We live in modern times in many ways as a society. Technological advancements have improved and strengthened so much of our day-to-day lives.
This obviously rings true in the world of sports. Data scientists exist throughout its many arms and as a result all sorts of advantages are obtained.
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Golf is no exception in this regard. Information, data, and analytics have reached the forefront of discussion in a much more mainstream way over the last few years and the recent European thrashing of the United States at the Ryder Cup has elevated the chatter to a new level. History is written by the winners, after all.
Europe is regarded as a team who embraces and utilizes analytics to a significantly different level than their American counterparts. This Edoardo Molinari conversation with No Laying Up began to make the rounds in the aftermath of the carnage at Bethpage Black and in it he can be heard discussing Europe’s analytics-based approach.
Let me be very clear here. It is my belief that Europe is much more data-based than the United States when it comes to decisions about their approach. That seems pretty obvious by now.
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But I don’t think Molinari said anything that felt particularly beyond the scope of common sense. He noted that Europe analyzed the course and which combinations would be best for them based on how players performed (or would perform) off of the tee and that they cross-referenced things with strokes gained for their roster relative to recent form. This feels like a standard approach to sport nowadays.
Again, I mean no belittling of Europe’s approach here. While it does not necessarily feel “advanced” relative to the capabilities of data and analytics in our day and age, the reality here is that they are miles (meters, I suppose) ahead of the United States. That’s the issue.
It is noted in the tweet with this clip that Scottie Scheffler divulged throughout the Ryder Cup how he and Russell Henley changed their playing order off of a note from their caddies, a matter that was gleaned as the Ryder Cup was ongoing. The data that the Americans benefitted the most from, for lack of a better word, was obtained during the actual event.
No one is pointing fingers at the American analytics group and acting as if they have no idea what they are doing, but the proof is in the pudding from an overall perspective at this point. One of two conclusions exist here. The first possibility is that the European data is so much more advanced in nature than the American version and based on the brief Molinari clip we can conclude that they are not exactly re-inventing the wheel (again, I mean no disrespect and am in no way acting as if the information is mundane or illogical in any kind of way). We can sort of cross this possibility off of the board.
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The most likely outcome based on the available information is that the United States’ point of leadership don’t implement their data or analytics or whatever you want to call it in the most efficient manner. You can’t fault the data if it isn’t being wielded in the right way and it appears more than fair to say that Luke Donald out-dueled Keegan Bradley in that capacity and Zach Johnson before him.
Europe blew away the United States for reasons that trump even the advanced data that their models are able to obtain, but they certainly also benefitted from the advantages that it offered them. Multiple things can be true.
Whatever the Americans are doing as it relates to data and analytics needs to be studied. The process there is clearly broken and if they want any kind of success at Adare Manor in 2027 then they have to figure out why rather quickly.
