Woods will not face a fine from the PGA

On Monday an anonymous PGA Tour official told The Associated Press that Tiger Woods would be fined for his critical statement about John Paramor for rushing final group of the Bridgestone Invitational by putting them on the clock.

Woods said, “That was an erroneous report.” and will not be receiving any fines.

Tuesday Woods was asked if he regretted calling out Paramore and he said, “No. Because he's the one who did it.”

The PGA does not make fine public but Ty Votaw a PGA spokesman confirmed there was no fine issued.

“The information that was conveyed to the reporter was inaccurate,” Votaw said. “There has been no process started with respect to any disciplinary action. Based on the reports we have read, Tiger's comments related to the impact of the decision. We did not read them as being an unreasonable attack or disparaging.”

Woods' Bridgestone victory comes with a price

The PGA Tour will be fining Brigestone Invitational winner Tiger Woods for his public criticism of a rules official after claiming his victory.

In section VI-D of the PGA Tour’s player handbook it states, “It is an obligation of membership to refrain from comments to the news media that unreasonably attack or disparage tournaments, sponsors, fellow members, players of PGA Tour.”

On the par-5 16th hole, European Tour chief referee John Paramor told Woods and Harrington that they were being timed and that bothered Woods.

Paramor said Woods and Padraig Harrington were 17 minutes behind their position on the 16th tee and they were behind for most of the back nine.

Referring to Harrington's 5-iron shot near some trees to an edge of a bunker and over the green to landing into a water hazard Woods said, “I don’t think that Paddy would have hit the pitch shot that way if he was able to take his time, look at it, analyze it,” “But he was on the clock, had to get up there quickly and hit it.”

Harrington agreed that he was rushed, but said it would not be fair be to give the final group preferential treatment.

After the game Woods told Harrington, “I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle.”

Bridgestone brings good news to the golf industry.

Bridgestone is now the fourth title sponsor that has renewed its contract with the PGA Tour this year.

Along with Bridgestone, Travelers, Zurich, and, Accenture have all renewed their contracts through 2014.

Cimmissioner Tim Finchem and a group of Bridgestone officials made an announcement Sunday that the company will support the World Golf Championship at the Firestone Country Club through 2014.

Finchem said, "We seem to be now in a very solid trend as we look out past this downturn of having an increasing number of our sponsors step up and move forward with us over the next half a decade," and "And for that we are delighted."

Mark Emkes the Bridgestone President and CEO said "Even in a down economy, we still need to sell Bridgestone golf balls, clubs and tires and Firestone tires." and it was important to remain linked with golf.

Bridgestone keeps rolling forward

Bridgestone has a new and improved aesthetic appearance that will enhanced flying performance.

Bridgestone recently applied for a patent simply titled "golf ball". I would have never thought of anything like this but I do look forward to giving it a try to see if it holds up to its claims...

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having an improved aesthetic appearance and enhanced flying performance.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides golf balls as described below. (1) A golf ball on which a plurality of dimples are arranged on the spherical surface thereof, wherein each of the dimples has at least two contour main parts and contour connecting parts; and the at least two contour main parts are connected to each other by the contour connecting parts, and the contour connecting parts are formed so as to be curved toward the inside of the contour main parts from the outermost points. (2) The golf ball described in the item (1), wherein all of the at least two contour main parts each are formed into a circular shape. (3) The golf ball described in the item (1), wherein the at least two contour main parts are formed by combination of a circular shape and a noncircular shape. (4) The golf ball described in the item (1), wherein all of the at least two contour main parts each are formed into a noncircular shape. (5) The golf ball described in the item (1), wherein the number of the dimples is about 150 to 500. The golf ball described in the item (1), wherein the bottom part of the dimple is formed into a flat shape. (7) The golf ball described in the item (1), wherein the bottom part of the dimple is formed into a spherical surface shape. (8) A golf ball on which a plurality of dimples are arranged on the spherical surface thereof, wherein each of the dimples has at least two contour main parts and contour connecting parts; the at least two contour main parts are connected to each other by the contour connecting parts, and the contour connecting parts are formed so as to be curved toward the inside of the contour main parts from the outermost points; and a curved part is provided which is formed so as to be curved toward the center direction of the spherical surface between the contour main parts and contour connecting parts and the bottom part of the dimple. (9) The golf ball described in the item (8), wherein all of the at least two contour main parts each are formed into a circular shape. (10) The golf ball described in the item (8), wherein the at least two contour main parts are formed by combination of a circular shape and a noncircular shape. (11) The golf ball described in the item (8), wherein all of the at least two contour main parts each are formed into a noncircular shape. (12) The golf ball described in the item (8), wherein the number of the dimples is about 150 to 500. (13) The golf ball described in the item (8), wherein the bottom part is formed into a flat shape. (14) The golf ball described in the item (8), wherein the bottom part is formed into a spherical surface shape.

