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The Nike Golf Tartan Collection will be out in force later this month at the PGA Championships, Wentworth. Staff Athletes will be sporting the collection, so make sure you ordered these Spring/Summer 2013 styles before they go - available now

RBC Heritage winner - Graeme McDowell found just the pick-me-up after a frustrating week at the Masters.

The 2010 U.S. Open champion missed the cut at the season's first major by a stroke. Disappointed, he left Augusta National and headed to the RBC Heritage with his fiancee, parents and several friends to de-stress and have fun.

"Yeah, it was a workweek, but it was kind of a low-key workweek," McDowell said. "I came here. I did my work and I went home."

He's heading home with the RBC Heritage championship, standing tall on a wind-swept Sunday that blew away most of the competition at Harbour Town Golf Links.

McDowell outlasted reigning U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson in a playoff, his two-putt par from about 15 feet taking the victory when Simpson couldn't answer.

It was McDowell's second career PGA Tour victory, the first since he won his major at Pebble Beach three years ago.

McDowell was grateful for laid-back Harbour Town and the chance to wipe away the wall-to-wall stress of the Masters.

"I took a pretty relaxed approach this week, and really tried to enjoy myself," he said. "Have a glass of wine or two in the evening and some great food and some good friends and family. So that was really the M-O this week and it seemed to work out really well."

McDowell's resume includes big moments, from his rousing triumph at Pebble Beach three years ago to clinching the winning Ryder Cup point for Europe later that year. It is short, though, on PGA Tour victories.

"This game kicks you more often than it gives you a pat on the back," McDowell said. "It's hard to win."

Not on this day for McDowell, who pushed forward on wind-blown Harbour Golf Links when his rivals went backward, unnerved by the 20 to 30 mph gusts that rattled the course.

He rallied from four strokes down when the day began to take a one-shot lead into the 72nd hole. Then, after he made his only bogey of the round to fall into tie with Simpson, he two-putted from about 15 feet to make a par on the extra hole that Simpson couldn't match.

"I guess the weather was what the doctor ordered. I needed that to get close to the leaders," said McDowell, who earned $1,044,000 for the victory.

McDowell, from Northern Ireland, had a 2-under 69, one of only three scores in the 60s among the 70 who teed off Sunday.

Simpson, the reigning U.S. Open winner, shot 71. He had a chance to win in regulation, but his 22-footer for birdie went 3 feet past and set up the additional hole.

"I came in with not too much confidence, but I just stayed true to the process of what we've been working on," Simpson said.

Luke Donald shot a 69 to tie for third with Kevin Streelman, who had a 72. Jerry Kelly rounded out the top five after his even-par 71.

Charley Hoffman, the 54-hole leader, ballooned to a 77 and fell into a tie for sixth with Russell Henley (69) and Chris Stroud (70).

McDowell patted Simpson on the back after the playoff miss and smiled widely as the boats in Calibogue Sound tooted their horns and whistles. Neither McDowell nor Simpson made the cut a week ago at the Masters, yet bounced back in a big way at Harbour Town.

McDowell acknowledged he was frustrated and disappointed after missing the weekend at Augusta National by a shot. If he had made the cut, McDowell wondered if he'd have had the motivation to break through at Harbour Town. "It's funny the way things happen," he said. "I wouldn't swap this for a top-10 last week."

The course showed its teeth, winds arcing flagsticks and blowing debris on every hole. Donald backed off his putt on No. 7 when a large leaf tumbled through his line. Crews watered several greens between groups simply to keep balls holding instead of skipping off the wind-swept sod.

Blowers were heard throughout the day, trying to push off leaves, twigs and other tree parts falling everywhere on the course.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the area, warning of gusts up to 45 mph.

"Extremely difficult," Donald said of the conditions. "Strongest wind I've played in all year."

Donald, who's got two seconds and a third in his past four appearances at Harbour Town, got an early charge going with four birdies on his first six holes to draw within two of the lead before Hoffman and Simpson hit the course.

Donald, ranked No. 6 in the world, couldn't keep the surge going, though. He had birdie chances on the final three holes of the front nine, but came up empty. Bogeys on the 13th and 15th holes ended Donald's run. Still, he managed his fourth top-five finish in his last five trips to the RBC Heritage.

 

 

Swedish born PGA TOUR golfer, Carl Pettersson had just sunk his putt on the 18th hole in front of a crowd of fans to win the 44th annual RBC Heritage, when one of the Heritage Classic Foundation board members cleverly announced “How Swede it is!” It surely was sweet for Pettersson who earned his fifth win on the PGA TOUR and $1,026,000, but it was even sweeter for everyone on Hilton Head Island and South Carolina.

