For many years, Las Vegas has been a spot the place fortunes might be made, and {many professional} golfers have amassed their fortunes utilizing a Titleist Professional V1 or Professional V1x golf ball. On Monday, as professionals arrived on the follow space at TPC Summerlin to organize for this week’s Shriners Kids’s Open, they had been greeted by white containers containing the latest variations of Titleist’s flagship golf balls: the 2025 Professional V1 and Professional V1x.
Whereas Titleist is maintaining particulars of the brand new designs underneath wraps, the seeding course of that began Monday is the primary sentence within the subsequent chapter of the Professional V1 story – a narrative that started in analysis and improvement workplaces in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, however really turned a page-turner in Las Vegas.
Professional V1 historical past
The Professional V1 was launched in October 2000 on the PGA Tour’s Invensys Basic in Las Vegas, however Titleist had been growing the ball for about 5 years, attempting to mix the short-game spin and management of wound balata-covered balls with the space of two-piece, solid-core balls.
The Professional V1’s giant rubber core, agency mantle layer and gentle urethane cowl created extra distance off the tee, consistency with irons and spin management with wedges for gamers in prototype testing. On the Invensys Basic that week in 2000, Titleist hoped the seeding course of would persuade 20 to 25 gamers to make use of the ball, and Mac Fritz, then senior vp of tour promotion, introduced 60 dozen golf balls to the match.
That turned out to be an underestimation, as 47 gamers instantly switched to the Professional V1, together with match winner Billy Andrade and runner-up Phil Mickelson.
The 2023 Titleist Professional V1 (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The title “Professional V1” was initially simply an interim stamp for balls submitted to the USGA for conformance testing – not a everlasting title. The ball was made to exchange the Titleist Skilled (Professional), and the mantle layer was created utilizing veneer (V). The number one indicated that it was the primary model submitted to the USGA.
Within the weeks that adopted, the thrill surrounding the Professional V1 grew and demand swelled, prompting Titleist to maneuver the ball’s retail launch ahead from March 2001 to December 2000.
Inside 4 months of Andrade’s win in Las Vegas, the Professional V1 turned the best-selling golf ball within the market – a place it has held ever since.
Whats up, Professional V1x
Titleist launched the primary Professional V1x in 2003 as a companion ball to the Professional V1. Whereas the Professional V1 has at all times been a three-piece ball, the Professional V1x has, from the beginning, been a four-piece ball with a dual-core design that provides a firmer really feel, greater flight and barely extra short-game spin than the Professional V1.
The 2023 Titleist Professional V1x (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The up to date, third-generation Professional V1 was additionally launched in 2003, and Titleist has adopted a two-year product cycle for updating each fashions ever since.
Professional V1: Right now’s most-played ball
Six months after Andrade’s victory in Las Vegas, the Professional V1 was the most-played ball on the 2001 Masters, and Retief Goosen used it to win the 2001 U.S. Open.
Justin Thomas received each his his PGA Championships utilizing a Titleist Professional V1x ball. (Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports activities)
Since 2001, the Professional V1 has been the most-played ball in each males’s main championship. Final season, 70% of the golf balls performed on the PGA Tour and 76% of the balls performed on the LPGA had been both a Professional V1 or Professional V1x. Amongst elite amateurs the chances are even greater: 84 % on the U.S. Newbie and U.S. Girls’s Newbie, 89 % on the NCAA Division I Males’s Championship and 92 % on the NCAA Division I Girls’s Championship.
What to anticipate from the brand new Professional V1 and Professional V1x
Whereas Titleist has not revealed particular particulars in regards to the 2025 variations of the Professional V1 and Professional V1x, gamers and followers shall be watching the Shriners Open and monitoring social media for any insights into the efficiency variations skilled by professionals in Las Vegas. Traditionally, every new iteration of the Professional V1 and Professional V1x brings refinements in distance, greenside management and total really feel, moderately than radical adjustments.
2023 Titleist Professional V1, Professional V1x golf balls (Courtesy of Titleist)
As an example, the 2021 fashions featured a redesigned aerodynamic bundle, with the Professional V1 carrying a 388-dimple sample and the Professional V1x that includes a 348-dimple depend. Titleist later defined that the brand new patterns generated extra consistency and longer flight. In 2023, Titleist launched Excessive Gradient Core (Professional V1) and Excessive Gradient Twin Core (Professional V1x) applied sciences to additional cut back spin off the tee whereas sustaining management within the brief sport.
When will the 2025 Professional V1 and Professional V1x be in shops?
If custom holds, after the brand new Professional V1 and Professional V1x are seeded on the PGA Tour, they are going to be made out there to the general public in January 2025, doubtless shortly after the PGA Merchandise Present scheduled for Jan. 21-24.
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