PGA Championship Features 15 PGA Club Professionals with Titleist Ties

When The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina hosts the 103rd PGA Championship this week, the 156-player field will consist of 99 of the world’s top 100-ranked players. It will also feature the "Team of 20" PGA Club Professionals who earned their berths in April at the 53rd PGA Professional Championship. Fifteen (75%) of them will be teeing up a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x  golf ball, including 12 who trust Titleist equipment throughout the bag and from tee-through-green.

Among those representing Titleist at the second major of the year are reigning PGA Professional Champion Omar Uresti, a PGA Life Member from Austin, Texas. Playing a NEW Pro V1 golf ball, TSi3 driver and bag full of Titleist equipment, Uresti won his second PGA Professional Championship title in five years (2017) after posting an 11-under 276 for a three-shot win. Uresti will be participating in the PGA Championship for the fifth time, which included a four-year run from 2015-18.

Below are the 15 players to watch for this week and their journey to qualify at the PGA Professional Championship (PPC):

  • Ben Cook posted three birdies down the stretch to finish solo 3rd at the PPC to secure his second straight PGA Championship appearance.
  • Larkin Gross finished solo 4th, which included a third round 8-under par 64, the tournament’s lowest round. His performance included 11 birdies.
  • Ben Polland, the 2020 Met Section Player of the Year, rounded out the top five, finishing at 3-under to qualify for his third PGA Championship
  • Defending champion Alex Beach tied for 6th place with Stuart Smith at 1-under 286, as both qualified for their third PGA Championship.
  • Smith, playing a NEW Yellow Titleist Pro V1x, made the biggest final round move at the PPC by closing with a 7-under 65 that propelled him 60 spots up the leaderboard.
  • Danny Balin and Rob Labritz were among nine players who tied for 8th place at Even par.
  • Balin and Labritz will be the most experienced of the 20 PGA Professionals at Kiawah Island, with each participating in their eighth career PGA Championship.
  • Balin will be making his fourth straight appearance, while Labritz will appear in his third consecutive PGA Championship.
  • Balin was one of two qualifiers who were also in the PGA Championship field in 2012, when it was last played at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
  • Other Titleist players tying for 8th included Peter Ballo, Tim Pearce, Derek Holmes and Brad Marek.
  • While Titleist players occupied four of the top five positions on the leaderboard, they also secured three of the final four positions in a 5-for-4 playoff for the final spots. Mark Geddes, Patrick Rada and Greg Koch finished in a five-way tie for 17th at 1-over par before emerging from the extra session with pars.

PGA Professionals Choose Titleist

 Rob Labritz plays a shot during a practice round prior to the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort's Ocean Course on May 17, 2021

Equipment-wise, Titleist was the most played golf balldriverfairwayhybrid, utility ironiron and wedge in the field of 312 teaching and club professionals.

Here’s a closer look at the Titleist Team of 15:

Omar Uresti

Hometown: Austin, Texas
2021 PPC finish: Winner
Club/Facility: PGA Life Member
PGA Section: Southern Texas
PGA Championship Experience: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Ben Cook

Hometown: Caledonia, Michigan
2021 PPC finish: 3rd
Club/Facility: Yankee Springs Golf Course
PGA Section: Michigan
PGA Championship Experience: 2019, 2020

Larkin Gross

Hometown: Center Cross, Virginia
2021 PPC finish: 4th
Club/Facility: Springfield Golf and Country Club, Virginia
PGA Section: Middle Atlantic
First PGA Championship Experience

Ben Polland

Hometown: Manhasset, New York
2021 PPC finish: 5th
Club/Facility: Shooting Star of Jackson Hole, Wyoming
PGA Section: Rocky Mountain
PGA Championship Experience: 2015, 2016

Stuart Smith

Hometown: Reno, Nevada
2021 PPC finish: T6
Club/Facility: Somersett Country Club, Nevada
PGA Section: Northern California
PGA Championship Experience: 2011, 2013

Alex Beach

Hometown: Rye, New York
2021 PPC finish: T6
Club/Facility: Westchester Country Club, New York
PGA Section: Metropolitan
PGA Championship Experience: 2017, 2019, 2020 

Danny Balin

Hometown: Lake Success, New York
2021 PPC finish: T8
Club/Facility: Fresh Meadow Country Club, New York
PGA Section: Metropolitan
PGA Championship Experience: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020

Peter Ballo

Hometown: Stamford, Connecticut
2021 PPC finish: T8
Club/Facility: Silvermine Golf Club, Inc., Connecticut
PGA Section: Metropolitan
First PGA Championship Experience

Derek Holmes

Hometown: Cottage Grove, Minnesota
2021 PPC finish: T8
Club/Facility: PXG Minneapolis
PGA Section: Minnesota
First PGA Championship Experience

Brad Marek

Hometown: Berkeley, California
2021 PPC finish: T8
Club/Facility: Corica Park, California
PGA Section: Northern California
First PGA Championship Experience

Rob Labritz

Hometown: Pound Ridge, New York
2021 PPC finish: T8
Club/Facility: GlenArbor Golf Club, New York
PGA Section: Metropolitan
PGA Championship Experience: 2002, 2003, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2020 

Tim Pearce

Hometown: Birmingham, Michigan
2021 PPC finish: T8
Club/Facility: Birmingham Country Club
PGA Section: Michigan
First PGA Championship Experience 

Mark Geddes

Hometown: Coronado, California
2021 PPC finish: T17
Club/Facility: Coronado Golf Course, California
PGA Section: Southern California
First PGA Championship Experience

Patrick Rada

Hometown: Jupiter, Florida
2021 PPC finish: T17
Club/Facility: McArthur Golf Club, Florida
PGA Section: South Florida
First PGA Championship Experience

Greg Koch

Hometown: Orlando, Florida
2021 PPC finish: T17
Club/Facility: Ritz-Carlton Golf Club - Grande Lakes Orlando, Florida
PGA Section: North Florida
First PGA Championship Experience

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