Tiger Woods leads 11 Nike Golf athletes into the U.S. Open

 

Calgary’s Stephen Ames one of six international Nike Golf players

 

TORONTO (June 10, 2008)—As the second major of the year, the U.S. Open is always exciting. But it’s more so this year as Tiger Woods leads 11 Nike Golf athletes to Torrey Pines where he’s won six times.

 

The U.S. Open also marks the return to competition for Woods, who has not played since surgery to his left knee that immediately followed his second-place finish in the Masters to fellow Nike Golf athlete Trevor Immelman.

 

Along with Woods and Immelman, the 11-man Nike Golf contingent at Torrey Pines this week includes Stephen Ames of Calgary, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Anthony Kim, K.J. Choi, Chad Campbell, Carl Pettersson, Paul Casey and Shingo Katayama.

 

Nike Golf athletes go into the tournament known as golf’s ultimate examination with a lot of confidence, having won seven events on the PGA Tour in 2008, including Justin Leonard’s victory in the Stanford St. Jude Championship on the weekend.

 

Leonard’s win also retains Nike Golf’s No. 1 position in driver and irons wins on the PGA Tour this season.

 

Seldom has there been as much optimism about a player returning to action than Tiger Woods, who has won two previous U.S. Opens (2000, 2002).

 

And why not? If there was such a thing as a home-course advantage in golf, Torrey Pines is it for Woods. He grew up about 90 miles from the course and there’s even a picture of him as a teenager hanging in the clubhouse. Woods has won four straight and six of the last 10 times he’s played Torrey Pines in the Buick Invitational, including an eight-shot victory there this past January.

 

In the six events he played in before having surgery, he won four tournaments and finished fifth and second respectively in the other two.

 

“I’m really looking forward to getting out there,” Woods said in a conference call last Monday.

 

Trevor Immelman is eagerly anticipating golf’s second major championship, having won this year’s Masters, making the breakthrough that had long been predicted for the South African. He showed his game is ready when he finished T2 at the Stanford St. Jude Championship after a playoff with Leonard. Immelman has fond memories of Torrey Pines; he won the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship there 10 years ago.

 

Justin Leonard will draw on good memories of his victory last week in the St. Jude Championship in a playoff against Immelman and Robert Allenby. Since switching to the new Nike ONE Platinum ball earlier this season, Leonard has moved to No. 2 in greens in regulation on the Tour.

 

Leonard already has four top-10 finishes in 2008. His 11 career victories include the 1997 British Open and 1998 PLAYERS Championship. He finished T20 at this year’s Masters and he’s played in 13 U.S. Opens with his best finish a T12 at Bethpage in 2002.

 

Stewart Cink is due for a win. After a strong 2007 season, the 35-year-old leads the PGA Tour in top-10 finishes with six to sit fifth on the money list. A tie for third at the Buick Invitational was followed by a loss to Woods in the finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play, and then a tie for second in the PODS Championship and a T3 at this year’s Masters which made for a 1-2-3 finish for Nike Golf. Cink has played in 12 U.S. Opens with his best finish a third in 2001.

 

Stephen Ames, 44, has won three times in the past four years on Tour, including the 2006 PLAYERS Championship over the toughest field in golf and last year’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic. In 2008, he’s off to a great start, having missed only one cut in 12 events. He has four top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish in the Mercedes Championships and two other top fives; he’s coming off a fourth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and a T13 at St. Jude this past week.

 

Ames has played in six U.S. Opens with his best finish a T9 in 2004. Aside from mastering the greens, which he says are the toughest he’s ever seen, Ames says the key to success this week is “to go there with no expectations and play the golf course for what it gives you.”

 

Anthony Kim, the 22-year-old American, is off to the best start of his young career and set to contend in his second U.S. Open. He’s enjoyed three top-10 finishes in 12 events in 2008, including his first PGA Tour victory at the Wachovia Championship, which made him the youngest winner on Tour in six years. Last year, he finished T20 at Oakmont. He currently sits seventh in driving distance, which bodes well to tackle Torrey Pines’ 7,643 yards — the longest U.S. Open in history.

 

K.J. Choi, the 37-year-old South Korean, has already won on Tour this year at the Sony Open, along with a T5 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Golf media have added Choi to the group known as the best players yet to win a major, and he has the game to win at Torrey Pines. Choi is ninth on Tour in final-round scoring average, a vital statistic in a major. He’s playing in his seventh U.S. Open with his best finish a T15 in 2005.

 

Chad Campbell’s best finish in 2008 is a T2 at the Shell Houston Open in April. He currently has three top-10s and sits 34th on the money list. The Texan has played in eight previous U.S. Opens.

 

Carl Pettersson of Sweden has won twice on the PGA Tour: the 2005 Chrysler Championship and 2006 Memorial. The 30-year-old’s best finish in 2008 is a T4 at the Byron Nelson Championship; he heads into the U.S. Open with momentum, coming off a T10 at the Memorial.

 

Rounding out the other two international Nike Golf athletes playing at Torrey Pines this week are Englishman Paul Casey and Japan’s Shingo Katayama.

 

Casey should be ready to challenge at Torrey Pines after a T11 at Augusta in April. His four top-10 finishes in 10 PGA Tour starts in 2007 included a T10 at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. His best finish this year is a joint ninth at the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

 

Shingo Katayama’s smile, cowboy-style hat, and efficient golf game make him a crowd favourite, and he has his game going. The 35-year-old won the first major championship of 2008 on the Japan Golf Tour, the Japan PGA Championship.  This victory catapulted him to No. 1 on the Japan Golf Tour money list. Katayama has won the Japanese Order of Merit four times and usually plays well in the majors, with his best finish a tie for fourth at the 2001 PGA Championship.

 

Located in Beaverton, Oregon, Nike Golf designs and markets golf equipment, apparel, balls, footwear, bags and accessories worldwide. Nike Golf is passionately dedicated to honouring and respecting the traditions and heritage of the game, and to providing committed golfers with the absolute best equipment in the game.

In 2008, Nike Golf’s PGA Tour staff has seven PGA Tour wins and 41 top-10 finishes.  In 2007, Nike Golf had 13 PGA Tour wins, seven Nationwide Tour victories and eight international titles.  For the last two years, Nike Golf has led the PGA Tour in driver, fairway woods and iron wins

For more information on Nike Golf, visit our Web site at www.nikegolf.ca. Editors seeking editorial information and downloadable images, visit www.nikegolf.com/presscenter.

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Tim O'Connor

O'Connor Golf Communications

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