Why Quiros drives further than ever

That's my ball! Alvaro Quiros with his long-distance Tour iX ball

  Alvaro Quiros, the tall elegant Spaniard and the longest driver on the European Tour, has now got even longer, he says, thanks to putting the Callaway Golf Tour iX golf ball into play.

The 26-year-old, who claimed the Qatar Masters in January, has been steadily increasing his driving distance in recent years, but since switching to the Tour iX, claims his distance has improved dramatically.

He led the distance statistics in 2008 with an average of 309.69 yards, but now averages 315.53 yards and remains in the top six in scoring average (69.94).

Bit it's not just a ball for distance, says Callaway. Its 4-piece, dual core construction and higher compression outer core offers high spin and control around the green.

Neil Howie, Callaway Golf president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, says: "Alvaro is a tremendously gifted and powerful golfer. He has already shown he can bomb the ball from the tee box and back that up with great touch . By switching to the Tour iX, we're sure he can continue his great start to the season."

Sadly Quiros went out in the first round of the WGC- Accenture Matchplay yesterday to veteran Stephen Ames but is confident, with his new found distance and consistency he can make the breakthrough on the PGA Tour, too.

Mickelson - triumphant at Riviera

As well as the new Callaway FT-9 driver he also used the Diablo 3-wood, with its 15 degrees of loft.

"I love my 3-wood. It just made a world of difference," Mickelson said after firing 62 on Saturday to set up his win. "A perfect example was the 17th. I'm 280 to the hole and I'm on a tight lie and I just know it's going to get up and carry and it flies 280. Being able to fly it there as opposed to being able to run it makes a big difference, because I was able to get it pin high. If I hit it off-line and lower, I would have had an almost impossible bunker shot."

Mickelson also used an Odyssey White Hot XG No.9 blade putter that was designed for his use.

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