As Pettersson hoisted the Sir William Innes trophy during Closing Ceremonies, the “plaid clad” Foundation members standing behind him were proud and relieved that the future of South Carolina’s only PGA TOUR event was secure.

It was a much different story in 2011, when the tournament was without a title sponsor and in jeopardy of losing its spot on the PGA TOUR’s calendar. Just two months later, title sponsor RBC and presenting sponsor Boeing stepped up to the tee box and firmly committed to the event until 2016.

The RBC Heritage is more than just a golf tournament to the residents of Hilton Head Island and South Carolina. It is a major economic engine, bringing $80 million into the state each year and funds that are raised through the annual tournament are distributed to those in need throughout the area. Since 1987, more than $23 million has been donated to hundreds of organizations.

Now a U.S. citizen and a resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, Carl Pettersson joins a long list of Heritage champions that includes golf legends like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman, as well as today's top golfers from around the globe like Jim Furyk, Davis Love III and Stewart Cink.

The 45th RBC Heritage will take place April 15-21, 2013 at the Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island. Make plans now to “Get Your Plaid On!”

Adam Scott has won the Masters Tournament.

Finally, an Australian has waltzed into Masters lore by winning the coveted Green Jacket at Augusta National Golf Club.

A fiercely proud sporting nation’s long wait ended Sunday when Scott sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to defeat Argentina’s Angel Cabrera to win the 77th Masters Tournament.

Finally, a golfer from Down Under was on top of the world at Augusta National. And today Waltzing Matilda, the unofficial anthem of Australia, is resonating loudly and clearly throughout a continent.

“I don’t know how that happened,” Scott said. “It seems a long way away from a couple of years ago here and even last July when I was trying to win another major. It fell my way today. It was incredible. It’s incredible to be in this position.

“Everything fell my way in the end, I guess. You just never know. I just kept plugging away. I didn’t know if it was going to happen through nine. A good back nine here solves a lot. I’m so proud of myself and everyone who has helped me. I’m a proud Australian and I hope this sits really well back at home – and even in New Zealand."

“I guess when I get home I’ll find out,” he said. “We’re a proud sporting country, like to think we’re the best at anything, like any proud sporting country. This was one thing in golf we hadn’t been able to achieve. It’s amazing that it’s my destiny to be the first Aussie to win.”

With Scott, Jason Day and Marc Leishman all in the top five when the final round began, the odds favored a breakthrough for Australia. That’s what Scott said after Saturday’s round. And of the three, Scott was the most tested and most likely. The eyes of a nation, and the pressure that comes with it, were on him. He was expected to lead the charge, and he did.

Scott grew up an admirer of Greg Norman, and when Norman lost the Masters by squandering a six-stroke lead to Nick Faldo in 1996, Scott, then 16, agonized along with his entire nation. It was Norman’s third runner-up finish at Augusta, following his near-misses in 1986 and 1987.

“Greg Norman inspired a nation of golfers,” said Scott, 32. “He was an icon in Australia, everything about the way he handled himself. He’s devoted so much time to myself and other young Australian golfers who came after him.

“Most of us would feel that he could have slipped a Green Jacket on for sure. I said part of this is for him. I drew on that a lot today. I somehow managed to stay in each shot when I needed to.”

Fate was on Scott’s side when his second shot at the par-5 13th hole hit short of the green, rolled precariously back towards a tributary of Rae’s Creek but stopped on the embankment. He got up-and-down for a birdie that sparked a stretch of three birdies on the final six holes.

“I had no momentum on the day at that point,” Scott said. “That was a great break. Even going down the 15th, I thought it was far away still. ... At 18, for a split second, let myself think I could have won. Then Angel hit an incredible shot.”

Scott and Cabrera each finished at 9-under-par 279 – and what a finish it was. First Scott birdied the 72nd hole with an 18-foot putt to take the lead and force Cabrera to summon up a similar feat to force a playoff. And the fearless Argentine did just that, hitting his approach shot to within three feet and quickly holing the putt.

Both players parred the first playoff hole, No. 18, in similar fashion, hitting their approaches short of the green and chipping to close range. Cabrera’s chip shot for birdie nearly went in the hole.

“My heart was about to stop, thinking is this it?” Scott said.

Cabrera and Scott proceeded to No. 10, where Bubba Watson won in heroic fashion a year ago by hooking a low wedge shot out of the trees on the right and onto the green. This time, both players found the fairway with their drives (Cabrera with a long iron) and hit good approach shots.

