Tour driving distances may not be all that you expect. We hear – and see – the occasional 300-yard bomb, but what’s the real deal? How far do pros hit the ball on most holes throughout the tournament? The holes on which they’re not being measured for driving distance (the pros know ahead of times which holes those are).
At the recent Tour Championship, The Sand Trap .com reader Ryan Dorn tracked the driving stats of seven of the PGA Tour’s best players. Chris DiMarco’s driving totals might clue you in to the actual distances that pros hit the ball.
Okay, the players know ahead of time which two hole count as the driving holes. Those holes they are gonna give it a little bit more because no one wants to be the short guy, but if you look at what realistically happens, it’s not what you hear on tv. Chris Dimarco is right around the middle of the pack on tour in terms of distance. Here’s every par 4 or 5 tee shot he hit this week. He “averages” around 285 yards (I can’t pull it up either), but he only hit 10 of 56 shots 285 or more.
Chris DiMarco Driving Distances, 2004 Tour Championship
Hole Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Average 1 269 238 274 272 263.25 3 254 246 252 263 253.75 4 281 310 274 278 285.75 5 288 310 309 303 302.5 7 240 251 255 245 247.75 8 277 269 273 279 274.5 9 295 291 303 301 297.5 10 275 267 250 279 267.75 12 262 273 276 276 271.75 13 267 266 257 274 266 14 253 277 270 274 268.5 15 273 262 273 268 269 16 242 280 260 289 267.75 17 258 251 258 271 259.5
Keep this in mind the next time you’re on the tee! You don’t need to hit it 300 yards – and tour pros almost never do – to score well.
Here are the driving statistics for the first day of competition for seven players: Chris DiMarco, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Todd Hamilton, Jerry Kelly, and Retief Goosen.
Hole 1: 424 yds Hole 3: 387 yds Chris Dimarco 269 Chris Dimarco 254 Phil Mickelson 281 Phil Mickelson 281 Vijay Singh 279 Vijay Singh 274 Tiger Woods 302 Tiger Woods 293 Todd Hamilton 272 Todd Hamilton 278 Jerry Kelly 260 Jerry Kelly 263 Retief Goosen 294 Retief Goosen 272
Hole 4: 440 yds Hole 5: 480 yds (downhill) Chris Dimarco 281 Chris Dimarco 288 Phil Mickelson 307 Phil Mickelson 314 Vijay Singh 309 Vijay Singh 309 Tiger Woods 293 Tiger Woods 332 Todd Hamilton 282 Todd Hamilton 315 Jerry Kelly 274 Jerry Kelly 309 Retief Goosen 304 Retief Goosen 324
Hole 7: 394 yds Hole 8: 405 yds Chris Dimarco 240 Chris Dimarco 277 Phil Mickelson 267 Phil Mickelson 281 Vijay Singh 260 Vijay Singh 284 Tiger Woods 279 Tiger Woods 275 Todd Hamilton 267 Todd Hamilton 260 Jerry Kelly 234 Jerry Kelly 275 Retief Goosen 267 Retief Goosen 278
Hole 9: 584 yds (downhill) Hole 10: 469 yds Chris Dimarco 295 Chris Dimarco 275 Phil Mickelson 336 Phil Mickelson 283 Vijay Singh 345 Vijay Singh 296 Tiger Woods 332 Tiger Woods 287 Todd Hamilton 304 Todd Hamilton 268 Jerry Kelly 286 Jerry Kelly 265 Retief Goosen 316 Retief Goosen 305
Hole 12: 391 yds Hole 13: 439 yds Chris Dimarco 262 Chris Dimarco 267 Phil Mickelson 281 Phil Mickelson 259 Vijay Singh 284 Vijay Singh 308 Tiger Woods 261 Tiger Woods 291 Todd Hamilton 270 Todd Hamilton 289 Jerry Kelly 264 Jerry Kelly 253 Retief Goosen 271 Retief Goosen 286
Hole 14: 442 yds Hole 15: 495 yds Chris Dimarco 253 Chris Dimarco 273 Phil Mickelson 275 Phil Mickelson 307 Vijay Singh 268 Vijay Singh 302 Tiger Woods 263 Tiger Woods 303 Todd Hamilton 282 Todd Hamilton 293 Jerry Kelly 259 Jerry Kelly 274 Retief Goosen 265 Retief Goosen 296
Hole 16: 481 yds Hole 17: 453 yds Chris Dimarco 242 Chris Dimarco 258 Phil Mickelson 286 Phil Mickelson 266 Vijay Singh 299 Vijay Singh 281 Tiger Woods 296 Tiger Woods 281 Todd Hamilton 280 Todd Hamilton 259 Jerry Kelly 258 Jerry Kelly 255 Retief Goosen 294 Retief Goosen 285
That gives us these final tallies:
230-239 yds: 1 240-249 yds: 2 250-259 yds: 9 260-269 yds: 17 270-279 yds: 20 280-289 yds: 19 290-299 yds: 9 300+ yds: 21* * 11 on downhill holes
Thanks to Ryan Dorn for the stats!
MAN!!!! i knew this had to be the case. i just cannot believe the stats of some guys as when i see them live their swing speeds are way less than some other guys whom they claim to match distance wise.
i hit my irons as far as they do but my driver (ill fitted-soft shaft 10.5 loft) carries only 260 to 270 and stops dead after a huge ballooning flight. this makes me swing harder trying to match up to these guys stats. wondered whats wrong with me.
this is enlightening.