Stat of the Day

[NCGolfer]

Here are the guys who finished in the top 10 last week at the Honda Classic and where they ranked in Driving Distance and GIR for the tournament:

Driving Distance
Donald - 64th
Ogilvy - 26th
Toms - 37th
Mayfair - 47th
Pernice - 18th
Hart - 70th
Ames - 49th
Lickliter - 51st
Gove - 63rd
Points - 55th
Goggin - 7th

Greens in Regulation
Donald - 4th
Ogilvy - 33rd
Toms - 50th
Mayfair - 1st
Pernice - 27th
Hart - 33rd
Ames - 19th
Lickliter - 44th
Gove - 5th
Points - 13th
Goggin - 19th

There were four players that finished higher in DD than they did in GIR. Sometimes - maybe not all the time - but sometimes distance does not equal GIR.

By the way, of the four players, Ogilvy and Toms finished 1st in one of the two of the putting categories and Ames was in the top 6 of both. So if they did miss a few more greens, their putting game was right there to pick them up.

[iacas]

Continuing to prove that you are right and others are wrong. I simply wish they'd stop using driving distance as proof that it makes the game too easy for the top pros and removes shotmaking from the equation. It clearly does not.

They can argue all they want that long driving makes the game more boring (it may, to them), but arguments about the VALUE of driving distance to pros should take a real hard look at these kinds of stats.

[Thrash13]

Dave, the first thing I did was check Luke Donald's stats after his win Sunday. It made me smile when I saw his putting and GIR numbers. Once again, you are right on man!

Like Erik said, the shot-making and putting are the two main things that make this game so special. The long drives can peak fan interest, but it's all about the GIR and putting.

If guys like Luke Donald won every week, it would be fine by me. Out of all my favorites, the majority are short hitters off the tee with solid short games (Furyk, Leonard, Donald, Zach Johnson, etc.).

Only CH3 is semi-lengthy off the tee as far as my favorites go, but even he isn't that long compared to the rest of the PGA Tour players. I think he is somewhere in the 80s in DD. I believe that was in Dave's article last week anyway.