The first World Golf Championship event of the 2017-2018 PGA Tour season is underway in Shanghai, China this week as an elite international field of 78 players compete at the WGC - HSBC Champions.
Scoring conditions are ideal this week at Shenshan International Golf Club, which again welcomes players to its rolling par-72, 7,266-yard layout. One player who has gotten off to a fast start is Titleist golf ball loyalist Henrik Stenson (Pro V1), who shot 68-69 in the opening rounds to grab a spot on the first page of the leaderboard. The Swede currently sits in a tie for 6th, six shots off the lead at the halfway point.
Stenson was the runner-up here in China last year, after he posted a score of 23-under-par 265. He suspects that players will have to go low again to claim this WGC crown, though the course is far from a push-over.
"You definitely need to be around 20-plus-under. There's a lot of birdie opportunities and even eagle chances on the par 5s, but if you're not executing well, there's chances for bogeys and doubles there, too. The Bermuda rough is always going to be tricky to judge. There are a lot of holes where there's potential birdies, but if you're coming from the wrong place and you can't control your second shots, there's some danger out there for sure."
Best of luck the rest of the way, Henrik, and good luck to all of #TeamTitleist this weekend in Shanghai!
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TITLEIST BY THE NUMBERS
At this week's WGC-HSBC CHampions, 69% of players in the 78-player field are trusting a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball for their success. That's more than five times the nearest competitor with 13% and more than all competitors combined.
Titleist is also the top choice in Shanhai in the hybrids (12) category and Vokey Design Wedges are the top choice among players in the approach, sand and lob wedge (98) category.
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This week the PGA Tour is also staging its first opposite field event of the 2016-17 season, as a field of 132 players battle s it out in Jackson, Mississippi for the Sanderson Farms Championship.
A total of 107 players are trusting a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball for their success at the Sanderson Farms Championship, more than nine times the nearest competitor with 11 and more than all competitors combined.
Titleist is also the top choice among players in hybrids (26) and iron sets (41) and Vokey Design Wedges are the overwhelming choice in the approach, sand and lob wedge (179) category.
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SOCIAL BUZZ
Welcome to Shanghai and Sheshan International Golf Club!
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Last year's runner-up,Titleist Pro V1 loyalist Henrik Stenson took dead aim on this iron shot.
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Another Pro V1 loyalist, Jhonattan Vegas, checked in from Shanghai.
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A great photo showing some of the local culture. Red plays a vital role in Chinese weddings, because this color is associated with success, loyalty, honor, fertility, and love, amongst others.
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PGA Tour rookie and Titleist golf ball loyalist Zecheng Dou (Pro V1x) is the first player from China to earn a PGA Tour card.
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It's a home game in Shanghai this week for Dou, whose friends here in the States call him "Marty".
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The Sanderson Farms Championship is also underway on the PGA Tour this week. In Jackson, one of the shots of the tournament from another recent Web.com Tour grad and Titleist golf ball loyalist Andrew Landry (Pro V1x).
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Andrew opened with a front-nine 29 on Thursday. A great start to a rookie season.
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The Sanderson Farms Championship is being played for only the third time, but its chicken-themed tee markers have already become a memorable feature among Tour events.
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Titleist Brand Ambassador Peter Malnati (Pro V1) won the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2015, where he had to execute exactly zero handstands. "A" for effort, though, Peter!
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Good luck to all the players this weekend in Shanghai and Jackson!
#TeamTitleist