Cabrera, putting from about 15 feet, left his birdie attempt on the right lip of the cup. That set the stage for Scott, whose rise to major champion status has been long anticipated. He seized the opportunity by sinking his 12-foot putt. He thought to himself, “It’s time for me to step up and see how much I want this.”

Cabrera said he had no doubt that Scott would win a major someday soon. The two have played together frequently, including as teammates and partners on the International team at the Presidents Cup.

“Adam is a great person, a great player,” said Cabrera, a two-time major champion who won the Masters in a playoff in 2009.

“In a playoff, one-on-one, there’s got to be only one winner. And it was him. ... It was just a matter of time.”

Scott has come full circle since last summer at the British Open. At Royal Lytham and St. Annes, he had his hands firmly on the Claret Jug before he made bogey on each of the last four holes and lost to Ernie Els. Scott handled the defeat with class and dignity, further suggesting that he is in a special class, a class worthy of a major championship. Two years ago in the Masters he was runner-up to Charl Schwartzel.

Waltzing Matilda is a haunting melody accompanied by original lyrics, written in 1895, about an itinerant worker who walked Australia’s bush with a bag – a matilda – on his shoulder. It has been recorded more than any song in Australian history.

Scott has traveled the world playing golf, a bag on his shoulder. Today, Waltzing Matilda will be played again and again Down Under. It will be in honor of Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion.

Who's betting against another Tiger Woods showpiece at August this week. Tiger coming into the first major of the 2013 season with impressive form and showing to all the other players why he is world no.1.

Although Tiger is the overwhelming favourite, we believe that this Masters has never been so open with most of the field hitting form at the right time.

Rory Mcilroy, Phil Mickleson, Justin Rose, but to name a few all in with a great chance to win. Enjoy the Masters this week from Aslan Golf.

Nike Golf US Masters - Who's wearing what?

Nike Golf Unveils Athlete Looks for the First Major Championship of the Season -Innovative technology, pattern and colors designed to make the athlete feel and look good- BEAVERTON, Ore (April 3, 2013) – At the first major championship of the season, Nike Golf athletes will unveil new styles from its Spring 2013 Collection.

Each athlete in the field will be “scripted” in new designs that incorporate key technologies such as laser perforations, no-sew technology and ultra-lightweight fabrications. As the number one golf apparel company in the world, Nike Golf has “scripted” its athletes at Major Championships for over 10 years. “Scripting” is a process in which the Nike Golf Apparel team collaborates with its athletes to select designs that will help them perform and look their best for each competitive round at a Major. “We work with our athletes up to a year in advance to determine what styles and colors they prefer to compete in at a Major Championship,” said Merritt Richardson, Vice President of Global Apparel and Footwear for Nike Golf. “We share our newest innovations for the season with them and listen to their needs in terms of performance, comfort and style to ensure they are dressed to compete at their highest level.”

Eight Nike Athletes will compete in the first Major championship of the year including Russell Henley, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Thorbjorn Olesen, Carl Pettersson, Charl Schwartzel, Nick Watney and Tiger Woods. Here’s what McIlroy, Olesen, Schwartzel and Woods will be highlighting:

McIlroy will sport looks from the Nike Tour Performance collection, featuring the latest innovations in lightweight, breathable performance fabrications. He will wear the Fashion Body Map Polo in Violet Force ($70), the Embossed Polo in Stadium Grey ($65), the Iconic Polo in Pink Force ($65), and the Light Weight Heather Polo in Squadron Blue ($60). He will be sporting bold colors each day with color pops in either his polo, trousers or his Nike Lunar Control footwear.

Making his Masters debut, Olesen will wear looks from the Sport Collection and the Nike Tour Performance Collection. He will wear the Nike Swing Polo in Electric Yellow ($60), the Core Body Mapping Polo in white ($65), the Sport Gingham Novelty Polo in Light University Red Heather ($70), and the Nike Victory Polo in Poison Green ($50). He will finish his looks with the Nike Flat Bill Tour Cap ($30) and the Nike Lunar Control footwear.

Schwartzel will be debuting classic colors and designs from the Tour Premium Collection at the season’s first major. He will wear the Premium Stripe Polo in Midnight Turquoise ($100), the Premium Nike Precision Polo in Dynamic Pink ($85), the Premium Novelty Pocket Polo in Neo Turquoise ($90), and the Premium ½-Zip Plaid Polo in Black ($100).

