UBS Hong Kong Open
The European Tour enters its final event of the regular season before next week’s season ending Dubai World Championship as the Hong Kong Golf Club plays host to the UBS Hong Kong Open.12 months ago this same event saw Titleist Ambassador Rory McIlroy narrowly miss out on a maiden Tour victory in a dramatic playoff with Lin-Wen Tang. Few will forget Lin’s approach shot from the trees to the right of 18 that secured victory; it was arguably the shot of the year and definitely one of the best you’ll see in a pressure situation.
Rory is once again in the field this week and a year on from a narrow defeat will be looking to contend once again. Rory currently occupies second spot in the Race to Dubai and is in genuine contention the Harry Vardon Trophy awarded to the number one player. At just 20 years of age Rory would become the youngest player in the history of the European Tour to claim the Race to Dubai / Order of Merit title. For him to be in contention is a special feat but should he come through and take the inaugural Race to Dubai it would be a simply magnificent achievement. Whatever happens, there can be no doubt that Rory is a special talent who will contend for titles for many years to come.
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Titleist Tour Technician Mattias Jelver caught up with Rory during practice in Hong Kong to work on his fairway metals. Rory has been playing the Titleist 906F2 fairway for sometime now and, whilst he has been very happy with its performance, he was interested to try some different options in the 909 series. Rory is looking for something that will allow him to work the ball more easily and also something that will give him a little more hang time. He felt his current 906F2 is perhaps lacking a little spin which sometimes results in a loss of carry. The team have built a couple of new options for Rory to experiment with over the coming weeks but, with the Race to Dubai on the line, we don’t expect any changes to the bag until after the Dubai World Championship. Rory was ripping the fairway metals on the range, so much so that fellow Northern Irishman Michael Hoey took the opportunity to try one of the fairways and immediately placed his own order. It just so happened that the specification was perfect for Michael as well.
Rory McIlroy
Model: 909F2
Loft: 13.5°
Shafts: Fujikura ZCOM Pro 95 X-Flex / True Temper Project X 7A3 X-Flex
Length: 43”
Grip: Golf Pride Multi-Compound .580 Round (Black/Yellow)
Swingweight: D2.5
Titleist Ambassador Robert Karlsson is looking to finish the season on a high following a disappointing 2009 that has seen him sidelined for long spells with injury. The 2008 Harry Vardon Trophy winner is now back to full strength and starting to regain some of the form that we saw from him last year. Robert has recently switched to the new Titleist MB irons and opts for quite an interesting composition. Karlsson doesn’t carry a #3 iron. Instead, Roberts carries an MB #4 iron with a slightly stronger loft and a 735.CM #2 iron that is slightly weaker in loft. This compensates for the potential yardage gap left by a #3 iron and gives him space in the bag for an extra wedge or fairway metal. This week however, Robert decided that he would like a little more length from his #2 iron. He sees this club as his fairway finder but was looking for a little more length to increase the number of times a round that this club would be useful to him. Robert’s #2 iron was adjusted to 17° (1° stronger than standard) which seemed to have the desired effect.
All in all, it’s been a relatively quiet week in Hong Kong. With so much riding on this event for those players looking to secure their European Tour card and those contending for the Race to Dubai, equipment requests are few and far between. That said, once the season draws to a close things will change and the equipment requests will start rolling in at pace.
Next week is the big one as the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates plays host to the first ever Dubai World Championship. The event brings with it a number of startling statistics; the purse for the event for example; €7.5 million euros split between a 60-man field. Another astonishing number is the length of the Earth Course which will play 7675 yards from the tips. This includes a final, four-hole stretch measuring one full mile in length!!! There can be no doubt that the Dubai World Championship will be a captivating spectacle. With a season of hard work on the line for the likes of Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Ross Fisher the players will be giving it absolutely everything in pursuit of victory and to be crowned Europe’s number one golfer. It’s fair to say we are all expecting fireworks as the Race reaches its finale.
Titleist will be on site in Dubai for the event and we’ll be sure to keep you bang up to date with next week’s Blog.
Add comment November 13th, 2009
