Glover and Woods among 14 Nike Golf
athletes at the 138th British Open
Calgary's Stephen Ames one of eight
international Nike Golf athletes
TORONTO (July 15, 2009)— U.S. Open
champion Lucas Glover and Tiger Woods—fresh off his third PGA Tour
win of the season—are among 14 Nike Golf athletes ready to challenge
Turnberry and vie for the famed Claret Jug at the 138th British
Open.
Going into the year's third major championship, Nike
Golf has six wins globally in 2009: Glover won his first major
championship at Bethpage last month; Wood has won three PGA Tour
events (the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial and the AT&T
National); and Paul Casey has a pair (the PGA Tour's Shell Houston
Open and the Abu Dhabi Golf
Championship on the European Tour).
Woods energized the crowds recently at his own tournament—the
AT&T National— finishing with a closing 66 to capture his 68th career victory.
During the event, Woods hit 41 of 56 fairways and averaged 312.4
yards off the tee thanks to the winning combination of his Nike SQ
DYMO driver and Nike ONE Tour ball. He currently ranks first on the
PGA Tour in scoring average (68.26).
The world's No. 1 ranked player is returning to the British Open for the first time in two years
after missing last season's championship while he recovered from
knee surgery. Woods has won the Open Championship three times
(2000, 2005, and 2006).
Thanks to Glover, Nike Golf
athletes are seeking their second major championship in a row.
Glover, 29, is having a breakthrough season. He won the U.S. Open by
two shots and he has three other top-fives: T2 at the Quail Hollow
Championship, T3 at the Buick Invitational, and T5 at the AT&T
National. His previous PGA Tour victory was in 2005 at the 2005 FUNAI
Classic.
Casey,
31, has jumped to third in the world rankings with a pair of wins
and two other top-five finishes. On this side of the pond, Casey won
the Shell Houston Open, was runner-up in the World Golf
Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and also has one
other Top 10 (a fifth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial)
this year.
The 14-man Nike Golf contingent at Turnberry this
week also includes Justin Leonard, Anthony Kim, Stewart
Cink, K.J. Choi, Stephen Ames, Carl Pettersson, Richard
Finch, David Duval, Oliver Fisher, Francesco Molinari,
and Charl
Schwartzel.
David Duval has 13 career victories, which includes the 2001 Open
Championship. Duval was one of the key storylines at the U.S. Open
as he contended down the stretch, ultimately finishing T2 behind
Glover. Duval will be closely watched at Turnberry.
Justin Leonard is always a threat at the
majors. In 2008, the Texan had a pair of top-20s — a T16 at the Open
Championship and a T20 at The Masters. In
2008, the 37-year-old won the Stanford St. Jude Championship and had
three other top-tens; Leonard has already surpassed that in 2009
with four top 10s, which includes finishing fifth three times.
Leonard won The Claret Jug in 1997 when it was played at Royal Troon.
He also finished T2 in the 1999 British Open.
After finishing fourth in the Fed Ex
Cup race in 2008 with a pair of wins, Anthony Kim has a pair
of top-fives so far this season—a T2 at the Mercedes-Benz
Championship and a third place finish at the recent AT&T National.
Last year, in his inaugural British Open, the charismatic
24-year-old finished T7.
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 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play
Championship; he also finished T8 at the
Memorial. His best finish at the British Open is a T6 in
2007.
K.J. Choi won the 2008 Sony Open for his seventh career PGA Tour victory. The
39-year-old South Korean is arguably among the top players in the
world who have not won a major. He has four top 15s on the PGA Tour
this season with his best finish a T3 at the Northern Trust Open. He
has played well in the past couple Open Championships with a T16 in
2008 and a T8 in 2007.
Canada's Stephen Ames has three
top-10s this season; his best finish is a T5 at the Bob Hope
Classic. He's played well at the first two majors of the season with
a T20 at the Masters and a T10 at the U.S. Open. Known for his
shot-making ability, Ames should be a threat at renowned Turnberry.
Ames, 45, finished T7 at last year's Open Championship.
The 31-year-old Swede Carl
Pettersson has won three times on the PGA Tour: the 2005
Chrysler Championship, the 2006 Memorial and the Wyndham
Championship last season. In 2009, his best finish on the PGA Tour
is a 17th at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. In 2006, Pettersson
notched a T8 at the British Open when it was played at Royal
Liverpool.
Richard
Finch is playing in only his second
British Open. The 31-year-old Englishman has two previous victories
on the European Tour and this season has posted a pair of Top 10s.
As the youngest
Englishman to gain a spot on the European Tour at the 2006
qualifying, Oliver Fisher, 20, is looking for a strong
performance at this year's Open after failing to qualify in his two
previous appearances.
Italian Francesco Molinari is the younger brother of 2005
U.S. Amateur champion Edoardo Molinari. The 26-year-old enjoyed his
best season on the European Tour in 2008 when he posted a second,
third and fourth to place No. 22 on the Order of Merit. This season
he is on track to better that with three top 5s already.
Charl
Schwartzel, 24, from South Africa, was the second youngest player
ever to qualify for the European Tour and already has three career
victories. This year, he has four top 10s on the European Tour.
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.
For more information on Nike
Golf, visit our Web site at www.nikegolf.ca. Editors and
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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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