Golf Statistics – Syndication Server

PGA Tour stats detail Scottie Scheffler’s putting struggles this season

Breaking down Scottie Scheffler’s putting stats over his four seasons on the PGA Tour.

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Scottie Scheffler was in the mix for what would’ve been a third win of the season Sunday at the 2023 BMW Championship.

With Viktor Hovland in the clubhouse lead at 17 under, Scheffler had a 26-foot putt for birdie on the 17th hole to tie the Norwegian, but instead three-putted for a disappointing bogey. That meant he had to hole-out from the fairway on No. 18 if he was to force a playoff with Hovland, who instead walked away with a two-shot win after Scheffler made par.

Scheffler was first in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Approach to Green and Tee to Green on the week. In a field of 50, he came in 38th in Strokes Gained: Putting, where he lost 1.891 shots to the field. Round up, and there’s the two shots that could’ve forced a playoff.

The 25-year-old’s week at Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course in Illinois was obviously nothing to scoff at with scores of 66-69-64-66. It took a career low and course record (by Hovland) to beat him, after all. But his performance at the BMW highlights a trend that we’ve seen all season from the World No. 1: the game overall is tight, but the putter is too loose.

“The things that I’m working on right now I feel very excited about. I’m hitting a lot of good putts,” said Scheffler before the Open Championship in July while arguing his putting wasn’t a problem. “Pretty soon, a lot of those good putts will start falling in the middle of the hole instead of dodging around the side of it.”

Scottie Scheffler reacts after missing a putt on the ninth green during the first round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

That’s the kind of confidence that gets built up over four years of early success on the PGA Tour. In 110 starts, he’s racked up nine third-place showings, seven runner-up finishes and six wins with 91 made cuts. In 22 events this year alone, Scheffler didn’t miss a single cut and was in the top 25 in 20 of those starts, with 16 top 10s and a pair of wins and runners-up.

The fact he’s been so successful with such below-average performance on the greens makes Scheffler’s start to his professional career all the more impressive.

Here’s a look at Scheffler’s putting stats over his four years on the PGA Tour.

Scottie’s struggles

Scheffler had a bounce-back season last year in SG: Putting, but even then he was only ranked 58th and still managed four wins. This year is his worst SG: Putting on Tour since the 2019-20 season, not to mention his total putting ranking has triple digits for the fourth consecutive season. On top of that, his overall putting average (103rd) has gotten worse the last two seasons.

His one-putt percentage is drastically different (67th to 139th this year), which comes as a tough look seeing as he leads the Tour in SG: Approach to Green and greens in regulation and sits 12th in proximity to the hole.

The only distance putting category where Scheffler is inside the top 40 this year is putts from 25 feet or farther. Over the last three years he was top 40 in at least three distance categories.

Stat	2022-23 ranking	2021-22 ranking	2020-21 ranking	2019-20 ranking
SG: Putting	145	58	107	117
Total putting	115	120	101	114
Overall putting average	103	82	43	56
One-putt percentage	139	67	58	57
Putting from 20-25 feet	124	5	40	68
Putting from 10-15 feet	170	9	160	52
Putting inside 10 feet	135	155	81	161
Putting from 10 feet	183	25	91	144
Putting from 8 feet	174	159	163	121
Putting from 5 feet	164	174	62	75
Putting from 4-8 feet	172	180	102	126
Putting from 4 feet	131	107	142	171

Scottie’s successes

Despite some glaring concerns, Scheffler comes in 24th in putting average and 32nd in birdie or better conversion percentage (though both of those are worse than years prior). The 2022 Masters champion is third in birdie average and first in scoring average. Scary thought? He should be scoring even more.

The stats also show that Scheffler is putting significantly better in the final round compared to the first three, which hasn’t been the case over the years.

He’s down to 62nd in putts per final round from 122 and 124 in the last two years, but with that said, his numbers have inflated across the board from Thursday-Saturday.

Aside from his three-jack at the 17th on Sunday, Scheffler has done well to minimize his three-putt percentage and now ranks 13th on Tour.

