DRIVE FOR SHOW, PUTT FOR DOUGH ? 2018 PGA Tour stats by winner to check...

Well, we are going to check with recent Stroke Gained stats published by the PGA Tour on their webiste (www.pga.com).

As of now (beginning of February 2018), 15 tournaments have been played in the 2017/18 period including 8 events where Stroke Gained stats were available by winner. 

This sample is still very relevant at this early period of the season noting noticeable winners such as Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Gary Woodland,...

(Bethpage Black summer 2017... and a birdie on this hole, the one and only of the day :-))))).....) 


I know you are very impatient...so here they are...

We have then compared the importance of the 4 main categories (OFF THE TEE, APPROACH, AROUND THE GREEN and PUTTING) with the Stroke Gained TOTAL and the results are as follows: 

The Strokes Gained OFF THE TEE represents 35% of the total strokes gained for a winner of a PGA Tour event.   

These players rather drive for dough... 

In addition, putting only represents 24 % of the total Strokes Gained, meaning that pros only gain 24% of their total strokes on putting...

And if we sum shots off the tee and long shots (defined here as "approach to the green"), the percentage of importance increases to approximately 70% for the long game, only 30 % remaining for shots around the green and putting....

This sample of data reflects the most important categories to win a PGA Tour event in descending order : 

First most important: OFF THE TEE

Second most important: APPROACH TO THE GREEN

Third is PUTTING

Fourth is AROUND THE GREEN

To summarize, LONG GAME MAKES THE WINNER and they are BARELY PUTTING FOR DOUGH...

Hope it clarifies... :-)