Padraig Harrington earned his second U.S Senior Open and fifth major title after rigorous performance testing resulted in a switch to the FootJoy Pro/SLX golf shoes.
The Irishman made the footwear change earlier this season after working closely with Senior FJ Product Specialist Blair Taylor and the FJ team at the Titleist Performance Centre at Woburn.
Harrington joins Laurie Canter, Johannes Veerman, John Parry and Manon De Roey as winners in Pro/SLX on Tour this season.
“Pro/SLX is definitely a performance golf shoe,” said Harrington.
“My initial thoughts was that they were super comfortable and that perfect medium between comfort and performance.
“I have tested playing in a trainer-like golf shoe before and found my feet generally worked pretty well when hitting shots indoors.
“The problem was when I tried to add speed and power outside on the grass, I kept slipping and completely lost my confidence.
“Being in the right golf shoe is so important – say you gain three miles per hour ball speed from playing in a well-fitted performance model, that equates to around six yards extra off the tee.
“If there is an opportunity there and it’s easy to get, why not.”
Elsewhere, on the PGA Tour, Aldrich Potgieter claimed his first title at the Rocket Classic in Detroit.
The South African trusted the performance of his Premiere Series golf shoes and StaSof glove to win on the fifth play- off hole, and jump up to 36th in the FedEx Cup rankings.
Potgieter received a shoe fitting from a member of the FJ team down at the Nedbank Golf Challenge last year. He discovered he had been wearing the incorrect sized golf shoe in both length and width, going from a UK11M to a UK10W.
Since the switch, not only has he been in a lot more comfort on the golf course but has risen from 328th to now inside the top 50 of the Official Golf World Rankings.
The 20 year-old also ranks number one on Tour in Driving Distance and relies on Premiere Series to create a solid base so he is able to generate all that power through the ground.
“When you are swinging the golf club at a high speed, you definitely need that stability, and Premiere Series offers me exactly that.” said Potgieter.
For more information about Pro/SLX, Premiere Series or FJ’s entire performance footwear range, please speak to your FJ Area Sales Manager or visit footjoy.co.uk.
