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Taking a look at the ‘numbers’

By Mike Dudurich for The 4 min read
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We see them standing on the first tee, striping a long, straight drive down the middle of the fairway. We longingly wish to be able to just once make our golf ball disappear and land in the middle of the fairway just like the guys on the PGA Tour.

We’ve all bought into the “These guys are good” slogan and there’s no doubt, and they are.

But, as sports becomes more and more “number-centric,” it’s interesting to see what numbers over a period of time show us.

For example, as good as these guys are, a round of 62 or better is a very rare occurrence. How rare? Would you believe once in every 1,000 rounds? Wouldn’t you think that with the skill level and the large number of highly-skilled players that a low, low number would come up more often?

In reality, a typical round on the PGA Tour is a 71. And, the average breakdown of those 71s goes like this: three birdies, three bogeys and 12 pars. Again, those are the kinds of numbers you would think would be much better considering these are the best players in the world.

During an average round, tour players hit nearly 12 greens in regulation, making three birdies and nine pars on those holes. When the guys who play for pay miss a green, they get up and down about half the time (three pars and three bogeys).

A lot of these numbers come from a story on golf.com and it should be noted the numbers come from players of all levels on the tour. I’m sure the numbers might look a great deal different if only the top 20 players on the money list were looked at.

As far as those 62s were concerned, the natural assumption to be made is there’s at least one eagle when a player goes that low. Not true. The typical 62 looks like this: nine birdies, nine pars and 15 greens in regulation which turn into nine birdies and six pars. The player gets up and down all three times is missed and he usually makes two birdies on three of the par-5s.

And, believe it or not, most of those birdies don’t come as a result of players reaching the par-5s in two. More often, it’s two shots they get close to the green and then an up-and-down birdie is made.

The other misconception is the tour’s big bombers get the most 62 or betters as a result of them hitting it extra long on the day they go low. It is true the long hitters do own the most rounds of 62 or lower, but accuracy is much more of a key. On average, they hit 10 fairways instead of eight like they normally do.

What this collection of numbers doesn’t address is a very important aspect of the game: putting. All of the fairways hit, approach shots well-struck, etc., etc., if the guy hunting for 62 isn’t making putts from everywhere, that number will remain elusive.

Definitely an interesting number-based perspective on players we watch weekly and admire so much.

These guys are good, very good. But they’re still human and can’t control completely the meeting of golf ball, golf club and how their golf swing creates that meeting.

That’s what makes the game so much fun to watch and, at a much lower level, play for us.

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Do you have an interesting story about your club or course or an individual who has done something special, let me know. Send your story ideas to mike.dudurich@gmail.com.

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