During any type of research you are going to come across some things that peak your interest. Whenever I would come across something I would store it somewhere. After a while I got a bunch of these nuggets and thought it would be interesting to share them with you. So without any more delay, here are 10 facts that may only interest me… well, maybe you too.
1. Chris DiMarco earns $3,562,548 without a victory. Who says second place is crap? I would be very happy making a living on 3.5 million a year and never hoisting a trophy. Heck I would be more than happy. But if you think that’s a lot of money without a win, Davis Love III has made over $5.7 million over the past two without winning. I just can’t feel bad for him.
2. 11 Q-school players made the top 125 with two in the top 30 (O’Hair & Glover). This week the Q-school gets under way. It will be intersting to see who in this class will make it. One thing is for sure, it will be hard to beat the job both O’Hair and Glover did this year.
3. Sergio was first in GIR and nearly last (196th of 202) in putting. Wow. I find this utterly amazing. We all knew that Sergio struggled with the flat stick, but it is really bad. If he ever figures it out, Sergio is going to be a contender in every major and worthy of being discussed with the other big names.
4. Former PGA champion Rich Beem was third in final round scoring average. Not too bad. A bit surprising though. But, former PGA champion Rich Beem made only 8 of 26 cuts… which is not too good. A few years removed from his major win, Rich has yet to find the game that gave him his five – maybe ten – minutes of fame. He’s a fun guy that always looks like he enjoys himself out there and I’m hoping he can do it winning some tournaments. Making under 33% of your cuts isn’t going to help though.
5. John Daly was 10th in “Par 3 Birdies or Better” and 51st in “Par 5 Birdies or Better.” What? Huh? You’ve got to be kidding me? Long John Daly was doing much better on par 3s than on par 5s. There really isn’t much else to say than: What? Huh?
6. Tiger ranked first in 14 different statistical categories. This is another Wow. Yes Tiger hits it long. Yes Tiger has an amazing short game. Tiger just does a lot of things great. Not good. Great. Remember this the next time people talk about his length and stop there. Tiger is different. Tiger is special.
7. After missing the cut at the FBR Open, Luke Donald has made 15 straight cuts which is the second longest active streak. Here’s someone I think is going to do well next year. Donald’s a solid player that has a very bright future. Players of all levels know its hard to keep your game together just for one round. Doing it over 15 well enough to make the cut every week is just as impressive.
8. This year 78 players earned $1 million or more. Ten years ago only 9 players earned $1 million or more. The players on both lists were Love III, Vijay Singh, Billy Mayfair, and Steve Elkington. I thought it was interesting that almost half of those guys 10 years ago are still doing well on tour. 20 years ago? The leading money winner was Curtis Strange at $542,321. I think he makes more money in the booth than he did that entire year.
9. Annika has made 58.7% more money than the next person on the LPGA money list. At first I was surprised. Then the more I thought about it, she just simply dominates that tour and has no equal. There isn’t another golfer in the world that has a better chance of winning week in and week out on any tour in the world. Why, well because…
10. Tiger has made 32.6% more than the next person on the PGA money list. Tiger did have a great year and has done amazing things, but Annika is more impressive when comparing both of them to their peers. Tiger didn’t even win the money title last year or the year before that. The last time Annika didn’t win the money title on the LPGA Tour was 2000. I love the fact that these two are great friends and ultra-competitive. That only drives them to get better and outperform one another.
I’m know there are a lots more out there. I’m going to try and make this a semi-regular column or add a few at the end of my articles. I’d be curious to hear if you have any. Post a comment and let me know what you think.
Cool article! I’ll be anticipating the next one like this. I love to look at silly statistics like that.
The sad thing is Sergio is already contending in 2 or 3 majors every year with those poor putting statistics. If he could putt, he would be good for 1 or 2 majors a year. That is amazing!
And that John Daly stat still has me thinking: Huh? What? 🙂
Good stuff Dave!
Look at daly’s percentages not his rankings for par 3 and par 5 birdies or better, He played the par 3’s at 3.07 and the 5’s at 4.69. He didn’t play them better, he played them better compared to everyone else.
I wonder is Sergio is a victim of one of Dr. Bob’s putting problems. Putting from the wrong spots. Sure he made the GIR but if he can’t hole it then it doesn’t help him score.
Is this a boo boo?
According to the PGA Tour wesite:
* Seven rookies were able to finish in the Top 125 this year — Sean O’Hair, Greg Owen, Joey Snyder, James Driscoll, Brian Davis, D.J. Trahan and Ryuji Imada.
Did they miss Kevin Na?
Adam – good point. I should have made that clarification and also that nearly nobody on tour (in relation to par) averages less on Par 3’s than they do on Par 5’s.
Baynative – Kevin Na was fully exempt last year. Another example is Lucas Glover. They didn’t put him in there because he had 30 events last year and is not considered a ‘rookie’. The 11 I spoke of were those who had to go through Q school.
Thanks for reading…
Dave
Just keeping you on your toes dave, good aticle, and keep up the good work.