Tiger Woods took more than two years testing prototypes of what would eventually become Bridgestone’s Tour B XS ball. You don’t have to wait that long to put Tiger’s exact ball into play as the company is now offering the Tour B XS – TW ball.
The TW balls have Woods’ “TIGER” sidestamp which mirrors how Woods identifies his golf ball. The packaging features Woods in exultation after winning last year’s Masters for his 15th major championship and first in more than a decade.
The balls feature all the technology found in the standard Tour B XS, including a new urethane cover derived from leveraging Bridgestone’s more than 900 rubber and polymer engineers worldwide along with significant input from Woods.
Related: Inside Tiger Woods’ ball-testing process
Named “Reactiv” by the company, the cover utilizes an “impact modifier”—an additive to the urethane that acts as a shock absorber on slow-impact shots, thus delivering more spin. It’s also highly resilient on longer shots with faster swings for more distance. In short, the cover behaves differently dependent on the force of the impact. Impact modifiers have been used in automotive, electrical and electronic industries for similar dual purposes.
The Tour B XS also uses a gradational core design that gets firmer as it moves to out toward the cover to produce better energy transfer and less spin. The core is slightly larger than the previous version and slight changes have been made to the dual-dimple pattern (smoother edges on the larger dimples) to create less drag for better performance in the wind. The three-piece balls also contain the company’s “activation acceleration mantle” layer.
The Bridgestone Tour BXS – TW is available now at a price of $45 per dozen.