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And the one thing I forgot to mention is Tiger obviously won the Masters and Zozo not too long ago, so there's no question that Tiger would still be great today. People like to say he didn't have longevity and yet that's 24 years between wins. But obviously Tiger's prime was more like 1996-2013 about 17 years. Indeed, it's remarkable that Michael Campbell for instance even got into the 2005 US Open. If I remember right the only reason he tried to qualify is they had European qualifying near his home so there was nothing to lose. This was the first year that European qualifying was introduced and it certainly affected the outcome of the event. Indeed, they are unprecedented.

In terms of years alone Tiger was born about 35 years after Jack and Scottie 20 years after Tiger. But Scottie didn't come out of the gates as fast, so it's more like 25 years between eras (Tiger late 1996 to Scottie 2022). Anyway, obviously Tiger and Scottie's competition is more similar. No disrespect to Jack but the competition in the Brititsh Open especially was weak up until the mid 80s or 90s. The rest of the fields weren't very global either, not compared to today at least.

And those numbers by the way included the Olympics as an official victory which it currently is not. Using the official numbers his rate would be 21% which is below Tiger's lifetime figure. Sheer insanity.

I've done a lot of number crunching over the years. This is pretty astonishing. Up until the end of 2009 Tiger played in 253 PGA Tour events. That is including all starts as an amateur. He won 71 of them or 28%. Do you want to guess how many events it took Jack or even Sam Snead to win title #71? It took Jack 425 (16% rate) and Snead 381 (19%). Jack was 42 by then, Snead I think 43. Those of course are the only players to ever win 65 or more tour events. That was not a typo, it took Jack 172 more tries and about 9 more years to reach Tiger's figure. People don't realize how insane Tiger's win percentage was. If Scottie Scheffler can have 5 more consecutive seasons like this year it would put his career rate at 23%. And Scottie just had the best non-tiger season in modern history.

I mean you can only beat your competition and Nelson handily beat both Snead and Hogan that year. He finished top 2 in 25 events which is just sheer insanity. I've always looked at it as how much better you are than the competition and by that measure Nelson's 1945 is always going to be up there. Does that mean I think he's better than players today? No, you would think that would be extremely unlikely with all this modern tech and better understanding of the golf swing. ------------- I was looking at Johnny Miller's 1974 season and as good as it is with 8 wins he didn't win a major and he was not as consistent as Scottie. I'm trying to find a year as good as his in the last 50 odd years and I can't do it. Vijay 2004 is indeed the next best. He had a stretch where he won 6/9 events. 9 wins and 2 runner ups, 14 top 5s in all out of 29 events. Obviously the elephant in the room is Tiger Woods. He is comfortably better than him in 2000 and 2006, but after that it's really close. Tiger's next best seasons are 2005, 1999, and 2002, and 2007 and to be honest Scottie compares very favorably to any of those seasons.

I probably got too deep there haha. Looks like there were 82 events total (38 in 1945 and 44 in 1946). 9 events were won by someone else besides the big 3 in 1945. ---------- The way Nelson was playing in the beginning of 1945 was absurd. I mean Snead was hot too but look at those runner ups! Snead score Nelson score 1st 283 T2 284 13th 289 1st 274 T5 273 2nd 269 2nd 269 1st 264 4th 290 1st * 284 1st * 275 2nd* 275 1st 267 2nd 274

Made a mistake there. in 1946 Hogan had 2 team wins and the other one was the round robin. 15 players unique format individual play. All 3 of those wins had Nelson and Snead in the field.

With Jones we're looking at only 4 events, it's not a very good sample size. Plus you know his amateur majors are very tough to rank. However historically that season is definitely mentioned as one of the best of all time. With Nelson I've done a deep dive on the numbers. He was averaging 68.34 (in 28 measured events) while the next best on tour was Hogan with 69.91 (in 17) and Snead was at 70.40 (in 27). Did you know he won his 16 stroke play titles by an average of 6.25 shots? He wasn't just winning he was obliterating the competition. His other wins were the team event which everyone attended and of course the match play PGA Championship. He finished in the top 2 in 25/30 events. Hogan and Snead had 7 top 2s each. Obviously Hogan played in 10 fewer events so his numbers are more impressive than Snead's. When Nelson won the 11 straight events it broke the record for most wins in a row which at the time was 3. True Hogan wasn't there in those events, but Snead was. In the second of those victories Nelson beat him in a playoff. Nelson won 4 in a row end of 1945 to 1946 with Snead and Hogan in in the field in each. He was unbeatable during this stretch. -------------------- As for Hogan he had his own remarkable year in 1946 with 13 wins. It's not quite as good as it sounds because 3 of them were team wins in tiny fields but it's still incredible. He won 13/32 while Nelson went 6/20 and Snead 6/29. In 1945 Nelson won 18/30 Hogan 5/18 and Snead 6/28.

