Category: The Numbers Game

If you were like me and many other golf fans, you spent Sunday afternoon watching an exciting finish to the Senior PGA Championship. Both Brad Bryant and Jay Haas made nerve wracking birdie putts on the final hole of regulation to send the championship into extra holes.

During those three holes, Haas spent most of the time scrambling around and sinking longer putts to keep himself alive. Bryant, on the other hand, could not rekindle the magic he had on #18 in regulation and lost the tournament by missing a four footer on the last playoff hole, which happened to be #18 again.

This week in The Numbers Game, I thought it would be an appropriate time to take the 40-30-20-10 rule and see if it applies to the Senior PGA players as well as it does to the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour. We saw just how important the 30 (putting) was in those final few holes. Will the others fall into their normal place? Read on to find out.

Continue reading “Do Seniors Follow the Rule?”

Next year we get to witness the “NASCAR-ization” of the PGA Tour. The guys in the big offices of the PGA headquarters wanted to make the end of the year more exciting than watching paint dry, watching people struggle to keep their PGA Tour cards, and the occasional Michelle Wie sighting.

So what we will have is a points system unveiled last year that will determine a playoff field. The points will be reset for a final points chase. Is all this good for the PGA Tour? Is there a better way? I’ll talk about that and more this week in The Numbers Game.

Continue reading “FedExCup Points”

Dave Koster has the week off, so I’m filling in for him. This week, we’ll be talking about handicaps, course ratings, and slope, as well as how you can take this knowledge to improve your odds of winning a few more bets. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume that you know how to calculate your own handicap index. If you don’t, read the appropriately titled “What’s Your Handicap?” and come back. I’ll wait.

Continue reading “Handicap, Slope, and a Side Bet or Two”

I had the pleasure of going to the Wachovia Championship this past week. If you’re wondering, I wasn’t one of the dedicated few that stuck it out on Sunday even though a few of us had tickets. I love golf, but not enough to stand in hard, cold rain.

So while I was watching Jim Furyk pour (no pun intended) in his par putt on the first playoff hole, I thought I’d run down a few of the numbers that stood out to me. This week it’s The Numbers Game, Wachovia Championship style.

Continue reading “Numbers at the Wachovia Championship”

Over the past year, we’ve seen how hitting greens is the best predictor for success on the PGA Tour and, ostensibly, in general. The problem is that most of us amateurs don’t have the luxury of being so accurate with our irons. So what are we to do?

Accept it. If you play a lot of golf and work on your game, it will get better. The great equalizer is a great short game. You will find numerous players that don’t hit it long and may not hit a lot of greens, but can get up and down from a bucket. This week in The Numbers Game, I’ll show you just how important the short game is and it may change your approach to how you practice.

Continue reading “The Short Game”

Cody talked about a Major Surpise… some of you think that Phil can seriously make a run at the Grand Slam. When one of the top players has their game peaking and seems to be on a roll, why not?

Well, not only do you have quite a few great golfers going after the same trophy but usually a peak has a sharp drop off as well. Only a few golfers in the history of the game have been able to keep their play at a high level after winning a major. With Phil, anything can happen, but the numbers don’t look like they are in his favor.

Continue reading “Major Hangover”

Last year we had a couple of rookies that burst onto the scene. Sean O’Hair and Lucas Glover both got onto the Tour last year by going through and surviving the rigors of Q-School. Both won over $2 million and made the Tour Championship in 2005… not too bad in your first year.

So, how are they faring this year? Looking at how they performed last year, one would think that they are going to have nothing but more success. Read on to find out who is struggling and who is continuing their great play.

Continue reading “Sophomore Slump”

Like a lot of golf fans, I took in quite a bit of golf this weekend. What was shaping up to be a tight finish with a group of golfers, including the Big Five, within a few shots of the lead turned out to be a leisurely walk for Phil up the 18th.

This week in The Numbers Game, I’ll break down a few of the stats and numbers from this year’s Masters and throw out a few extra numbers for you to chew on.

Continue reading “Post-Masters Numbers Crunch”

There are a lot of great Masters moments. When I was growing up and starting to play and appreciate the game a bit, the scenes at Augusta were the ones that stood out. I wanted to take some time this week to look at the moments I remember most vividly… and some of the numbers behind them.

Continue reading “My Masters Moments”