James Hahn, previously known for his Gangnam Style dance at the Waste Management Open in 2013 on Super Bowl Sunday, will now be known as a PGA TOUR winner. Hahn defeated Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey in a playoff at Riviera Country Club to win the Northern Trust Open.
Hahn becomes the first winner of the season to win while putting worse than the field. Last season it happened three times (Hideki Matsuyama at the Memorial, Brian Harman at the John Deere Classic and Steven Bowditch at the Valero Texas Open).
Though Hahn finished the tournament with negative strokes gained putting, he gained 2.5 strokes with his putting in the final round, and that doesn’t include the 10-footer he made on the second playoff hole nor the 23-footer he holed for the victory on the third playoff hole. Hahn said his final round putting was the key to his victory. “I did a little research, statistical stats, last night. And me and Dustin were the only two players inside the top 12 … with negative strokes gained [putting]. Talked to my wife about it. She’s like, well, that just means you’re striping it. I was like, okay, that’s pretty cool … I just told myself, ‘I will putt great tomorrow. I will putt great tomorrow.’ … And you just kind of convince yourself that you will putt great … I was like, wow, this stuff really works .”
Hahn gained an average of 1.5 strokes per round on the field with his short game (off-green shots starting within 100 yards of the hole) and he ranked sixth in this category. He gained an average of one stroke per round with his approach shots (shots starting outside 100 yards from the hole, excluding tee shots on par-4 and par-5 holes) and he ranked 13 in this category. Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown Hahn’s play at the Northern Trust:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| James Hahn | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 0.7 (43) | 0.2 (61) | 0.1 (74) | 0.5 (14) | -0.1 (109) | 178 |
| Northern Trust Open | 3.0 (1) | 0.6 (13) | 1.0 (13) | 1.5 (6) | -0.1 (50) | 75 |
| Round 1 | 7.0 (6) | 1.4 (5) | 3.0 (5) | 1.7 (23) | 0.9 (47) | 144 |
| Round 2 | -1.3 (100) | 1.2 (15) | -0.8 (94) | 1.4 (24) | -3.1 (137) | 142 |
| Round 3 | 2.8 (13) | -0.7 (63) | 2.8 (4) | 1.2 (20) | -0.5 (44) | 75 |
| Round 4 | 3.5 (13) | 0.4 (25) | -1.0 (53) | 1.7 (8) | 2.5 (9) | 75 |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top eleven finishers at the Northern Trust for all four rounds:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| James Hahn | 3.0 (1) | 0.6 (13) | 1.0 (13) | 1.5 (6) | -0.1 (50) |
| Paul Casey | 3.0 (T2) | 0.6 (14) | 0.5 (28) | 0.2 (42) | 1.7 (5) |
| Dustin Johnson | 3.0 (T2) | 0.6 (8) | 2.3 (2) | 0.3 (40) | -0.2 (55) |
| Sergio Garcia | 2.7 (T4) | 0.1 (43) | 0.4 (31) | 0.6 (21) | 1.6 (6) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 2.7 (T4) | 0.9 (3) | 0.4 (34) | 0.4 (26) | 1.0 (24) |
| Keegan Bradley | 2.7 (T4) | 0.7 (7) | 1.3 (5) | 0.3 (38) | 0.4 (32) |
| Jordan Spieth | 2.7 (T4) | 0.6 (11) | 0.4 (32) | 0.8 (15) | 1.0 (22) |
| Retief Goosen | 2.5 (T8) | 0.2 (31) | -0.3 (56) | 0.3 (37) | 2.2 (1) |
| Sang-Moon Bae | 2.5 (T8) | 0.2 (35) | 1.3 (6) | -0.3 (54) | 1.3 (16) |
| Graham DeLaet | 2.5 (T8) | 0.0 (45) | 0.7 (20) | 0.4 (29) | 1.4 (14) |
| Kyle Reifers | 2.5 (T8) | 0.1 (38) | 0.8 (17) | 0.6 (24) | 1.0 (23) |
| Top 11 average | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 15% | 30% | 17% | 38% |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top eleven finishers at the Northern Trust in the final round:
| Strokes gained final round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| James Hahn | 3.5 (13) | 0.4 (25) | -1.0 (53) | 1.7 (8) | 2.5 (9) |
| Paul Casey | 4.5 (8) | 0.1 (37) | -0.1 (41) | 0.4 (30) | 4.1 (2) |
| Dustin Johnson | 3.5 (14) | 1.4 (3) | 2.1 (9) | -0.5 (48) | 0.5 (29) |
| Sergio Garcia | 1.5 (25) | -1.5 (72) | 1.0 (22) | 0.8 (23) | 1.3 (22) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 5.5 (4) | 0.6 (17) | 3.0 (2) | 1.0 (17) | 0.9 (26) |
| Keegan Bradley | 4.5 (7) | 0.1 (39) | 2.0 (10) | 1.4 (11) | 1.1 (24) |
| Jordan Spieth | 2.5 (19) | 1.2 (8) | 0.7 (26) | 1.1 (16) | -0.4 (41) |
| Retief Goosen | -2.5 (54) | -1.6 (73) | -0.6 (46) | -0.6 (53) | 0.4 (34) |
| Sang-Moon Bae | 0.5 (33) | 0.6 (18) | -0.9 (52) | -0.2 (42) | 0.9 (25) |
| Graham DeLaet | -0.5 (39) | -0.8 (62) | 0.8 (24) | -0.8 (57) | 0.3 (35) |
| Kyle Reifers | 5.5 (2) | -0.6 (58) | 0.5 (29) | 1.3 (13) | 4.3 (1) |
| Average | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 0% | 26% | 20% | 55% |
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.