Tour Edge Exotics Staff Player Phillis Meti broke her own World Record for longest drive in the history of women’s World Long Drive competition at the first WLD event of the season Tuesday live on the Golf Channel.
Meti hit the unprecedented 413-yard drive in the women’s finals of the Ak-Chin Smash in the Sun WLD event with her new Exotics EXS Driver, breaking her own World Record of 406 yards set in 2017, also set with an Exotics driver by Tour Edge.
Meti, the three-time and defending World Long Drive champion has won two of the last three world titles with an Exotics driver in play. She successfully defended her 2018 Ak-Chin victory with her out-of-this-world 413-yard drive in the finals against Alexis Belton.
Ranked number 1 in the world for women’s long drive, Meti hit drives of 386 yards, 371 yards and then 408 yards before hitting the record-setting drive of 413 yards –actually breaking her previous world record two swings in a row in the finals.
The three longest drives in the history of the women’s long drive have now been set by Meti and Exotics drivers.
“Congratulations to Phillis once again on her amazing accomplishment,” said Tour Edge President and Master Club Designer David Glod. “To have Phillis and the Exotics EXS Driver, a driver that we named the pound for pound best in the market, set two new world records against all the other drivers using the same golf ball, is just amazing. We knew Phillis loved the driver head and that she would represent with some big numbers, but the numbers she put up with EXS just blew away the competition.”
On her 413 yard bomb, she recorded a 127 MPH club head speed and a 182 MPH ball speed with a 117 foot height apex.
“It hasn’t really even sunk in,” said Meti. “I didn’t even think that was possible. That’s probably the fastest I’ve ever swung it to be honest. Hopefully I can stay on this path and keep riding the roller coaster for the rest of the season.”
Meti won the 2018 World Long Drive Championship with an Exotics driver, her 2nd World Long Drive Championship in the last three years playing Exotics.
“The EXS driver is a $299 driver that has now won numerous awards and that has been put into play on the PGA Tours, but this takes the cake,” said Glod. “For Phillis to hit 408 and 413 and produce those kinds of ball speed numbers means that she is an extremely great long driver and that the EXS driver is the perfect fit and the perfect driver for her quest to become the world’s greatest.”
Meti is tied for second-most all time World Championships in the Women’s Division with Stacey Shinnick (2000, ’02, ’05).
In her five WLD competition appearances in 2018, Meti reached the semifinals or beyond in each. Earlier in 2018, Meti won the Ak-Chin Smash in the Sun, a World Long Drive Association event, with a 380-yard drive with her Exotics driver.
The 380-yard winning drive was 30 yards longer than the 2nd place finisher in the women’s division and was even longer than the 2nd place finisher in the men’s division, whose best shot in the grid was measured at 372 yards.
The New Zealander has a strong history with World Long Drive as the World Long Drive Champion (2006, 2016, and 2018), World Long Drive Runner-Up (2007, 2008).
This means Meti has won the World title three times, finished 2nd twice and finished third once in the six Worlds’ she has competed in since winning in 2006.
At the age of 19 years, Meti became a world record holder for winning the 2006 Women’s Long Drive Championship with a drive of 326 yards. She was runner-up the following two years in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 she took a break from Long Drive to focus on her professional golf career and came back in 2016 to win the women’s long drive competition.
