Strokes Gained Approach: The Strokes Gained Statistics Are Explained

Strokes Gained Approach: The Strokes Gained Statistics Are Explained

By Bradley Turner, Keiser University College of Golf Director of Online Golf Instruction – MBA, PGA

The College of Golf at Keiser University offers a Master’s degree in Golf Teaching and Learning. In a recent discussion in the Science of the Short Game class, a student commented that most of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour are not great putters. Historically, the best putters on the PGA Tour were identified by the average number of putts per round played. This statistic was not an accurate assessment of putting skill but rather a blend of short game skill, putting skill, and poor ball striking skill. An official putt is counted once the ball comes to rest on the green putting surface. Putting from the fringe is not an official putt. To answer this student’s question, I turned to a data-driven perspective and researched the player statistics on the PGA Tour website. All of the statistics in this article are derived from the PGA Tour website using the data from the 2022-2023 season.

Strokes Gained

The strokes gained statistics are considered the gold standard in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a PGA Tour player. Mark Brodie is a professor from Columbia Business School, and he developed a better way of evaluating golf performance. The concept of strokes gained is essentially how a player performs a skill from various situations on a golf course. The strokes gained statistic can be used to quantify different skills such as putting, chipping, bunker, and driving from the tee. Every shot can be measured relative to the average in the field. If a player has a positive stroke gained value, he performs better than the average player. If there is a negative value to the shot gained statistic, then the player is underperforming compared to the field.

The Top 20 Ball Strikers

The shot link data below includes the top 20 ball strikers from the tee to the green. This all-encompassing statistic is the best data to quantify the skill of ball striking. Scottie Scheffler gained a total of 2.615 shots per round played in 2023! That is an enormous 10.46 stroke advantage over a 72-hole tournament. On the other side of the spectrum, Nick Watney was last on the PGA Tour with a negative 1.715 shots gained (or lost!). From a strictly ball-striking perspective, Nick Watney will lose 6.86 shots to the field over 72 holes and another 10.46 strokes to Scottie Scheffler. On the PGA Tour, you cannot putt your way out of poor ball striking. The chart below tells us a lot about these 20 elite ball strikers.

Analysis

The names on this list are a who’s who on the PGA Tour, with every player having won a PGA Tour event except for Kevin Yu, who completed his rookie season last year. Ball-striking skill is paramount on the PGA Tour, as evidenced by the names on the list. The Top 20 Ball Strikers averaged slightly better than the tour average in putting. Of the top 20 ball strikers, there are four (20%) who can be classified as great putters as their stroke gained average puts them in the top 20 in putting. There are 10 (50%) who have a negative stroke gained average in putting, which is certainly not great. The other 6 (30%) reside in the better half of the PGA Tour.

Conclusion

Referring back to the comment from the Master’s degree student that most of the best ball strikers are not great putters, the data appears to lean in his favor. If a PGA Tour player is a great ball striker and a great putter, then you are a star in professional golf. In 2023, Xander Schauffele, Tyrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, and Max Homa all competed in the 2023 Ryder Cup. Interestingly, 19 of the 20 have all competed in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup except the rookie Kevin Yu. The stroke gained stat from tee to green is a good predictor of stardom in professional golf, so it would be a good bet that Kevin Yu will soon be in the winner’s circle. But only if he can make more putts!

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