CARLSBAD, Calif., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) Staff
Professional Annika Sorenstam continued one of the most impressive streaks in
golf history with her playoff victory Saturday at The Office Depot -- her
fourth consecutive LPGA Tour title. It was another record-setting performance
for Sorenstam, who started the final round 10 shots back of the lead. She
rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to complete a 6-under-par 66,
then won a sudden-death playoff with a par on the first extra hole.
"I felt inside that I had a chance because I was so calm and confident in
my own game," said Sorenstam, who joined LPGA Hall of Famers Mickey Wright and
Kathy Whitworth as the only players to win four consecutively played events.
Sorenstam has a chance to tie Nancy Lopez's LPGA-record winning streak at this
week's Longs Drugs Challenge. Lopez won five times over a stretch of seven
tournaments in 1978, winning three events, skipping two, then winning the next
two weeks she played.
"For anyone to come from 10 shots down to win is unbelievable," said
Sorenstam, who has 27 career LPGA Tour victories. "This year I have complete
confidence, and I can't wait to play in Sacramento this week." The 10-stroke
comeback is the biggest in LPGA Tour history. Sorenstam also became the
tour's all-time leading money winner with $6,957,044 in career earnings, and
she has reached $700,000 in single-season earnings faster than any other
player in LPGA Tour history.
Sorenstam's 2001 season has been nothing short of spectacular. In six
starts, she has four wins and two second-place finishes. After opening the
year with a pair of seconds in Hawaii, Sorenstam won the Welch's/Circle K
Championship, the Standard Register Ping -- where she became the first golfer
to shoot 59 on the LPGA Tour -- and the Nabisco Championship in consecutive
weeks. After the LPGA Tour's two-week break, Sorenstam continued her
remarkable streak by winning The Office Depot.
Sorenstam's victory at Wilshire Country Club also extends the LPGA Tour
winning streak for Callaway Golf's "Rule 35" ball to six consecutive
tournaments. Prior to Sorenstam's four consecutive victories using the "Rule
35" Softfeel (blue logo) model, the previous two tournaments on the tour's
schedule were won by golfers using the Firmfeel (red logo) "Rule 35" ball.
The "Rule 35" ball now has been used to win nine tournaments on the world's
five major professional tours combined this year, the second-highest total
among all ball manufacturers.
As she has all season, Sorenstam used 11 Callaway Golf(R) clubs at The
Office Depot, including a Big Bertha(R) Hawk Eye(R) VFT(TM) Pro Series
Titanium Driver, Steelhead Plus(TM) 4-wood and 7-wood, Steelhead(R) X-14(R)
Irons and an Odyssey(R) Dual Force(R) Rossie(R) 2 Putter.
Elsewhere, Callaway Golf's Big Bertha ERC(TM) II Forged Titanium Driver
continues to be the most-used driver model on the PGA European Tour this year.
A total of 42 golfers at the Moroccan Open used an ERC II Forged Titanium
Driver. The high usage number is notable because only three Callaway Golf
staff professionals competed in the event, meaning nearly every golfer who
used an ERC II Driver did so without any financial incentive. Overall,
drivers made by Callaway Golf are #1 on the PGA European Tour in the first
10 tournaments in 2001.
Callaway Golf Company makes and sells Big Bertha(R) Metal Woods and Irons,
including Big Bertha ERC(TM) II Forged Titanium Drivers, Big Bertha Hawk
Eye(R) VFT(TM) and Big Bertha Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Titanium Drivers and
Fairway Woods, Big Bertha Steelhead Plus(TM) Stainless Steel Drivers and
Fairway Woods, Hawk Eye Tungsten Injected(TM) Titanium Irons, Steelhead(TM)
X-14(R) and Steelhead X-14 Pro Series Stainless Steel Irons. Callaway Golf
Company also makes and sells Odyssey(R) Putters, including White Hot(R),
TriHot(TM), and Dual Force(R) Putters. Callaway Golf Company makes and sells
the Callaway Golf(R) "Rule 35(R)" Firmfeel(TM) and Softfeel(TM) golf balls,
and the CB1(TM) Red and CB1 Blue golf balls. For more information about
Callaway Golf Company, please visit our Web sites at http://www.callawaygolf.com,
http://www.callawaygolfball.com and http://www.odysseygolf.com.
SOURCE Callaway Golf
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CONTACT:
Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, or Millie Speirs
of Callaway Golf, 760-931-1771
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