Stat	2022-23 ranking	2021-22 ranking	2020-21 ranking	2019-20 ranking
Putting average	24	4	10	36
Birdie or better conversion %	32	8	12	13
Putts per round total	103	82	43	57
Putts per round 1	87	77	17	11
Putts per round 2	145	90	52	21
Putts per round 3	129	71	89	108
Putts per round 4	62	122	124	162
3-putt avoidance	13	80	49	113
Putting from less than 25 feet	39	50	33	14
Putting from 15-20 feet	56	145	47	25
Putting from 9 feet	50	120	58	146
Putting from 7 feet	70	143	56	100
Putting from 6 feet	84	159	129	167
Putting from 3 feet	77	132	42	169

It’s difficult to pick apart the game of a player who just made a record $21 million on the course and has a firm hold of the world No. 1 ranking. But with that skill and success comes scrutiny when you don’t perform at your best. Statistically speaking, Scheffler’s never been a great putter, and this season has been worse on the greens than the previous three. It’s also arguably his best season overall on Tour.

Just imagine the level of golf we’d be seeing if a few more putts fell.

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Statistics via the PGA Tour.

Arccos raises $20 million in funding from PGA Tour and equipment makers

The funding will allow Arccos to accelerate the release of products and data-driven services for recreational golfers.

Golfers on the PGA Tour have nearly all their shots tracked by ShotLink, which uses a sophisticated system of laser measuring devices, radar and an army of volunteers. You don’t have access to that technology, but Arccos has been enabling recreational golfers to track their shots and collect data on their game since 2012, and on Monday, the company announced that as a part of a $20 million Series C fundraising, it had become the “Official Game Tracker” of the PGA Tour.

Along with the investment by the Tour, other investors include Ping, TaylorMade, Cobra Puma Golf and Topgolf Callaway Brands.

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Arccos, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut, is a shot-tracking system that uses a series of small screw-in tags to tether a golfer’s clubs to a smartphone app, which then uses GPS to track the location of every shot a player hits, along with information on the club used and the location of the bullet hit (fairway, sand, rough, the green). Using that data, Arccos develops ShotLink-style stat packages that can reveal information about player tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, along with suggestions on what to practice. The Arccos Caddie app can also use that data to provide caddy-style club recommendations too.

“This investment shows that data is here to stay and that it is going to help everybody,” said Sal Syed, Arccos Golf’s CEO and co-founder in an exclusive interview with Golfweek. “Whether you are a player looking to improve or an instructor looking to teach better, a fitter looking to be smarter or even a manufacturer looking to make better tools for golfers, this data is going to help every aspect of the industry. That’s why you are seeing the industry kind of coalescing behind Arccos. It’s going to help everybody.”

To date, Arccos members have used the system to track more than 750 million shots during over 16 million rounds in 162 countries. That database provides the foundation for the power of the system.

Asked what Arccos plans to do with the capital it has raised, Syed said the infusion of money will allow the company to accelerate its product roadmap.

“We can invest more in data science, make the system more accurate, easier to use and more available to a wider array of golfers.”

Players on the Tour now create strategies for how they will play specific holes using data collected by ShotLink, and many modify their schedules to include courses that data shows match their game especially well. In some cases, they skip tournaments where data shows they might struggle. Syed hopes that as Arccos grows, recreational golfers will be able to make data-based decisions like the pros.

“Every decision that is made in golf should be based on your on-course, real performance,” he said. “Eventually, we want to be able to show, using data, which putter is better for you, what shoes you should play with. Today, no one is basing those kinds of decisions on actual performance data. What we have touched is not even the tip of the iceberg.”

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Trying to pick a Masters champion? These statistics at Augusta National have led to a green jacket most often

History tells us the champion will have an elite week on approach shots and around the greens. He’ll do most of his scoring on the par 5s.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Here are the skills a golfer must possess to win the Masters Tournament: poise and patience, power and precision, toughness and touch.

Each spring, Augusta National Golf Club measures, examines and challenges a golfer from head-to-foot, driver-to-putter, consistently ranking as the most difficult test in professional golf. Winning the green jacket requires endurance and excellence.

A good break or two is also helpful.

What can we learn from the form and performance of recent Masters champions to help project this year’s winner?

History tells us the champion will have an elite week on approach shots and around the greens. He’ll do most of his scoring on the par 5s. There will be past major success on the resume and his previous Masters experience likely includes promising finishes.

Masters 2023 leaderboard: Get the latest news from Augusta

The golfer’s recent tournament play has been solid if not spectacular, featuring consistent ballstriking. It’s been said many ways, but a golfer who is searching for his game when he drives down Magnolia Lane can’t expect to discover the secret on these grounds.

There are other factors on a course known for exposing weaknesses in a swing or soul.

Above average driving distance is necessary on a course measuring more than 7,500 yards and certain to play even longer this week based on the weather forecast – rain, stiff wind, and temperatures ranging from the 40s to the 80s. Golf’s inherent variable on steroids for the first major championship of the year.

