Many of us amateur golfers watch the pros play on the PGA Tour. What we often see, on the weekend of any tournament, is the best players in the world bomb it off the tee, hit close approach shots, and make lots of putts. The tournament leaders look in total control of their game and often appear to slam every approach and make every putt….But is that the perceived reality or could it be something entirely different…Here are the current 2023 PGA Tour average statistics through the Valspar Tournament…
Fairways Hit - 7.8 out of 14
Greens in Regulation - 11.8
100-125 yard Approach - 21 feet from the hole!
8 foot putts - 53%
10-15 foot putts- 30.5%
Over 20 foot putts - 7%
These stats are very revealing and show that on average, what we see happening on the weekends of PGA Tournaments by the leaders, is quite different than the PGA average. What we don’t see often are all the tour players who are struggling that week, and those that miss the cut. The average tour player is not slamming every approach close to the hole…in fact, from 100 yds he hits it over 20 feet from the hole! He makes just over 50% of his 8 foot putts, hits just under 12 greens, and hits just over half of the fairways.
So, what can we take from this…Don’t beat yourself up because you hit it outside of 10 feet on short approaches…Don’t beat yourself up when you miss that fairway or miss that 8 foot putt…We need to relax and understand that even the best players in the world miss…just like we do! And NO, I did not make the 18 foot putt...violent lip out!
Dr. Chris Nix
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