Callaway Golf Is #1 in Drivers, Fairway Woods and

Irons - on Five Major Tours and at Retail CARLSBAD, Calif. (ots-PRNewswire) - Fueled by the successful introduction of its latest technological breakthrough, the Hawk Eye(R) line of titanium metal woods, Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) enters golf's major championship season as the major manufacturing champion -- the #1 choice in drivers, fairway woods and irons on the five major professional tours around the world combined for the period of January 7 to March 14, 1999. Callaway Golf's tour dominance continues despite a number of major spending cutbacks by the company, including a reduction in tour spending of $7 million from 1998 levels. The cuts also included reduction or elimination of bonus pools and tee-up programs, yet Callaway has maintained its position as both the predominant clubs of choice among touring pros and as the #1 selling brand at retail. "This reinforces our belief that superior products are this company's biggest asset," said Ely Callaway, Founder and CEO of Callaway Golf. "We have been able to maintain and, in some cases, expand our market share while significantly lowering our spending on the professional tours. This demonstrates that professionals continue to choose our golf clubs to make their living and that amateur golfers around the world, regardless of gender and skill level, find that our golf clubs give them the most satisfaction and more opportunities to hit enjoyable shots more often." The facts on Callaway Golf's 1999 tour penetration for the period according to the Darrell Survey: -- PGA Tour: Nearly one of every three PGA Tour pros (30.1%) uses a driver made by Callaway Golf. That represents a decrease from 1998 levels of 38.8%, but is offset by an increase in fairway wood penetration -- which is up to 34%, easily #1 on the Tour. -- Senior PGA Tour: Callaway is #1 in driver usage at 36%, #1 in fairway wood usage at 41%, and #1 in iron usage at 22.4% -- a clean sweep. The increase in fairway wood usage (up from 36% in 1998) comes despite the fact that Callaway Golf does not pay tee- up or pool money for fairway wood use. -- LPGA: Seven of 10 LPGA pros (71.2%) use Callaway Golf fairway woods. That is an increase over 1998 levels (67%) and is indicative of Callaway Golf's dominance on the LPGA. Drivers from Callaway Golf are #1 at 56% usage and Big Bertha Irons from Callaway Golf are an overwhelming #1 choice, used by 43.9% of LPGA pros compared to 13.9% by our nearest competitor. In the first eight tournaments on the LPGA schedule, five winners used drivers made by Callaway Golf. -- Nike Tour: Although the company has no driver pool or driver tee-up programs on this tour, Callaway Golf remains a strong #1, both in driver usage (45%) and fairway wood usage (45.1%). -- PGA European Tour: An ocean away, the story is the same. Callaway Golf's drivers and fairway woods both are #1 among pros on the PGA European Tour, with a driver penetration of 47.6% compared to 14.6% by the nearest competitor, and a fairway wood margin of 54.3% compared to 13.6% by the nearest competitor. -- The vast majority of the Callaway drivers and fairway woods in use on the tours are various models of the Big Bertha(R) line. Counting all five major tours combined from January 7 to March 14, 1999, the numbers from the Darrell Survey are as follows: Drivers from Callaway Golf are used by 42.3% of pros (nearest competitor is 22.6%); Fairway Woods by Callaway Golf are used by 52% of pros (nearest competitor is 13.8%); Irons by Callaway Golf are used by 18.3% of pros (nearest competitor is 15.9%). According to figures compiled by Golf Datatech and Sports Research Inc.'s Golf Dealer Trends reports, Callaway Golf was the #1 seller of woods and irons at retail for all of 1998 and for the first month of 1999 -- the most recent period for which figures are available. All the numbers add up to a single indisputable fact: Callaway Golf clubs are #1 with golfers around the world, from highly skilled professional to amateurs. For more information about Callaway Golf Company, please visit our Web site at www.callawaygolf.com. ots Original Text Service: Callaway Golf Company Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Larry Dorman, Mike Galeski, or Jamie Taylor, all of Callaway Golf Company, 760-931-1771 Web site: http://www.callawaygolf.com Upozorňujeme odběratele, že materiály označené značkou PROTEXT nejsou součástí zpravodajského servisu ČTK a nelze je publikovat pod její značkou. Jde o komerční sdělení zadavatele, který je ve zprávě označen a který za něj nese plnou odpovědnost. PROTEXT