.
He also had a T200 4-iron and two NEW Vokey Design SM10 wedges (50.12F, 54.10S @ 55) in his winning setup.
LPGA | CPKC Women’s Open
Lauren Coughlin (Pro V1) broke through for her first career LPGA title, winning by two shots in Calgary. Coughlin, who began the day one shot back, found herself in a three-way share for the lead stepping to the tee on the 195-yard par-3 17th. She pulled 6-iron and hit the shot of the day, landing her Pro V1 on the green and watching it release to within 10 feet of the back left pin. She rolled in the birdie putt to seize the solo lead and never looked back.
“It was kind of a tweener of a club,” said Coughlin. “I could really only hit 6 [iron] and I needed to take some off it or else it might have gone over, especially considering how jacked up I was at the time. But I hit it pretty perfect.”
Coughlin carded rounds of 68-70-66-71 (13 under) for the week in Canada. With her victory, she climbs to No. 5 in the Race to the CME Globe standings.
COUGHLIN ON HER PRO V1 GOLF BALL:
“Controlling my distance I would say is my biggest strength, in terms of I can take a little bit off this if I need to and [the ball] can go a couple yards shorter, or if I really need to step on something, it can go a couple yards longer. Just having that confidence that it’s going to do what I want it to do is very high.
“In 2021, I needed to finish top 25 at the last event of the year to keep my card for the next year. And I had this shot into the 18th hole – basically, couldn’t be short, wind really in off the left. And I decided instead of hitting a 6-iron, which probably would’ve been enough club, I hit this huge slice 5-hybrid and just knowing that it was going to cut and do exactly what I thought it was going to do and I hit it to 8 feet. … I was like, yeah, this is one that it did exactly what I wanted to do in the pressure situation as well.”
AMATEUR | U.S. Junior Amateur
The 76th U.S. Junior Amateur champion – playing a Pro V1 golf ball, TSR3 driver and a Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5 tour prototype putter – closed out his opponent, 4 and 3, in Saturday’s championship match to seal the victory at Oakland Hills Country Club.
The winner was solid all week, trailing for only three of the 91 holes played over his five matches to get to the 36-hole finale. On Saturday, he made seven birdies and an eagle (a hole-out from 106 yards on the par-4 6th) on his way to claiming the title.
With the win, he earns exemptions into the 2025 U.S. Open as well as the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Amateur Championships.
TITLEIST IS #1 BALL, TOP CHOICE TEE-TO-GREEN AT OAKLAND HILLS
Titleist was the overwhelming #1 ball at the U.S. Junior Amateur, with 79 percent of the field – including the champion – teeing up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x. Titleist was also the most played driver, fairway, hybrid, utility iron, iron, wedge and putter this week at Oakland Hills, topping the counts in every major equipment category:
In a field of 264 players, 208 teed up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball (79%), more than six times the nearest competitor (33). 116 players (44%) gamed a Titleist driver, 54 more than the nearest competitor (62, 23%). Titleist was also the most played fairway (121, 37%) and hybrid (30, 34%). Titleist iron sets were in the bags of 112 players (42%), compared to 55 (21%) for the nearest competitor. More than half of the utility irons in play were also Titleist (70, 53%). Of all the gap, sand and lob wedges at Oakland Hills, 59 percent were Vokey Design (464), over three times the nearest competitor (142, 18%). On the greens, 41 percent of all putters were Scotty Cameron (107), compared to 22 percent (58) for the nearest competitor.
