Fresh off Bay Hill win, Tiger Woods one of 10 Nike Golf athletes at
the Masters
Houston winner Paul Casey and Calgary's Stephen Ames among four
international Nike Golf athletes
TORONTO (April 8, 2009) — Nothing says spring
like dogwoods, azaleas, and the magical memories at the end of
Magnolia Lane.
This week, 10 Nike Golf athletes are ready to
make their own memories at this year's Masters.
Going into the year's first major, Nike Golf has
three wins globally: Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer
Invitational and Paul Casey with a pair—last week's Shell
Houston Open and the Abu Dhabi Golf
Championship earlier this season on the European Tour.
Casey, 31, has played only three events on the PGA
Tour this year, but has made the most of them. He was the runner-up
in the Match Play Championship, losing 4&3 to Geoff Ogilvy.
Faced with an Augusta-like setup in Houston,
Casey relied on his steady 3-wood and putter to beat J.B. Holmes in
a playoff for his first win on the PGA Tour. Casey has played well
at the Masters, including a T11 last year and a T10 in 2007.
This is the first major for Tiger Woods since his playoff win over Rocco Mediate in last year's U.S. Open.
The world's No. 1 player is fresh off a dramatic win at Bay Hill two
weeks ago when he sunk a 15-footer for birdie on the final hole. The
victory showed he is ready to contend at the Masters. Woods is a 2-1
favourite to don his fifth green jacket and his 15th career major.
Along with Casey, Woods and Ames, the 10-man Nike
Golf contingent at Augusta National this week includes Stephen
Ames, K.J. Choi, Stewart Cink, Trevor Immelman, Anthony Kim,
Justin Leonard, Carl Pettersson, and Craig
Stadler.
Defending champion Trevor
Immelman is the last player to win a major
with Tiger in the field. Last year, Immelman set a scoring record by
playing the par 4s at 10-under par for the week. Using a prototype
of Nike`s SQ DYMO STR8-FIT driver to lead the field in fairways hit,
the South African joined fellow countryman Gary Player as a Masters'
Champion and hopes to add another green garment to his wardrobe this
week.
Justin Leonard is
always a threat at the majors. Last season, the tough Texan had a
pair of top-20s — a T16 at the Open Championship and a T20 at The
Masters. In 2008,
the 36-year-old won the Stanford St. Jude Championship, and had
three other Top 10s; Leonard has already matched that in 2009 with
three Top 10s, which includes finishing fifth twice, plus a T9 last
at the WGC-CA Championship.
After finishing fourth in the Fed Ex Cup race in
2008 with a pair of wins, Anthony Kim finished tied for
second the Mercedes-Benz Championship. The charismatic 23-year-old
is making his Masters' debut in only his third season on the PGA
Tour. He won twice in his sophomore season and captured six
additional Top 10s last year. The young, long-ball hitter has the
game to win at Augusta.
In 2008, Stewart Cink had a breakthrough
year with a win at the Travelers Championship, two runner-ups and a
berth on the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team. He also had eight other
Top 10 finishes. This year, his best finish is third at the
Accenture Match Play Championship. Cink always plays well at
Augusta; last year he finished T3 behind fellow Nike athletes Woods
and Immelman.
South Korea`s K.J. Choi won the 2008 Sony Open for his seventh
career PGA Tour victory. Choi, 38, is arguably among the top players
who have not won a major. He is playing at Augusta for the seventh
time with his best finish a third in 2004.
Canada's Stephen Ames, 44, has three Top
20s this season; his best finish a T5 at the Bob Hope Classic. Ames
has always played well at Augusta with three Top 25s; his best
finish was T11 in 2006. Lately, he has been working on his putting
and short game with Canadian instructor Sean Foley, also a Nike Golf
Carl Pettersson, 31, has won three times on the PGA
Tour, the 2005 Chrysler Championship, the 2006 Memorial and the
Wyndham Championship last season. In 2009, the Swede has two Top
25s. Pettersson is playing in his third Masters with his best finish
a T27 in 2006.
Finally, there`s the wily vet, Craig Stadler,
who won the Green Jacket back in 1982 and is playing in his 31st Masters.
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 2009, Nike Golf has three
wins globally: Paul Casey at Shell Houston Open and Tiger Woods at
the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour; Casey also won the
Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on the European Tour earlier this year.
In 2008, Nike Golf had 11 PGA Tour wins and eight international
victories. 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.
# # #
For
information on Nike Golf Canada, please contact:
Vitalis
Gomes
Nike Golf
Canada
905.771.2058
vitalis.gomes@nike.com
Tim
O'Connor
O'Connor
Golf Communications
519.341.4778
tim@oconnorgolf.ca
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