Patent ID: 8119714

Claim:
A golf ball comprising: a. a core, wherein said core comprises a center and one or more layers disposed around said center, and wherein the difference between the hardness of one layer and the next adjacent layer is greater than 2 Shore D units; b. an intermediate layer; and c. a cover layer; d. wherein said intermediate layer comprises a modified ionomeric polymer comprising: a bimodal polymer blend composition comprising: (1) a high molecular weight component having molecular weight of about 80,000 to about 500,000 and comprising one or more ethylene/α,β-ethylenically unsaturated C 3-8 carboxylic acid copolymers and/or one or more ethylene, alkyl(meth)acrylate, (meth)acrylic acid terpolymers; said high molecular weight component being partially neutralized with metal ions selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and a mixture of any these, and (2) a low molecular weight component having a molecular weight of about from about 2,000 to about 30,000 and comprising one or more ethylene/α,β-ethylenically unsaturated C 3-8 carboxylic acid copolymers and/or one or more ethylene, alkyl(meth)acrylate, (meth)acrylic acid terpolymers; said low molecular weight component being partially neutralized with metal ions selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and a mixture of any these, and (3) about 5 to about 45 weight percent (based on the total weight of said modified ionomeric polymer) of a fatty acid or one or more metal salts of said fatty acid; wherein about 40 to 100 percent of the acid groups present in said modified ionomeric polymer are neutralized with zinc, sodium, lithium, calcium, or magnesium ions, or a combination thereof; e. wherein said core has a diameter in the range of about 1.20 to about 1.56 in, and a PGA compression in the range of about 40 to about 90; f. wherein said intermediate layer has a thickness in the range of about 0.01 to about 0.10 in, and a Shore D hardness in the range of about 30 to about 75; g. wherein said cover layer has a Shore D hardness in the range of about 40 to about 70; and wherein the golf ball has a coefficient of restitution greater than 0.800, at 125 ft/sec inbound velocity.