Charles Howell III is used to waiting. Having gone 4,291 days since his last win on the PGA Tour at the Nissan Open at Riviera C.C. in 2007, Howell had no problem going an extra two holes before finally downing Patrick Rodgers for his third PGA Tour victory.
After starting the day bogey-double bogey, Howell gathered himself to make six birdies over his final 14 holes then holed a 20-foot birdie putt using a TaylorMade Spider Tour mallet on the second extra hole for the win after missing from similar range twice before.
Howell, who had been a PXG staff member, recently made over his bag to include 13 Titleist clubs. Additionally, Howell put Titleist's new Pro V1 ball in play in competition for the first time this week. Although Howell is not officially on Titleist's staff, it's safe to say that when the new year arrives he will be the company's latest full-line player.
Of note in Howell's bag along with the new ball is that he carries a 21-degree 7-wood along with a split set of irons comprised of three different iron models. Howell used that iron set to hit an incredible 64 of 72 greens in regulation to ranked first in the field in that statistic at 88.9 percent, hitting no fewer than 15 greens in any round and all 18 in the first round.
Howell noted afterward that, "I haven't been able to pull it off for so long." That wait is now over.