Nike Golf Leads Masters Field in Iron Count First-Time Honor Comes at Prestigious First Major of '05 BEAVERTON, Ore., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Nike Golf, for the first time in its short history as a club maker, leads the PGA Tour field iron count. Consequently, the No. 1 ranking comes during one of golf's most prestigious events, and the first major championship of the 2005 season. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020719/NKGOLFLOGO ) Already identified by the Darrell Survey in 2005 as the company with the fastest growing irons on Tour, Nike Golf now leads the field with the most players in its irons. Pending final confirmation by the Darrell Survey, a total of 17 PGA Tour professionals will tee off today using a set of Nike Golf's award-winning performance irons to begin play of the first round of the Masters championship in Augusta, Ga. Just four years ago, Nike Golf introduced its first set of irons as a golf company. The Nike Forged Blade Irons that debuted at the 2002 PGA Merchandise Show remain in the line and are being played this week by such world-renowned names as Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard and K.J. Choi. In the fall of 2002, Nike Golf, with the help of design input from David Duval, introduced the Forged Pro Combo Irons. This progressive set of irons features forged blade short irons, half-cavity mid-irons and full-cavity long irons, similarly to the way many professionals have mixed their bags of clubs over the years. Today, players such as Stewart Cink, Nick Faldo and Rory Sabbatini are using Nike Golf's Forged Pro Combo Irons to tackle the challenges of Augusta National. Additional Notes from Augusta National During Wednesday's traditional par three tournament, Ray Floyd used a Nike Pro Combo OS iron to ace the 9th hole eliciting a huge roar from the crowd. Nike Golf recently introduced the new Pro Combo OS irons, which provide exceptional feel and forgiveness in a forged iron. Also during the par three, Nike Golf players took the opportunity to add some color to what is already seen as one of the highlights of Master's week. Stewart Cink, Rory Sabbatini, Trevor Immelman, Bo Van Pelt, Nick Faldo and Shingo Katayama played the now infamous black One Black golf ball. At the same time Stephen Ames and Paul Casey debuted a new gold One Gold to a curious crowd. Last but not least, Choi created a stir by teeing up a platinum colored version of the new Nike One Platinum. The balls quickly became crowd favorites at the festive event. Nike Golf, located in Beaverton, Oregon, is passionately dedicated to honoring and respecting the traditions and heritage of the game, and to providing committed golfers with the absolute best equipment in the game in every product category. For more information on Nike Golf, visit our Web site at http://www.nikegolf.com/. Editors and journalists seeking editorial information and downloadable images, visit http://www.nikegolf.com/presscenter. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020719/NKGOLFLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Nike Golf CONTACT: Chris Mike of Nike Golf, +1-503-532-7281, or Web site: http://www.nikebiz.com/

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