Minimum distance requirement for PGA Players

[Seals]

Look, distance matters. It is substantially easier to hit a 9 iron close than a 6 iron. That said, what is the minimum distance a PGA player could hit the ball and compete. (Not including roll)

I am thinking minimum 265 carry

[Buckeyebowman]

I'm thinking that would be tough! I think Jim Furyk carries it farther than that, and he is thought of as a "short hitter".

[DeadMan]

https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.101.2017.html

That's not carry distance, but the lowest person on that list was Furyk at 271 yards. 

[saevel25]

25 minutes ago, Seals said:

Look, distance matters. It is substantially easier to hit a 9 iron close than a 6 iron. That said, what is the minimum distance a PGA player could hit the ball and compete. (Not including roll)

I am thinking minimum 265 carry

You'd probably want at least 280 total off the tee. 

Edited October 26, 2017 by saevel25

[p1n9183]

This is the 2017 stat you need. https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02409.2017.html

The shortest carry distance in average for a tour player it´s Ken Duke with 250,9 Yards. Next to him it´s Jim Furyk with 254,1.
Longest Rory McIlroy with 305,1.
To be in the middle of the pack you need to hit 279 yards carry.  

[toast]

Driving stats aren't really a good representation at how competitive a player is in a lot of cases since it doesn't directly correlate to scoring. Just because someone drives close to the Tour's median yardage doesn't mean they are in the middle of the pack for scoring.

I have been looking at some stats lately of what the current leaders are averaging off the tee, and I would say that the shortest competitive players are carrying it at least 265 yards with the driver. Most I would guess carry it about 280-290, though. 

Edited November 1, 2017 by toast

[saevel25]

Just now, toast said:

Driving stats aren't really a good representation at how competitive a player is in a lot of cases since it doesn't directly correlate to scoring. Just because someone drives close to the Tour's median yardage doesn't mean they are in the middle of the pack for scoring.

You could have a guy who drives the ball 220 yards and he would never compete on the PGA tour. There is a minimum requirement for distance on the PGA Tour. People will point to Jim Furyk, but the guy is one of the best long iron and mid iron ball strikers of our generation.  He has to be that good in that area, or he would not be on the PGA Tour. 

 

[Hacker James]

I was going to comment on Ian Woosnam,. but then I considered:

 

"Being short of stature, does not necessarily equate to being short of reach"

[toast]

Exactly, there's a lot of different ways to take this question. If you are talking about how far would your average low handicap/scratch golfer need to drive to just maintain a card, the answer would probably be 315+ yards of carry and extremely straight. But if we're talking about if you were to have an (PGA tour) average iron and short-game skill set, it would probably be around 265-270 yards, given you found a great number of fairways.

Something to remember is that amateurs and pros don't have the correlations between stats. For amateurs, how far someone can hit a 7 iron, or drive the golf ball, usually shows a pretty consistent correlation to how well they usually score. The Tour, however, is a much smaller sample size of the best players on the planet, and each of them is there for a reason. So although you would have somewhat of an advantage to be able to hit the long ball, it doesn't always translate to how good a given touring pro's scoring averages are.

Edited November 1, 2017 by toast

[WUTiger]

A mini-tour player uses our club as his home course. He says a player needs 270 yards carry to be considered a long hitter.

[DaveP043]

I think the initial question oversimplifies things.  Of course, the set-up of PGA venues requires a certain minimum length off the tee, and I read a consensus that something like 260 to 270 yards carry is about the shortest that allows a player to be viable on tour.  The stats that @p1n9183 references bear that out.  But distance is only one of many skills required.  In the long run, distance is simply a tool, but overall scoring is the true requirement.  Simply hitting the driver long ism't nearly enough to give you a real chance on tour.

[NCGolfer]

8 hours ago, WUTiger said:

A mini-tour player uses our club as his home course. He says a player needs 270 yards carry to be considered a long hitter.

This was the number that was in my head before even opening the thread.  I wouldn't even think that is a long hitter on tour...just something that is in the somewhat-average or needed area.  Looks like the average is 279, but the question is minimum...so Ken Duke at 251 wins.

I'd still want to have at least 270 carry.

[NM Golf]

Being that driving is second only to approach shots in importance as far as scoring is concerned, I would say a carry distance in the neighborhood of 270 is needed to be viable on TOUR. There are always exceptions, but data shows you drive for dough.