Maybe common knowledge, but as a new golfer I was buoyed to learn that the best pros in the world “only” hit the fairway 75%~ off the tee. Tour average is 60%!
by Chadwiko
Maybe common knowledge, but as a new golfer I was buoyed to learn that the best pros in the world “only” hit the fairway 75%~ off the tee. Tour average is 60%!
by Chadwiko
26 Comments
Missing the fairway still in play 99% of the time. That ain’t us.
But they miss 300 yards down the fairway.
Even better than that, many new golfers are surprised to learn around like 7 feet, pros start making less than 50% of their putts. Sure they might be playing fast and undulating greens, but still. You could even make a case that some of their 7-footers are “easier” because the greens roll truer than the local munis
Such a stupidly hard game. Why do I love it.
On pga courses. Not your local muni
I think a ratio of distance vs accuracy might be a better comparison. A couple degrees off to the side is a much bigger problem at 300 yards than 200.
The game has changed over the past 20 years. It is beneficial to hit it farther, even if it’s offline. Hence the drop in consistency
I’m buoyed too! Thanks!
What stat has the least amount of differential between amateur and tour pro? Putting average?
Since you’re new I’m gonna let you in on a known fact. The best golfers you’ll ever play with can get up and down in a way high handicappers can’t understand. I’m a 10 and play with guys as good as +4(!!) I hit more fairways than most of them. But they are 50-80 yards farther. I even hit more greens in reg than a lot of them. But they always leave with par. Green in reg is commonly a birdie.
Pros are just like us (if you ignore the results).
I saw a video of Tiger where he was disgusted with the swing that won him the 96 Masters by a record margin and immediate success on the PGA tour.
Exactly like us hackers who are not satisfied with breaking 90 and are wiling to break it all down with a pro to get better.
Exactly like us.
/s
They miss on the narrowest most difficult places to land in AND they regularly only miss by 5 yards. It is otherworldly how pros can play
It’s not apples to apples. Pros are hitting 70% on narrower fairways and much further down the fairway than what a typical 15 hcp is averaging. A lot of 15 hcps wouldn’t even be able to drive it to the start of the fairway on some of the courses pros play.
An exceptionally high fairway hit % tends to mean players are being too conservative.
If someone was hitting 80% of fairways their coaching team would certainly get them to try to hit it harder. Being a bit wayward is more useful if it means you’re closer to the hole. The same applies with really high first serve % in tennis
Those are not the best drivers they are the most accurate drivers. Very different
It’s also good to remember that they are below 50% from 10ft
PGA fairways are like 28 yards wide
The definition of FIR is fairly strict, but the playability of missing FIR can still be quite high.
Short par4 (drivable) and miss FIR? You could still be off on the fringe, an easy bunker, etc. Not a FIR, but in an easy spot to have a bird look still.
Yes, but by how far do they miss the fairway on average? Missing it in the first cut is much different than missing it OB or 40 yds left or right.
Really, what that stat does is highlight how overrated fairways are as a stat. Yes, it’s better to hit a fairway than to miss it, but ultimately, it doesn’t make or break your score, whether you’re on the fairway of a couple yards off it.
The biggest difference is the distance at which they are hitting/missing the fairways and how rare it is for them to end up OB or in a hazard compared to amateurs.
Fairways are very small/ steep/ fast for pros. They figured out years ago it’s best to just carry it 290+ and take chance with a short iron/ wedge
Tour fairway misses == amateur misses, majority of the time these guys are in the first cut and 40 yards further down the fairway.
New golfer here… wait what?!
I’m surprised scheffler isn’t on this list.
They are also playing much harder and narrower courses
As you can see fairways hit is not correlated to winning pga tournaments.