New Putting Statistic

[Richie3Jack]

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791704575114071142473884.html?mod=WSJ_Books_Sports

Basically the article is very Baseball Prospectus-ish. It's trying to figure out how good of a putter a golfer is by how they perform against the rest of the field from similar positions on the green.

So, if the average golfer in the field will 2 putt from a certain spot on a green 30 feet away and Phil Mickelson 1 putts, then he would rank higher in the 'putts gained' category. Some key points to the article.

The best putter in 2009 by this measure was Luke Donald, who gained an average of 0.905 strokes on the field by virtue of his putting skill alone. Mr. Stricker, who finished No. 1 in putting average last year largely because of his proficiency with approach shots, ranked a surprising 69th in putts gained per round. (Deeper analysis by MIT showed that Mr. Stricker's ranking was also negatively affected because he happened to play on the "easiest" greens of all 166 players sampled.)

3JACK

[gmbtempe]

Pretty amazing that Phil won four times yet was ranked 150. That dude has not been a good putter in the last several years.

[Richie3Jack]

Phil hasn't been a great putter since his first Masters win and more like when he first came out on Tour. Rick Smith ignored his issues with the putter. Pelz changed his setup and didn't help matters. Now Stockton is trying to make him a hybrid of his old stroke and Stockton's old technique.

If I was Phil, I'd just take a look at footage when he was in Arizona as an amateur.






3JACK

[johngrahamgolf]

Phil was never a good putter but everybody thought it looked pretty. Don't judge a book by its cover. Just like with swings. I think this new putting stat will be very informational. Too bad it works just for the tour.