Equipment
Titleist's new Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls are seen for the first time last week in Las Vegas
As the late baseball great Yogi Berra once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Since Titleist first unveiled the Pro V1 at the Ivensys Classic at Las Vegas in 2000, the Vegas stop on the PGA Tour has been the initial proving ground for new Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x models every other year. Titleist stuck to that cadence this past week, with players arriving at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open to find that their lockers had been stuffed with several dozen of the new balls in plain, white boxes. Inside were the latest iterations of the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls, as the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open marked the first week that tour players can use the balls in competition.
Though Titleist was mum on details, the USGA’s list of conforming golf balls confirms that, like previous iterations, the Pro V1 is a three-piece multilayer ball (single core, mantle layer and cover), and the Pro V1x is a four-piece multilayer ball (dual core, mantle layer and cover).
Eight players put the ball in play last week at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, according to Titleist reps, with expected conversions to be more in coming weeks. Among the players switching to the new ball last week was James Hahn, who tried the ball during practice rounds and put it in play on Thursday.
"This should be an easy transition," Hahn told Titleist tour rep Jeff Beyers. "The trajectory and ball flight was very similar and I noticed more distance off the irons. Everything was positive so I look forward to playing it this week."
If history holds to form, expect a number of additional players to switch over—and quickly.