It's really good. I'm not sure why people keep ignoring the Player's Championship. That plus the Masters and an 8 win season? That places him in super elite company. And yes the Olympic Gold definitely counts. I'd rank it above most Tiger seasons and I'm a Tiger fanboy. Top 10 season of all time? I think so but only just. Arnold Palmer had 2 seasons of 8 wins including 2 majors (1960 and 1962) and Jack's 1972 with 7 wins including the Masters and US Open is pretty good as well. The standouts which are untouchable are Tiger 2000, Hogan 1953, and Nelson 1945. Some would throw in Bobby 1930 as well, but that one's a tougher sell in the modern era. But that's all a long time ago. Scottie's season eclipses Vijay's in my eyes and you have to go back to somewhere around Johnny Miller 1974 to find something close excluding Tiger of course. Yes, I think it surpasses all of Tom Watson's prime years but again it depends on how you value majors.

I wonder if they miscalculated Jason Day's 2016? The reason being I looked at his main page on the updated site and has him with a +5.18 strokes gained for the tour championship that year. The only problem is he withdrew after a round and a half. The winner was Rory and he only gained +2.16 per round that week. Otherwise, I think the whole thing is quite fascinating. Would love to see the remaining scores up to 2022.

2021's data is too incomplete. Like you have listed for last year 69 out of 136 players averaged under 72 or basically 50% while on the PGA Tour a staggering 190 out of 193 players averaged under 72 last season. Then again the courses may be too easy for the men and just right for the women... The LPGA Tour's data looks a lot like the PGA Tour in the 1980s before the distance boom. 1980 is the earliest data point and back then 62 out of 175 players averaged 72 or lower the scoring average for the tour was almost exactly 2 strokes higher - 72.59 vs 70.56. https://www.pgatour.com/content/pgatour/stats/stat.108.y2020.html

There is a stat which is very similar to strokes gained which goes back quite a bit further all the way to 1983. Here is the tour's definition of both stats: Stroke Differential to field average: Average strokes per round played that a player was better/worse than the per round field average. Strokes Gained Total: The per round average of the number of Strokes the player was better or worse than the field average on the same course & event. So at first glance they seem the same, but there are definitely differences exactly why is unclear to me. Does SG use an additional adjustment for field strength? Here is a list of the best figures in the differential stat. Tiger shows up prominently even without including his 2008 stats PGA Tour Strokes Differential Field Average 1983-2019 1) 3.84 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2000 2) 3.39 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2006 3) 3.21 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2007 4) 3.04 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2009 5) 3.03 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2002 6) 2.98 strokes – Tiger Woods, 1999 7) 2.82 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2003 😎 2.67 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2005 9) 2.59 strokes – Greg Norman, 1993 10) 2.56 strokes – Vijay Singh, 2003 11) 2.55 strokes – Vijay Singh, 2004 12) 2.50 strokes – Greg Norman, 1990 13) 2.45 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2001 14) 2.41 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2004 15) 2.40 strokes – Jim Furyk, 2006 16) 2.40 strokes – Dustin Johnson, 2018 17) 2.37 strokes – Jack Nicklaus, 1984 18) 2.37 strokes – Greg Norman, 1994 19) 2.36 strokes – Rory McIlroy, 2014 20) 2.27 strokes – Ernie Els, 2004 21) 2.24 strokes – David Duval, 1999 22) 2.24 strokes – Vijay Singh, 2005 23) 2.23 strokes – Mike Weir, 2003 24) 2.23 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2012 25) 2.22 strokes – Fred Couples, 1992 26) 2.22 strokes – Jordan Spieth, 2015 27) 2.21 strokes – Greg Norman, 1995 28) 2.21 strokes –Rory McIlroy, 2019 It seems odd to me that Rory's number and positioning is so different here. I think the main reason is we have 14 years in between which are pre-strokes gained and if we remove those he moves all the way up to 14th. Still, in this stat his numbers rank behind Tiger in 2005, 2004, and 2012 and his own figures in 2014.

I thought this one was humorous. WHO KNOWS MORE ABOUT THE GOLF SWING: YOU OR BRANDEL CHAMBLEE? Me: 18% Chamblee: 82% Hot takes: “He seems like he knows more.” “I don’t know anything about the golf swing.” “I hate to admit it, but Brandel.” “He knows more about everything.”

Not important, but I messed up on Vijay's numbers. there was a tournament which was cancelled after two rounds and I thought it was a missed cut. He should be 3rd alone with 53 consecutive cuts made. Vijay was a beast!

