PGA Tour Statistics Suggest You Need a Putting Lesson!

I just pulled statistics for 33 of this years full field PGA Tour events to see if any particular statistic stood out among the winners. That stats I pulled were for Driving Accuracy, Driving Distance, Greens in Regulation, Putts Per Round and Putts per Green in Regulation. I looked at the ranking in each category for each of the winners. I then added an Overall ranking as well.

For example, in the first tournament of the year, won by Geoff Ogilvy, he was 16th in Driving Accuracy, 19th in distance, 10th in Greens in Regulation and 1st in both putting categories. His overall score was then calculated by adding up all his rankings in the five categories, which resulted in a score of 47.

I found some interesting numbers. The average overall score was a 92. The lowest overall score was a 46 at Bayhill by Ernie Els. the highest was a 165 by Hunter Mahan at Phoenix, followed closely by Ben crane with 164 at the Farmers Insurance. In both cases, both were first in Greens in Regulation, but well down the list in putting.

The least reliable indicator of a potential victory was both driving categories. The average ranking for both accuracy and distance for the winners was 26th. Not surprising, putting was the best indicator of a potential victory. The average ranking of the winner in the Putts Per Green In Regulation category was 10th, but this was skewed upward by the Crane and Mahan performances, where they ranked 42nd and 54th respectively. Take out those two performances, and the average rank is 7th. Six times, the winner was first in this category. Only four times was the winner ranked first in total putts per round. 14 times the winner was first in putts per green in regulation.

In regard to greens in regulation, the average ranking of the winner was 16th. Four times the winner was ranked first, but nine times the winner was ranked out of the top 20, and six times the winner was ranked outside the top 40!

These stats are quite eye opening, because the vast majority of golfers either buy a new driver or get lessons in hopes of hitting the ball farther and straighter off the tee. Yet, how many golfers actually get a putting lesson?

The moral of the story? When you are ready to spend some money on your golf game again, get a putting lesson! I would also note that the statistics also imply that the winner is hitting the ball pretty close with his short irons, so you should also consider learning how to hit those better as well!

Scott Cole
www.scottcolegolf.com
www.onlinegolfswingcoach.com