Schwartzel will complete his look with the Nike Lunar Control footwear. Woods will be wearing a new innovation from Nike Golf’s Tiger Woods Collection. Woods’ passion and competitive spirit fuel the continuous drive to create the most innovative and athletic products in the sport and his apparel pieces exemplify this dedication to innovation. He will be wearing the TW Jacquard Polo in Dark Grey ($80), the TW Modern Color Block Polo in White/Dandelion ($95), the TW Ultra Polo 2.0 in Squadron Blue ($95), and the TW Emboss Polo in Hyper Red ($85). These polos are extremely lightweight and utilize the laser-perforated collar for increased ventilation to keep the athlete cool while also reducing overall weight. Three of the four polos Woods will wear utilize the posture performance chassis which has a kimono style back design to allow Woods an increased range of motion throughout his swing.

Fellow tour pro Keegan Bradley got in on the act first, retweeting the picture with the caption: #duffdaddy. By Friday #dufnering was the new #planking. "What can I say?" Dufner later wrote on Twitter. "I was tired, my back hurt from sitting on the floor, and we were talking about relaxation and focusing." @McIlroyRory was the first PGA Tour golfer to do a copycat Dufner – with a slightly different version.

Well done to Tiger Woods returning to World No.1 yesterday with some of the best putting I have ever seen in four rounds of golf. Using the now world renowned Nike Golf Method putter and some helpful tips from his old mate Steve Stricker, Tiger stormed to victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and gave his fellow PGA Tour Professionals a taste of whats to come in 2013.

Tigers performances this year look impressive and stand him in good stead for The Masters starting on the 11th of April. We will watch with great interest as the quallity of golf played by all Tour players has been impressive.

Lets hope The Masters lives up to the hype that preceeds it.

Insights from Tiger Woods Lead to New Performance Innovation in Nike Golf’s Spring 2013 Collection

-With a focus on mobility and proprioception, the Spring 2013 Tiger Woods Collection maximises range of motion while keeping posture in check-

Nike Golf takes apparel innovation to the next level, incorporating groundbreaking technology to maximise athletic performance. As the number one golf apparel company in the world, Nike Golf prides itself on innovation with the pinnacle of relentless innovation exemplified in the Tiger Woods Collection. Woods’ passion and competitive spirit fuels Nike to create the most innovative and athletic products in the sport.

Striving to make Woods’ apparel better, Kim Kenney, Design Director for Nike Golf, looked at what the distraction points have been for him throughout his career. “For Tiger, we found that the key areas of distraction were his collar and sleeves,” Kenney said. “Tiger was typically adjusting his sleeves before he addressed the ball, moving the garment’s shoulder seam back as a way to mark his golf stance. Then, after he followed through he had to adjust and pull his sleeves back to the original position.”

To solve this problem, a continuous shoulder seam was ergonomically engineered on the back side of his polo which highlights a proprioceptive point that informs Woods he is in the desired position. In efforts to reduce distraction, the shoulder seam is constructed by ultrasonic line bonding which gives the wearer a “seamless” feel against the skin. Additionally, an articulated Kimono style back with a posture informing chassis was designed to maximise range of motion. The back of the sleeves are not traditionally sewn onto the body of the shirt, but instead, are engineered as one continuous piece along with the back body of the polo. The design reduces limitations in the area that endures the most tension in a swing – across the back.

"I consider my apparel to be as significant as the rest of my golf equipment,” said Tiger Woods. “My test sessions with the Nike apparel team led us to construct a polo that frees my swing starting at address and continuing through impact and my follow through. The new shoulder seam construction makes for no restrictions. This allows me to swing with power, and with complete confidence."

The TW Trajectory Polo, TW Graphic Polo, TW Stripe Polo, TW Chest Stripe Polo and the TW Modern Colour block Polo are all styles in the 2013 Spring Tiger Woods Collection built on the posture informing chassis.

The centre back seam that is commonly found in the Tiger Woods Collection is made of ultrasonic line bonding to provide shaping to the polo. This back seam allows the polo to fit perfectly when in the address position.

To keep the athlete cool, the Tiger Woods Collection features Nike’s Dri-FIT technology, which helps move moisture away from the athlete’s skin. The 2013 collection utilises a perforated collar that allows increased airflow to the neck. This perforated collar also helps reduce the overall weight in the polo to create a lighter feel for the athlete.

While the Tiger Woods Collection comprises the most innovative technology, there are bold patterns, bright colours and design detailing in every piece. The TW Trajectory Polo and the TW Graphic Polo were designed using Woods’ launch monitor numbers to create a repeated graphic of his launch angle subtly displayed on the polos.