I did some digging and found out some more information regarding Tiger Woods' consecutive cut streak and cut streaks in general. I remember clearly back when people tried to diminish his record because it included many no-cut events. Well, it turns out the same can be said of every other player as well! According to a sports illustrated article from 2003 only around 30% of the events included in Byron Nelson's 113 steak had a 36-hole cut. To make this clear, even the Masters had no cut until 1957 and players who finished outside of the money are not labeled as a missed cut. Anyway the point is Tiger's record 142 consecutive cuts looks as good as ever. If you do have to remove no cut events Tiger is still on top with 111 and number 2 is none other than Jack Nicklaus with 101. But anyway, using the modern definition of consecutive cuts made - which includes no cut events - here is a new list. Hogan, Nelson, and Snead would be up here except once again those events didn't have cuts as we know them today. I am sure there are more missing names, but the data is way too uncertain pre 1980. Also these totals include the Open Championship which is overlooked in the official stats. 1. Tiger Woods - 1998-05: 142 2. Jack Nicklaus - 1970-76: 111 3. Hale Irwin - 1975-78: 90 4. Dow Finsterwald - 1955-58: 72 5. Arnold Palmer - 1961-65: 65+ Modern Era 1980-2019: 1. Tiger Woods - 1998-05: 142 2. Tom Kite - 1980-82: 54 3. Vijay Singh - 1995-98: 49 4. Steve Stricker - 2009-12: 49 5. Ernie Els - 2004-07: 46

The field is pretty strong this week actually. I heard a win is worth over 60 points which is just over the points value of McIlroy's Tour Championship win.

Just made this graph. I was tempted to change the numbers, but I don't want to jinx Tiger!

Here are the rest of the strokes gained top 10. Just remember Tiger had 5 other years which would have a good chance at making the grade. Strokes Gained Total 2004-’19 1)+3.82 - Tiger Woods, 2008 (only 6 events) 1)+3.30 - Tiger Woods, 2006 2)+3.19 - Tiger Woods, 2009 3)+3.09 - Tiger Woods, 2007 4)+2.55 - Rory McIlroy, 2019 5)+2.50 - Jim Furyk, 2006 6)+2.41 - Rory McIlroy, 2012 7)+2.40 - Tiger Woods, 2005 8)+2.38 - Tiger Woods, 2004 9)+2.37 - Dustin Johnson, 2018 10)+2.31 - Tiger Woods, 2012 There's another stat that goes back a bit further and is very similar, but not quite the same as strokes gained. Tiger absolutely dominates. PGA Tour Strokes Differential Field Average '83-'19 1) 3.84 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2000 2) 3.39 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2006 3) 3.21 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2007 4) 3.04 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2009 5) 3.03 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2002 6) 2.98 strokes – Tiger Woods, 1999 7) 2.82 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2003 😎 2.67 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2005 9) 2.59 strokes – Greg Norman, 1993 10) 2.56 strokes – Vijay Singh, 2003

He hasn't played in forever. For the year he's 54th in accuracy and 69th in strokes gained off the tee so there are plenty worse than him.

You do know Patrick has had 8 top 10s already including a 3rd in the PGA and is 1st in scoring average right? Much of that has been ignored in favor of complaining about his pace of play, but the dude has been solid.

The problem with putting Phil in front at #3 is somebody like Rory could pass his 5 major total quite easily. When Phil was Rory's age he had 13 wins and 0 majors. Rory has 15 and 4 in case anybody forgot while playing fewer events in his early years on tour. The Tom Watson comparison is more interesting. They had similar win percentages at their best (11% for Watson, 9.4% for Phil), but Tom has 3 extra majors while being 5 short in total wins. What is a bit crazy to consider nowadays is Tom was credited with only 32 wins as late as 1994, none of those 5 Open wins were official at the time! The player I find is always underrated today is Arnold with 62 wins from 1955-1973. That is more impressive to me than Ben Hogan's 64 wins from 1938-1959...except for that one missing major of course.

The match of the Century is mostly meaningless though, not much more than a silly season event. As for the rest I disagree, both players played great golf in basically the same time frame and Jones was superior in the events they both attended. In the 13 majors they both played Jones got the better of Hagen 10 times and won 5 while Hagen never won an Open with Jones in the field. That's fairly dominant in my eyes. Also going back to the US Open importance, Jones won 4 vs Hagen's 2. I can see justifying ranking Hagen over Jones on the strength of his 45 total tour wins, but that seems a bit unfair because Jones only played a handful of events. Still, Hagen was incredible. He won 24% of his events (45/190) by the time of his last win age 43. Definitely comparable to Hogan if we assume that they competed in a similar level of competition.

