Jason Day’s victory at the BMW Championship was his fourth win in six starts and propelled him to No. 1 in the world rankings. Day said, “The way I feel about my game, confidence level has been the highest I’ve ever had in my entire life, especially as a professional.”
Day’s opening round 61 gained a whopping 8.6 strokes on the field average score of 69.6. He followed with a second round 63 which gained 4.9 strokes on the field. He then coasted to victory gaining an additional 2.5 strokes on the field on the weekend. Day won with nearly equal gains on the field in driving, approach shots, short game and putting.
Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Day’s play at the BMW Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Jason Day | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 2.5 (2) | 0.8 (4) | 0.5 (22) | 0.4 (16) | 0.7 (2) | 198 |
| BMW Championship | 4.0 (1) | 0.8 (5) | 1.1 (9) | 1.1 (2) | 1.1 (8) | 69 |
| Round 1 | 8.6 (1) | 1.9 (2) | 1.3 (17) | 2.5 (2) | 2.9 (5) | 69 |
| Round 2 | 4.9 (3) | 1.6 (3) | 0.4 (31) | 1.0 (17) | 1.9 (9) | 69 |
| Round 3 | 1.7 (21) | -1.3 (66) | 2.8 (2) | 0.1 (35) | 0.2 (30) | 69 |
| Round 4 | 0.8 (30) | 0.8 (14) | -0.3 (41) | 1.0 (11) | -0.8 (46) | 69 |
Daniel Berger’s second place finish vaulted him from 46th place all the way up to ninth place in FedEx Cup points and into the TOUR Championship. Berger said, “If you told me I’d be in the TOUR Championship at the beginning of the year, I probably wouldn’t have believed you, but to finally make it here is awesome. I get to play in four majors next year, and that’s been one of my goals.”
Berger’s finish was due mainly to his superb approach shots (rank 5) and putting (rank 6). Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Berger’s play at the BMW Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Daniel Berger | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 0.5 (56) | 0.4 (31) | 0.4 (37) | -0.2 (155) | -0.1 (137) | 198 |
| BMW Championship | 2.5 (2) | 0.2 (26) | 1.4 (5) | -0.2 (48) | 1.2 (6) | 69 |
| Round 1 | 4.6 (5) | 0.5 (22) | 2.2 (4) | 0.6 (24) | 1.3 (17) | 69 |
| Round 2 | 3.9 (7) | -1.0 (64) | 0.8 (22) | 0.7 (19) | 3.5 (2) | 69 |
| Round 3 | 0.7 (24) | 1.0 (9) | 1.6 (7) | -1.2 (60) | -0.8 (45) | 69 |
| Round 4 | 0.8 (29) | 0.1 (32) | 0.9 (17) | -1.0 (57) | 0.8 (22) | 69 |
Approach shots and putting each accounted for 36 percent of the gain of the top finishers in the tournament. Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top twelve finishers at the BMW Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Jason Day | 4.0 (1) | 0.8 (5) | 1.1 (9) | 1.1 (2) | 1.1 (8) |
| Daniel Berger | 2.5 (2) | 0.2 (26) | 1.4 (5) | -0.2 (48) | 1.2 (6) |
| Scott Piercy | 2.2 (3) | 0.7 (6) | 0.7 (14) | 0.0 (34) | 0.8 (11) |
| Rory McIlroy | 2.0 (T4) | 0.8 (4) | 0.9 (11) | 0.7 (7) | -0.4 (48) |
| J.B. Holmes | 2.0 (T4) | -0.4 (51) | -0.1 (39) | 0.5 (13) | 2.0 (1) |
| Rickie Fowler | 2.0 (T4) | 0.1 (31) | 1.6 (2) | -0.1 (40) | 0.4 (22) |
| Dustin Johnson | 1.7 (T7) | 0.6 (13) | 0.9 (10) | 0.2 (28) | 0.1 (35) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 1.7 (T7) | 0.1 (28) | 1.6 (1) | -0.4 (58) | 0.4 (25) |
| Cameron Tringale | 1.7 (T7) | 0.1 (32) | -0.4 (51) | 0.6 (8) | 1.4 (3) |
| Kevin Na | 1.5 (T10) | -0.4 (52) | -0.2 (43) | 0.3 (22) | 1.8 (2) |
| Bubba Watson | 1.5 (T10) | 0.7 (8) | 1.1 (8) | 0.3 (21) | -0.6 (51) |
| Henrik Stenson | 1.5 (T10) | 0.1 (33) | 0.4 (20) | 0.4 (15) | 0.6 (15) |
| Top 12 average | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 14% | 36% | 14% | 36% |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the final round for the top twelve finishers at the BMW Championship:
| Strokes gained in the final round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Player | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Jason Day | 0.8 (30) | 0.8 (14) | -0.3 (41) | 1.0 (11) | -0.8 (46) |
| Daniel Berger | 0.8 (29) | 0.1 (32) | 0.9 (17) | -1.0 (57) | 0.8 (22) |
| Scott Piercy | -0.2 (36) | 1.1 (6) | 0.3 (32) | -0.1 (40) | -1.6 (60) |
| Rory McIlroy | -0.2 (37) | -0.5 (54) | 0.4 (28) | 0.9 (17) | -1.0 (53) |
| J.B. Holmes | 1.8 (15) | -1.0 (61) | 0.9 (15) | 0.0 (37) | 1.8 (11) |
| Rickie Fowler | 0.8 (27) | 1.0 (9) | 0.3 (29) | 0.4 (30) | -0.9 (51) |
| Dustin Johnson | -0.2 (41) | 1.0 (7) | 1.5 (11) | -1.8 (66) | -1.0 (52) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 3.8 (8) | 0.6 (19) | 0.5 (25) | 0.9 (15) | 1.7 (13) |
| Cameron Tringale | 3.8 (7) | -0.9 (57) | 1.6 (9) | 1.4 (7) | 1.6 (14) |
| Kevin Na | -1.2 (53) | -0.3 (44) | -1.3 (58) | 0.1 (36) | 0.3 (28) |
| Bubba Watson | 4.8 (3) | 2.1 (1) | 0.5 (24) | 1.0 (10) | 1.1 (20) |
| Henrik Stenson | 2.8 (9) | 0.2 (30) | 0.3 (31) | 0.2 (34) | 2.0 (10) |
This post appeared originally on pgatour.com here
A very brief explanation of strokes gained: Strokes gained is a measure of the quality of a golf shot. A shot with positive strokes gained indicates a better-than-average shot for a PGA TOUR pro. For example, suppose on a difficult par-4 that the PGA TOUR average score is 4.2. An average drive for a PGA TOUR player would reduce the average strokes to hole out by one, from 4.2 to 3.2. If a player hit a long drive into the fairway where the PGA TOUR average strokes to hole out is 2.9, then the shot gained 0.3 strokes compared to the PGA TOUR average. If a player hit a short drive into the rough where the PGA TOUR average strokes to hole out is 3.4, then the shot lost 0.2 strokes compared to the PGA TOUR average. Strokes gained from all shots are accumulated and grouped into convenient categories to measure the performance of players in a round, tournament, or season. For example, the gain from all tee shots on par-4 and par-5 holes is strokes gained driving measure. The gain from all shots starting outside 100 yards from the hole, excluding tee shots on par-4 and par-5 holes, is strokes gained from approach shots.