Putting Evaluation

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Howling Coyote said:

First, iacas, maybe I don't have enough data at short distances.  Maybe it would be a curve if I had the data.

Second, Tiger had only 207 feet of putting which is extremely small.  He also 2 putted both a 3 footer and a 4 footer, something only I would do.  So even plotting that on my pro chart, his putting would be worse than Brandt Snedeker.  Matsuyama on the other hand had one 145 foot putt which he 3-putted, but he still par'ed the hole.

In spite of all that if 3 golfer's played 2 holes

player 1, 2 putts a 20 footer and then 2 putts another 20ft.

player 2, 3 putts a 35 footer and then 1 putts a 5ft.

player 3, 2 putts a 10 footer and then 2 putts a 30ft.

They all covered 40 feet in putt distance in the same number of strokes.  I might call player 2 inconsistent or streaky, but they all covered the same distance.

My main issue is statistical (mathematical).  For example at 8 feet it is suppose to take 1.5 strokes, but I can't sink it into the hole in 1.5 strokes.  It will either take me 2 putts or 1 putt.  Therefore on any given day, just by pure luck, the putts could break against me on one day and in my favor another day, and perhaps 18 holes is just too small a sample size.

The point is, yes, over 18 holes it's a small sample size, but you're still better off figuring out your strokes gained or lost from various ranges instead of dividing feet by the number of putts it took you to hole out. As I showed you, 40/4 can be half a stroke different because putting performance is non-linear.

No, you can't take 1.5 strokes to hole a putt, but if you have ten or twenty or a hundred eight-footers, you can measure yourself against the numbers 15, 30, or 150.