Hideki Matsuyama prevailed in a playoff with Kevin Na to win his first tournament on the PGA TOUR at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance on Sunday.
By researching ShotLink Intelligence data powered by CDW, we learn that the key to Matsuyama’s victory was his approach shots (shots starting outside of 100 yards from the hole, excluding drives), which accounted for 50 percent of the strokes he gained on the field. Two examples of his stellar approach play: his shot from 166 yards to 5 1/2 feet to set up his birdie on the 72nd hole to get into the playoff and his tee shot on the 205-yard fourth hole to 5 feet.
Matsuyama’s short game (shots starting inside of 100 yards from the hole, excluding putts) accounted for 30 percent of the strokes he gained on the field. Two examples of shots which contributed to his gains in the short game: his hole-out from the greenside bunker on the second hole on Sunday and another hole-out from the greenside bunker on the third hole on Saturday.
Matsuyama sank a clutch putt for birdie on the 72nd hole and then another on the first playoff hole to win. Yet for the four rounds combined, he lost strokes to the field with his putting, which is rare for winners (see http://bit.ly/1l1RUxI.)
You get a better picture of the Muirfield Village course by looking at the top 12 finishers, rather than just looking at the winner or even the top three. The top 12 gained 16 percent of their strokes with driving, 28 percent with approach shots, 33 percent with short game shots, and 22 percent with putting. That balance allows many different types of golfers to shine. Here’s a strokes gained boxscore for the Memorial:
| Strokes gained per round | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 3.18 | 0.41 | 1.60 | 1.19 | -0.02 |
| Kevin Na | 3.18 | 0.26 | 2.01 | 0.81 | 0.10 |
| Bubba Watson | 2.93 | 0.07 | 2.58 | 0.14 | 0.13 |
| Chris Kirk | 2.43 | 0.52 | -0.45 | 0.43 | 1.92 |
| Adam Scott | 2.43 | 0.89 | 0.32 | 0.62 | 0.59 |
| Ben Curtis | 2.18 | -0.38 | 1.42 | -0.04 | 1.17 |
| Steve Stricker | 2.18 | 0.77 | -0.46 | 2.26 | -0.39 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 1.93 | 0.67 | -0.38 | 0.49 | 1.15 |
| Bill Haas | 1.93 | 0.51 | -0.57 | 0.81 | 1.18 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 1.93 | 0.18 | 1.49 | 0.76 | -0.51 |
| Luke Guthrie | 1.93 | 0.23 | 1.20 | 0.61 | -0.11 |
| Brendon Todd | 1.93 | 0.51 | -0.87 | 1.33 | 0.96 |
| Strokes gained rank | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 1 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 46 |
| Kevin Na | 2 | 33 | 2 | 13 | 39 |
| Bubba Watson | 3 | 44 | 1 | 33 | 37 |
| Chris Kirk | T4 | 17 | 58 | 23 | 4 |
| Adam Scott | T4 | 3 | 36 | 18 | 24 |
| Ben Curtis | T6 | 62 | 10 | 42 | 11 |
| Steve Stricker | T6 | 5 | 59 | 1 | 56 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | T8 | 8 | 56 | 21 | 12 |
| Bill Haas | T8 | 19 | 60 | 14 | 9 |
| Charl Schwartzel | T8 | 38 | 8 | 15 | 59 |
| Luke Guthrie | T8 | 36 | 15 | 19 | 49 |
| Brendon Todd | T8 | 18 | 66 | 3 | 15 |
This post appeared originally on pgatour.com here
Thanks for posting this. Strokes gained analysis on Matsuyama’s victory at Memorial has not been reported in detail in Japan. The analysis is very informative.
Hi Nobuhiko. Thanks for the comment. I think Matsuyama has a bright future in golf. -Mark