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Nike Golf signs heralded Canadian college star Matt Hill |
| 2009 NCAA Champion plays and wears Nike Golf products |
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TORONTO (June 3, 2010)-Canadian Matt Hill, who tied Tiger Woods' NCAA record of eight wins in 2009, makes his playing debut today as a professional golfer and a Nike Golf athlete when he tees it up in the first round of the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. The 21-year-old NCAA star from Bright's Grove, Ontario, will play and wear Nike product in his first event as a professional golfer, fittingly enough at the tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus. After his incredible eight-win season in 2009 at North Carolina State, which included the NCAA individual championship, he was awarded the Jack Nicklaus Award as collegiate player of the year, the Haskins Award as outstanding collegiate golfer, and Golfweek's Player of the Year award. "It's exciting to realize my dream of playing professionally, especially with an equipment partner such as Nike Golf, which has great passion for making equipment and apparel that enhances performance," Hill said. "I could tell that Nike was the right spot for me when I visited The Oven and saw their outstanding facilities for fitting and adjusting clubs for their touring professionals." Hill joins a strong global staff of Nike Golf athletes that includes major championship winners such as Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard, Lucas Glover, Trevor Immelman and David Duval. Hill among Nike Golf's young guns He's also a natural addition to a roster of winning young Nike Golf athletes such as Paul Casey (winner of three 2009 global tournaments), Anthony Kim (2010 PGA Tour Shell Houston Open), Charl Schwartzel (back-to-back European Tour in early 2010), Pablo Martin (2010 Alfred Dunhill Championship), James Morrison (2010 Madeira Islands Open BPI), and Francesco Molinari (winner of the 2009 Omega Mission Hills World Cup). On the PGA Tour, he joins fellow Canadians Stephen Ames and Nike Golf instructor Sean Foley. Nike Golf instructor Ralph Bauer is Hill's long-time coach and assistant men's coach of Golf Canada's (RCGA's) Team Canada. "We are pleased to enter a relationship with Matt Hill, an exciting young Canadian who displays incredible potential as demonstrated by his spectacular college career. He's a terrific young professional and a great competitor. It will be very exciting for us to watch him play on the world's greatest golf stages adorned with a Maple Leaf," said John Sibley, General Manager of Nike Golf Canada. "We are thrilled to have a player of Matt Hill's calibre and impeccable college record join our family of Nike Golf athletes," said Kel Devlin, Director Global Athlete Development for Nike Golf. "Matt was really impressed by his visit to The Oven where he experienced Nike Golf's dedication to innovation, excellence and performance. Matt has a tremendous future as a Nike Golf athlete." As part of his agreement with Nike Golf, Hill will wear innovative Nike Golf apparel and its performance-enhancing footwear, and play Nike Golf's industry leading clubs and Nike Golf One balls. Hill's Nike Golf arsenal includes:
Last year Hill was given sponsor exemptions for starts in the RBC Canadian Open, the Buick Open, and Tiger Woods' AT&T National. He has already received a sponsor exemption for the 2010 AT&T National. |