The Winning Setup: Ian Poulter at the 2018 Houston Open

Clutch putt. Playoff win. Ticket to Augusta.

That pretty much sums up the last twenty-four hours for Titleist Brand Ambassador Ian Poulter (Pro V1x), who captured the Houston Open in dramatic fashion and, in the process, earned the final spot in this week's field at The Masters.

Poulter converted a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to close with a 5-under-par 67, matching his fellow competitor's 19-under-par 269 total on the 72nd hole. In the playoff, Poulter made par on No. 18 to seal the win.

“I had to dig deep today," said Poulter, who carded a 73 in the opening round. "To come here this week, I was tired. I was frustrated on Thursday. But I was patient. I waited my time. And this is amazing."

The win marks the third of Poulter’s PGA TOUR career and his first victory since the HSBC Champions, a World Golf Championship event at Mission Hills in China in 2012. That was a month after Poulter led Europe to a comeback victory in the Ryder Cup by making five straight birdies to win a fourballs match and spark Europe in overcoming a four-point deficit.

Along with his Masters Invitation, Poulter has now cracked the top 30 in the world and should be eligible for the rest of this year’s majors.

Poulter proved his tee-to-green prowess all week long, trusting his Pro V1x and Titleist golf clubs to rank 3rd in Driving Accuracy (80.36%) and Strokes Gained: Approach to Green, and 4th in both Greens In Regulation (83.3%) and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.

Three shots behind Poulter was his fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador, Jordan Spieth (Pro V1x), who closed with a 66 to tie for 3rd, his best finish of the year.

Defending champion, Titleist Brand Ambassador Russell Henley (Pro V1x) posted the best round of the final day with a 7-under-par 65, racing 40 spots up the leaderboard to finish in a five-way tie for 8th at 13-under.

Congratulations, Ian!

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Let's take a closer look at the Titleist equipment that Ian Poulter trusted in his victory at the Golf Club of Houston.

Winning Setup:

Golf Ball: Pro V1x

Driver: 917D2 (8.5º) 

Fairways: 917F2 (16.5º)

Hybrid: 816 H2 (21º)

Irons: 716 T-MB (4), 718 AP2 (5-PW)

Wedges: Vokey Design SM7gap (52.12 F-grind), sand (56.14 F-grind) and lob (60.04 L-grind)

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At this week's Houston Open, Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice with 105 players trusting a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball, more than seven times the nearest competitor with 14 and more than all competitors combined.*

 Titleist was also the top choice in the irons (44) categories. Vokey Design Wedges topped the approach, sand and lob wedge (200) category and Scotty Cameron putters tied as this week's most trusted putters (58).*

#TeamTitleist

* Equipment counts provided by Darrell Survey