So, with a hat tip for research provided by golf data experts and handicappers Ron Klos of Betsperts Golf, Dave Tindall of Betfair Golf and Justin Ray of Twenty First Group, plus our own digging, here’s the info required to win an office pool or fantasy group, maybe a wager or two.

Trends and course history are more important at Augusta National than most places. For myriad reasons. Most important, it’s the only major championship played at the same course from year to year. Players play the tournament in different conditions. They’re constantly learning and taking notes. Once they become comfortable, confidence grows. Some figure it out faster than others. Others never do.

Cam Smith has. He leads the Masters field over the last three years in Strokes Gained: Approach, cumulative scoring and rounds in the 60s.

Rory McIlroy has too. He’s third in Masters scoring over the last 10 years and has 17 top-10s in major championships since his last win in 2015.

But neither is invited to the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night. Neither are past contestants like Ernie Els, Davis Love III, Greg Norman and David Duval, who all seemed certain to earn a green jacket.

OK, onward to the metrics. The LIV Golfers won’t be well represented here. We’re not picking on them. The stats just aren’t available.

On Tiger Woods’ 46th birthday, Justin Ray dove into some incredible statistics

Golf stats guru Jason Ray dives deep into some amazing Tiger Woods career stats.

It’s Tiger Woods’ 46th birthday, and to celebrate, Justin Ray, one of the best golf statisticians in the game, put together a list of stats Woods has compiled throughout his amazing career. Fair warning, they’re ridiculous — in the best way possible.

Everyone knows he’s an 82-time PGA Tour winner and a 15-time major champion. But Ray’s numbers dive a bit deeper into Woods’ career, and how truly, ridiculously good the man was (and maybe still is) at golf.

A sure personal favorite of any golf fan who takes the time to read through the entire Twitter feed, is this one.

Best score to par in majors, 1997-2009 (min. 70 rounds)

Tiger Woods, -134
Phil Mickelson, +99
Ernie Els, +118

Phil was the only player within 250 strokes of Woods.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) December 30, 2021

It’s borderline impossible to comprehend how good that is.

To read the entire thread, visit Ray’s Twitter account, or click here.

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The $2,550 Tag Hauer GPS watch, worn by Tommy Fleetwood

Designed with a titanium body, sapphire crystal display, full-color touchscreen and built-in GPS, this luxury golf watch has it all.

One of the traditional symbols of success is a shiny, gold watch, and companies that make luxury timepieces have been associated with golf for decades. They sponsor tournaments, sign endorsement deals with players and pay to have large clocks strategically places around elite golf courses and resorts. Tommy Fleetwood recently inked a deal with Tag Hauer, a Swiss timepiece maker, and has been wearing one of the company’s watches on the course this season.

Fleetwood’s watch, however, is unique because it is a Tag Hauer Connected Golf Edition. It’s a smartwatch, and after being paired via Bluetooth to your mobile phone, it can tell you the time and provide you with a host of other modern features. For example, it can provide you with notifications for incoming text messages, emails and sports scores. A built-in heart rate monitor, accelerometer, internal gyroscope and tilt-detection sensors help it count your steps, monitor your heart rate, help you pay for things using Google Pay and even control music on your smartphone.

Tommy Fleetwood at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational. (Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

The Tag Hauer Connected Golf Edition comes in a large box that contains two bands. One is golf-themed in white with green trim, while the other is all black. On your wrist, it feels more substantive than ordinary golf GPS watches. It is thick, but the bands have a suppleness and the watch itself has a gentle heft on your wrist. The body is made from titanium, the sapphire screen is scratch-resistant, it is water-resistant to 50 meters and the adjustable clasp opens and closes quickly.

Wearers can choose from a variety of watch face styles and quickly change them anytime. Some look like multi-faced chronographs, while others look like classic Tag Hauer watch faces. There are also modular and customizable faces that let you see elements like appointments, weather and daily step count.

Tag Hauer Connected Golfer Edition watch. (Tag Hauer)

The Tag Hauer Connected Golf Edition also acts as a golf GPS watch. It has its own GPS system, so even without your phone, it can display color renderings of holes and green complexes, as well as the distance to greens and hazards on over 39,000 courses worldwide. Its touchscreen makes it easy to see the hole features in greater detail, and the hole diagrams are among the most detailed and easiest to read in the industry.

They should be: The Tag Hauer Connected Golf Edition costs $2,550.

