With the rainy season finally about to end we can expect an increase in green speeds which, unfortunately for some, will probably mean a rise in the number of putts-per-round. Measuring our putts-per-round is fundamental to any plan of improvement, but actually knowing how to go about it may not be quite so straightforward.
First, a look at how the pros’ putting skills are measured:
Up until a few years back, the main stat for putting was putts per round; the aggregate of putts taken over an 18-hole round. The problem with using this measure is that it doesn’t take putting distances into account. Take the golfer who often misses a green and then chips it close; he will take fewer putts than the golfer who consistently hits the green in regulation and two-putts. In this instance, the lesser number of putts would be due to an excellent short-game, not superior putting.
Another commonly used stat is putts per green in regulation (PPGIR). This is also limited as it too fails to account for putting distances. Golfers who top the GIR stats, for example, will tend to be putting from greater distances.
The statistic measuring a golfer’s length of holed putts is also limited as it changes markedly when a one-off long putt is holed, leading to data that can prove deceptive when assessing accuracy of putts over an entire round.
Thus in May 2011 the Tour announced strokes gained – putting, a new stat that measures the number of putts – better or worse – than the field, from a given distance.
This is made possible through the PGA Tour’s ShotLink data collection system, which knows the number of putts taken to hole-out, for all distances, for each hole, for the entire field. In short, it measures the starting position of each holed putt to an accuracy of one inch. In this way strokes gained – putting doesn’t penalise nor reward approach shots that are 60-feet or 2-feet from the hole. Rather, the 60-footer that drops gains more, relative to the field, than would a 6-footer. However, three-putting that 6-footer will lose more to the field (putts gained/lost) than three-putting from 60-feet.
Putts gained or lost on a hole will invariably be a fraction of a stroke. Take an eight-foot putt where the Tour average for number of putts holed is 1.5 strokes. The putts gained (strokes gained – putting) is therefore 0.5, representing a gain of a half-stroke. A two-putt from eight-feet would represent a loss of a half-stroke.
Putts gained, or strokes gained – putting, can throw another slant on putting performance. Take the case of a Tour golfer taking 26 putts for his round – three less than the Tour average of 29. But in this example, he actually had a strokes gained – putting score of negative 2.8 strokes. He lost 2.8 strokes to the field on putting performance. Why? He had two zero-putt greens (chip-ins), missed a 5-footer and a 7-footer and had two three-putts from around 20-feet. Overall, his putts started an average of 9.6 feet from the hole, much closer than the Tour average of 17 feet. Given these initial putt distances, the Tour average is 23.2 putts per round. The three additional putts, or 2.8 more than the Tour average, clearly state he had a bad putting day. These figures are real – Angel Cabrera, Deutsche Bank Championship, 4 September 2010.
If you want to putt like the pros, here is what you need do:
| Average number of putts to hole-out for PGA Tour golfers by distance from the hole, for five-year period ending Sept 2013: | |
| Distance | Average Putts |
| 2-feet | 1.01 |
| 4-feet | 1.14 |
| 6-feet | 1.34 |
| 8-feet | 1.5 |
| 10-feet | 1.61 |
| 15-feet | 1.78 |
| 20-feet | 1.87 |
| 30-feet | 1.98 |
| 40-feet | 2.06 |
| 50-feet | 2.14 |
| 60-feet | 2.21 |
| 90-feet | 2.36 |
Best in the strokes gained – putting category (as of 6 October 2013): 1st Greg Chalmers (average .854), 2nd Steve Stricker (.727), 3rd Stephen Ames (.710), 4th Brandt Snedeker (.692), 5th Aaron Baddeley (.688).
The worst: 176th Boo Weekley (-.684), 177th Will Claxton (-.709), 178th Lucas Glover (-.875), 179th Vijay Singh (-.899), 180th Eric Meierdierks (-.961).
In other words, Greg Chalmers’s putting nets him close to one shot per round on the field average, which equates to 3.416 shots per tournament. Poor old Eric’s putting, however, costs him very close to one shot per round or four shots per tournament.
The golfer whose putting is closest to the average? Adam Scott: .001.
And the value of strokes gained – putting to us, here in Pattaya? About as good as those extortionate unused food and drink vouchers purchased from Phoenix GC.
If you are genuinely interested in recording your putting stats, I recommend using putts-per-round. Unlike the Tour, however, I suggest you include putts from off the green.
Happy golfing,
Golfnutter.
