The Golf Watch

This weekend was a win for Srixon

Titleist, Nike, Taylormade, Callaway and Ping.  Those are the companies you hear, see, read and are exposed to the most. They have much bigger marketing budgets than some of the smaller companies and their presence on Tour is palpable.

Then, there's Srixon, which most people affiliate with one player, and one player only, Jim Furyk. He's their brand ambassador. He's like what Fred Couples is to Bridgestone.  

But after this weekend, I am convinced that more people will be talking about Srixon.  Tim Clark and Robert Allenby both play Srixon balls, and it was the most exposure I had ever seen the manufacturer get at a marquee event.

I would expect the company to increase their marketing efforts in the coming weeks to keep the buzz going.

 

Tim Clark is victorious, sheds Golf Watch "best never to have won a Tour event" label

Tim Clark has been criticized for not being aggressive enough down the stretch on Sunday. His desire to win has been questioned.

Clark silenced all of those skeptics Sunday--firing at pins when appropriate down the stretch--to win his first PGA Tour event at the Players Championship.  

Anyone reading this blog long enough knows that we have chronicled Clark's near misses for the past three years. I wrote on May 25, 2008:

I know Justin Rose is the highest ranked player not to have won on the PGA Tour, but my vote among active players most deserving of a win has to go to Tim Clark.

With the pressure on down the stretch, Clark continued to make aggressive swings. His tee shot on the 17th was smart, his drive on 18 was a dagger down the middle and his par putt on the final hole showed how badly the South African wanted to win the trophy.

Lee Westwood has been the one fielding all of the questions of late on why he hasn't won the big one. It felt like the pressure had finally been lifted off of Clark's shoulders.  There was more pressure on Westwood to win. Still, Clark joked around with the press:

Yeah, I mean, a part of me is a bit disappointed because now no one is going to talk about me anymore. At least you had something to write about before. Now I'm just another guy with a win.

Now that Clark has won, who's the best player never to have won on Tour? Brett Quigley has to be near the top on my list.