According to Tag Hauer, the Connected Golf Edition’s battery can last up to 25 hours after it is fully charged, but using the GPS feature while you play golf will drain the battery faster. The company claims that a four-and-a-half-hour round of golf will drain about 60 percent of the battery if you use the watch’s GPS, so it will not last for an entire 36-hole day. However, you can link the Connected Golf Edition with your phone and have it use your smartphone’s GPS to save some battery life.

The obvious and fair question to ask is simple: With so many other golf GPS watches out there for about one-tenth the price, who is buying this?

The answer is a golfer who loves timepieces, obviously, but Tag Hauer is marketing the Connected Golf Edition squarely at young, successful people who want the features and conveniences of a modern smartwatch with the cachet of a luxury brand. You can see someone wearing an Apple Watch or Fitbit everywhere, and on the course you see units from Garmin and SkyCaddie. Tag Hauer’s Connected Golf Edition is for people who want a modern timepiece that will look great in a suit, be at home in the gym and still provide help on the golf course.

The Tag Hauer Connected Golf Edition is not for everyone. By definition, luxury items never are. But as more and more people who are tech-savvy gravitate towards golf, the Tag Hauer Connected Golf Edition watch may be one of the first of many golf-themed smartwatches we see come from luxury timepiece makers.

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Smart Fitting: Arccos and Club Champion partner to enhance the fitting process

By allowing Club Champion fitters to see a player’s on-course Arccos data, the fitting process can improve.

Working with a well-qualified custom fitter is the best way to ensure that the golf equipment you buy is ideally suited to your swing and the needs of your game.

Golfweek has been hammering that point home for years, and more and more golfers are listening. While most players immediately see the rewards of custom-fit clubs when they play, there can be an adjustment period and questions for others. Will a slice-fighting driver work on the course? Is the lie of a new set of irons just right? Does a player’s sand wedge have enough bounce?

Arccos and Club Champion announced a unique partnership on Monday, and it could make questions like those a thing of the past.

Arccos, based in Stamford, Connecticut, makes tiny sensors that screw into the grip of your clubs. The company also offers grips that already hold the sensors. Once the sensors are linked to Arccos’s smartphone app, the system can use the GPS feature in your phone to track every shot you hit using every club in your bag. Overlaying that data on maps of the holes and courses you play, Arccos creates data-rich stats that can reveal things like your average distance with each club, where you tend to miss and which aspects of your game are strong and which need some work.

Based on your tendencies, weather, elevations changes on the hole and how other golfers with similar abilities have played the hole, Arccos Caddie 2.0 makes real-time club recommendations.

Club Champion, based in Chicago, is one of the biggest and most reputable club fitting companies in the United States. It has 74 stores around the country and is brand agnostic, carrying equipment from every major company and several smaller manufacturers too. Thanks to a unique hosel system, Club Champion fitters can attach any shaft to any club head, allowing golfers and fitters to try scores of combinations. Using TrackMan launch monitors, Club Champion fitters can show clients exactly how different combinations of components work with the player’s swing.

Now, thanks to the partnership, Club Champion will not only sell Arccos sensors and Arccos-enabled grips, but the company’s fitters will also be able to track and see how a client’s gear performs on the course.

After golfers give permission for their Club Champion fitter to monitor their play, Arccos will provide data that lets fitters better understand the player’s game and track their performance after the fitting. The fitters have all trained and certified as experts in the Arccos Caddie platform and the Arccos Dashboard. The dashboard lets fitters see insights, visualizations and shot-by-shot history of a player’s round. They can also see club distance averages, gapping, clubs used, dispersion patterns, miss tendencies and more.

“Having access to our clients’ Arccos on-course shot data allows us to fully understand each player’s unique golf DNA,” said Nick Sherburne, the founder of Club Champion and one of the company’s master fitters. “The data is golden. It helps golfers and our fitters better track performance while gaining an unbiased understanding of where they excel and what they need to improve.”

While some golfers may see an element of Big Brother in this, golfers who get an Arccos system at Club Champion are not obligated to take part in the program. However, the benefits to the player could make it worthwhile.

For example, if a player who used to slice is now hooking the ball using his new driver, the fitter will be able to see the issue, reach out to the player and make suggestions that could solve the problem. Some players also hit shots differently in an indoor fitting studio than they do on the course. Allowing a Club Champion fitter to access Across data could reveal those differences too.

“With Arccos Caddie, every Club Champion fitter can get a contextualized picture of their clients’ games,” said Sal Syed, the CEO and co-founder of Arccos. “This can be a huge positive for the fitter-client relationship before, during and after each studio session.”

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