According to the golf ball described in the item (1), the area percentage and volume percentage of the dimples can be changed by the portion surrounded by the contour main parts and the contour connecting parts, so that the lift and the drag can be balanced. Since the contour connecting part has a curved streamline shape, the flow of air can be made smooth between the contour main parts. By changing such a curved shape, the drag etc. can be restrained. Therefore, the lift and the drag acting on the golf ball when the golf ball is flied can be balanced easily. The flying performance of golf ball can be enhanced. The curved contour connecting part has a characteristic shape. By the dimples having the contour connecting parts, the appearance of golf ball can be made characteristic.

According to the golf ball described in the item (2), excellent aerodynamic characteristics are provided, so that the flying performance of golf ball can be enhanced. The dimple has streamline beauty emphasized by the contour main parts formed into a circular shape only and the curved contour connecting parts. By the dimples having such characteristics, the aesthetic appearance of golf ball can be improved further.

According to the golf ball described in the item (3), excellent aerodynamic characteristics are provided, so that the flying performance of golf ball can be enhanced. The dimple has both of a characteristic shape emphasized by the noncircular contour main parts and streamline beauty emphasized by the circular contour main parts and the curved contour connecting parts. By the dimples having such characteristics, the aesthetic appearance of golf ball can be improved further.

According to the golf ball described in the item (4), excellent aerodynamic characteristics are provided, so that the flying performance of golf ball can be enhanced. The dimple has both of a characteristic shape emphasized by the contour main parts formed into a noncircular shape only and streamline beauty emphasized by the curved contour connecting parts. By the dimples having such characteristics, the aesthetic appearance of golf ball can be improved further.

According to the golf ball described in the item (5), the area percentage of the dimples is secured sufficiently, so that the flying performance of golf ball can be enhanced further.

According to the golf ball described in the item (6), the dimple has a characteristic shape due to the flat shaped bottom part. By the dimples having such characteristics, the aesthetic appearance of golf ball can be improved further.

According to the golf ball described in the item (7), further excellent aerodynamic characteristics are provided, so that the flying performance of golf ball can be enhanced. Especially in the case where the bottom part of the dimple is formed into a spherical surface shape of a spherical body having the center at a position approximately equal to the center of the spherical surface, in designing, the volume of the dimple can be changed by adjusting the radius of the spherical surface shape of the bottom part. By adjusting the radius of the spherical surface shape, even if the dimple has an intricate shape as in the present invention, the volume can be adjusted effectively for the golf balls having various structure. Thereby, the lift and the drag acting on the golf ball when the golf ball is flied can be balanced easily, so that the flying performance of the golf ball 1 can be enhanced further.

According to the golf ball described in the item (8), the same effects as those of the golf ball described in the item (1) can be achieved. Further by the curved part curved toward the center direction of the spherical surface between the contour main parts and contour connecting parts and the bottom part, the flow of air on the spherical surface from the dimples is made smooth, so that the drag can be restrained. Therefore, the flying performance of golf ball can be enhanced further. -US PATEN OFFICE