David Lingmerth beat Justin Rose on the third playoff hole for his maiden PGA TOUR victory.
Lingmerth beat the field by an average of 3.6 strokes per round, with 43 percent of the gain, 1.6 strokes per round, due to his stellar putting where he ranked third in the field. After the tournament Lingmerth said, “My putter has been good all week. Maybe not great yesterday, but Round 1, 2 and 4 my putter was working pretty well. I felt confident when I had those opportunities.” His comments were spot on, as he gained 3.6, 2.2, 0.0, and 0.5 strokes with his putter in rounds 1 through 4. Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Lingmerths’s play at the Memorial Tournament:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| David Lingmerth | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 0.2 (93) | 0.3 (57) | 0.1 (92) | -0.2 (150) | 0.0 (107) | 204 |
| The Memorial Tournament | 3.6 (1) | 0.4 (21) | 2.1 (4) | -0.4 (57) | 1.6 (3) | 71 |
| Round 1 | 4.3 (11) | 0.7 (25) | 1.7 (23) | -1.6 (108) | 3.6 (5) | 120 |
| Round 2 | 6.3 (2) | 0.7 (30) | 2.3 (14) | 1.1 (19) | 2.2 (17) | 119 |
| Round 3 | 0.2 (40) | 0.4 (30) | 1.5 (19) | -1.7 (63) | 0.0 (34) | 71 |
| Round 4 | 3.8 (12) | 0.0 (42) | 2.8 (6) | 0.6 (27) | 0.5 (27) | 71 |
Justin Rose shot a final round 72, his worst round of the week, due in part to some subpar putting. Describing his final round, Rose said, “I bogeyed 3 and 4, which kind of felt like it really sucked momentum away. And I missed short putts on 6 and 7, too.” Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Justin Rose’s play at the Memorial Tournament:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Justin Rose | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 1.1 (24) | 0.3 (50) | 0.4 (40) | 0.3 (46) | 0.1 (74) | 204 |
| The Memorial Tournament | 3.6 (2) | 1.0 (5) | 1.0 (20) | 1.1 (4) | 0.6 (30) | 71 |
| Round 1 | 3.3 (12) | 0.4 (50) | -0.1 (66) | 1.1 (24) | 1.9 (18) | 120 |
| Round 2 | 4.3 (12) | 1.5 (1) | 0.5 (53) | 0.3 (54) | 2.1 (19) | 119 |
| Round 3 | 6.2 (5) | 0.4 (29) | 3.9 (1) | 1.6 (10) | 0.2 (29) | 71 |
| Round 4 | 0.8 (26) | 1.8 (1) | -0.4 (45) | 1.3 (11) | -1.9 (64) | 71 |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top ten finishers at the Memorial Tournament:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| David Lingmerth | 3.6 (1) | 0.4 (21) | 2.1 (4) | -0.4 (57) | 1.6 (3) |
| Justin Rose | 3.6 (2) | 1.0 (5) | 1.0 (20) | 1.1 (4) | 0.6 (30) |
| Francesco Molinari | 3.1 (T3) | 0.8 (8) | 1.4 (10) | 0.5 (28) | 0.5 (31) |
| Jordan Spieth | 3.1 (T3) | 0.9 (6) | 2.1 (2) | 0.1 (42) | 0.1 (42) |
| Jim Furyk | 2.9 (T5) | -0.3 (55) | 1.6 (9) | 0.8 (11) | 0.8 (18) |
| Marc Leishman | 2.9 (T5) | 0.6 (10) | 1.2 (12) | -0.3 (50) | 1.4 (8) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 2.9 (T5) | 0.4 (19) | 0.8 (27) | 0.9 (8) | 0.8 (20) |
| Keegan Bradley | 2.6 (T8) | 0.1 (37) | 1.1 (15) | 0.6 (21) | 0.9 (15) |
| Kevin Kisner | 2.6 (T8) | 1.1 (4) | 0.2 (39) | -0.1 (48) | 1.5 (4) |
| Tony Finau | 2.6 (T8) | 1.3 (1) | 1.7 (8) | -0.2 (49) | -0.1 (50) |
| Top 10 average | 3.0 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 21% | 43% | 10% | 27% |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the final round for the top nine finishers at the Memorial Tournament:
| Strokes gained in the final round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Player | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| David Lingmerth | 3.8 (12) | 0.0 (42) | 2.8 (6) | 0.6 (27) | 0.5 (27) |
| Justin Rose | 0.8 (26) | 1.8 (1) | -0.4 (45) | 1.3 (11) | -1.9 (64) |
| Francesco Molinari | 1.8 (22) | 1.1 (11) | -0.1 (39) | 1.0 (15) | -0.2 (38) |
| Jordan Spieth | 7.8 (1) | 0.5 (26) | 4.4 (1) | 2.7 (3) | 0.3 (32) |
| Jim Furyk | 1.8 (21) | -0.3 (49) | -0.6 (47) | 1.0 (14) | 1.7 (9) |
| Marc Leishman | 3.8 (11) | 0.6 (25) | 1.7 (11) | -1.0 (54) | 2.4 (6) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 2.8 (15) | 0.3 (29) | 0.3 (33) | 2.1 (6) | 0.2 (34) |
| Keegan Bradley | 2.8 (16) | 0.9 (14) | 0.6 (29) | 0.4 (30) | 1.0 (19) |
| Kevin Kisner | 2.8 (13) | 1.3 (5) | 0.4 (31) | 0.2 (33) | 1.0 (18) |
| Tony Finau | 5.8 (2) | 1.5 (2) | 3.5 (3) | -0.7 (53) | 1.6 (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.