A new knee wasn’t the only reconfigured apparatus in Tiger Woods’ arsenal
when he made his stroke-play debut at the World Golf Championships-CA
Championship in Miami on March 12. He was also playing a new ball for the first
time in four years. Tiger had been playing the Nike One Platinum since its
introduction in 2003.But with the Platinum, Tiger traded spin and workability for distance off the
tee, but that doesn’t seem to be the case as much with the new One Tour, if we
can use one tournament as a comparison. He averaged 303.3 yards a drive on
Doral’s Blue Monster, ranking him 10th in the field, nine yards above his 2008
average.
The One Tour is Nike’s ultimate tour performance ball. Nike’s staff players
wanted a ball with a softer cover for feel and more greenside control without
sacrificing driver distance. The four-piece, urethane ball with 88 compression
is designed for players with driver swing speeds above 90 mph. Trevor Immelman
used a prototype of this ball to win last year’s Masters.
The One Tour D is a three-piece, urethane ball with 80-compression aimed a
wider variety of swing types, while the One Vapor is a three-piece, ionomer
blend with 70-compression for players with driver swing speeds above 80 mph.
Each ball features a “Power Transfer Layer,” an advanced polymer layer that
maximizes velocity, distance and control throughout the bag.
MSRP for One Tour and One Tour D: $56 per dozen; One Vapor: $40,
nikegolf.com
