Guys while the pga tour offers a particularly good reference point for those interested in statistics I suggest you take a quick look at the link posted at the beginning of this poorly costructed message. Statistics are generally averages, the most interesting thing about golf is to notice when players are playing badly or brilliantly i.e outliers either side of a bell curve. Sal johnson's (deserves a medal for his site, my opinion of course) site offers a brilliant insight into these trends and i believe this information far exceeds the information to be gleaned from the pga tour stats pages, as good as it is.

Tiger doesn't show up in the top 10 of any of the Par 3, 4 or 5 performance charts? Did he not have enough rounds yet to qualify?

Good question and yes, I don't believe he did have enough rounds. At the time this data was pulled (thru the Northern Trust Open) I believe he had only played in the Buick.

But whatever little I went through on the stats section it seemed to suggest to me that if we wait for the entire record of the season we are more likely to see these stats along expected lines. Instead of drawing a report for the 2008 season we will get a clearer picture by looking at the 2007 stats or for that matter a complete report for any previous season. A quick glance at the 2007 season seemed to suggest that there is a better co relation to be found there but not to the extent one would have thought.

I am really hoping course architects would figure out a way to ensure distance does not play such a crucial role on par 5’s. Players must be made to think around the course. I really look forward to the day that players with the greatest length struggle with their performance because of the kind of stuff where the ball might end up.

Great article. For all the stats, spreadsheets, and numbers crunching, there is really only one that matters - your score.

One other note: It seems somebody was left out of the OWFR table - there is no 7th-ranked player this week (and no 6th-ranked player last week... it must be the same guy).

(Poor Jim Furyk... always forgotten.)

Exactly! As the saying goes, 'it's not how, it's how many.' And thanks, glad you liked the article.

Thank you for the Furyk catch (I think that can be fixed easy enough).

One other note: It seems somebody was left out of the OWFR table - there is no 7th-ranked player this week (and no 6th-ranked player last week... it must be the same guy).

(Poor Jim Furyk... always forgotten.)

Thanks again for reading!
BCA

I think, as you said, statistics can pretty much say anything you want them to say. Looking at the GIR stat, a ball that is in the fringe is not a GIR officially, but that ball could be closer than someone who is actually on the green. The same with fairways hit.

Stats have always got to be looked at in context, something you did very well!