Indeed. I've tried in the past to make a case for both Byron and Snead over Hogan, but I don't think it's a strong enough argument. Correct me if I'm wrong, the US Open was huge back in the day by far the most important tournament in US golf up until maybe 1960 When the Masters gained a ton of traction. Even ignoring the accident, Ben Hogan won 25% of his events up until age 40 which is something nobody has done since outside of Tiger Woods. Best win percentages up to age 43 post-Bobby Jones 1. Ben Hogan (43) 1932-1957 - 63 wins in 262 events (24.05%) 2. Tiger Woods (43) 1996-2019 - 81 wins in 338 events (23.96%) 3. Sam Snead (43) 1931-1956 - 75 wins in 341 events (21.99%) 4. Byron Nelson (43) 1933-1955 - 52 wins in 261 events (19.92%) 5. Jack Nicklaus (43) 1961-1983 - 71 wins in 429 events (16.55%) 6. Arnold Palmer (43) 1954-1972 - 61 wins in 465 events (13.02%) 7. Billy Casper (43) 1954-1975 - 51 wins in 464 events (10.99%) 8. Phil Mickelson (43) 1991-2013 - 42 wins in 477 events (8.81%) 9. Vijay Singh (43) 1992-2006 - 29 wins in 360 events (8.06%) 10. Tom Watson (43) 1971-1993 - 37 wins in 497 events (7.44%) The only problem is Jones trounced Hagen in actual tournament play. And nobody is willing to give Jones credit anymore. In a stretch of 9 US Opens Jones finished won 4 and finished 2nd 4 more times! Jones winning percentage in the majors up to 1930 actually goes up if you exclude his amateur wins to a ludicrous 7/15 wins.

Another vote for Ben Hogan here. The dude had a stretch were he played in 5 US Opens and won 4 finishing 3rd in the other! I think the numbers actually favor Sam over Ben 64 and 9 vs 81 and 7, but that US Open record has clinched it for me. I think Arnold Palmer doesn't get enough recognition nowadays as well, 62 wins 7 majors in an arguably tougher era in golf - vs the WWII era.

You're welcome Brocks! I'm glad my intent wasn't misunderstood as an insult or anything like that. Jack's win percentage numbers are incredible and nobody who started their career after him has been even close - with one notable exception of course. I made a list of the greats career numbers up to about age 45 and after Jack and the best I could find was Vijay Singh at 8.29%. Rory is slightly higher at this moment (9.5%), but it is a tall ask for him to retain that number 15 years down the road. 1. Ben Hogan (45) 1932-1958 - 63 wins in 265 events (23.77%) 2. Walter Hagen (45) 1915-1938 - 45 wins in 192 events (23.44%) 3. Sam Snead (45) 1931-1958 - 78 wins in 366 events (21.31%) 4. Byron Nelson (39) 1933-1951 - 52 wins in 246 events (21.14%) 5. Jack Nicklaus (45) 1961-1985 - 72 wins in 459 events (15.70%) 6. Gene Sarazen (45) 1920-1946 - 39 wins in 261 events (14.94%) 7. Arnold Palmer (45) 1954-1974 - 62 wins in 516 events (12.02%) 8. Cary Middlecoff (45) 1947-1966 - 40 wins in 333 events (12.01%) 9. Paul Runyan (45) 1930-1953 - 29 wins in 249 events (11.65%) 10. Billy Casper (44) 1954-1976 - 51 wins in 488 events (10.45%) 11. Vijay Singh (45) 1992-2008 - 34 wins in 410 events (8.29%) 12. Phil Mickelson (45) 1991-2015 - 42 wins in 529 events (7.94%) 13. Tom Watson (45) 1971-1995 - 37 wins in 530 events (6.98%) 14. Greg Norman (45) 1979-2000 - 20 wins in 298 events (6.71%) 15. Lee Trevino (45) 1962-1985 - 29 wins in 441 events (6.58%) And a few greats who really only have data in the majors only: 1. Bobby Jones (28) 1920-1930 - 13 wins in 31 majors (41.94%) 2. Harry Vardon (44) 1893-1914 - 7 wins in 24 majors (29.17%) 3. Willie Anderson (31) 1897-1910 - 4 wins in 14 majors (28.57%) 4. James Braid (44) 1894-1914 – 5 wins in 20 majors (25%) 5. J.H. Taylor (43) 1893-1914 - 5 wins in 24 majors (20.83%) 6. Peter Thomson (43) 1951-1973 - 5 wins in 36 majors (13.89%) 7. Bobby Locke (42) 1936-1959 - 4 wins in 29 majors (13.79%) 8. Jim Barnes (45) 1916-1930 - 4 wins in 32 majors (12.50%) Some of the numbers before 1960 are probably a little off, I just went with what I could find.