Strokes gained at the Waste Management: Koepka wins his first PGA TOUR title

Brooks Koepka won his first PGA TOUR event in his second season. Koepka had a fine rookie season, with a tie for third at the Frys.com and a tie for fourth at the US Open. “I look at Frys two years ago. I can’t tell you how much I learned from that. The failures I think are what really helped me,” Koepka said. This season he tied for fourth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October, and he won on the European Tour in November.

Koepka’s 15 under at Phoenix gained a total of 13.1 strokes against the field. He opened with a 71 which lost 0.3 strokes compared to the field average 70.7. In the second round Koepka’s 68 gained 4.0 strokes against the field average of 72; his third round 64 gained 5.6 strokes against the field average of 69.6; his fourth round 66 gained 3.9 strokes against the field average of 69.9.

Koepka demonstrated a balanced game in his win. He gained 0.9 strokes per round with his approach shots, another 0.9 strokes with his short game, and another 0.9 strokes with his putting. His driving contributed the final gain of 0.6 strokes per round. Asked about his driving, Koepka said, “I was hitting it terrible the first two days. I couldn’t find a fairway. But luckily I was able to find something yesterday. That kind of keyed it up and led over to today.” In fact, Koepka lost 0.9 strokes with his driving in the first round. Then he gained 1.3, 0.6, and 1.4 strokes with his driving in the last three rounds. Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Koepka’s play in the tournament:

Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) Rank
Brooks Koepka Total Drive Appr Short Putt out of
Waste Management Phoenix Open 3.3 (1) 0.6 (21) 0.9 (20) 0.9 (9) 0.9 (19) 76
Round 1 -0.3 (84) -0.9 (108) -0.8 (97) 0.9 (26) 0.5 (50) 132
Round 2 4.0 (11) 1.3 (19) 2.3 (7) -0.5 (84) 0.9 (29) 131
Round 3 5.6 (3) 0.6 (15) 0.2 (32) 1.7 (6) 3.1 (2) 76
Round 4 3.9 (9) 1.4 (4) 1.9 (9) 1.4 (10) -0.9 (49) 76

Tiger Woods missed the cut in his season debut. Strokes gained analysis confirms that his short game was the culprit. Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Woods’s play in the tournament:

Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) Rank
Tiger Woods Total Drive Appr Short Putt out of
Waste Management Phoenix Open -6.1 (77) 0.0 (48) -0.8 (64) -4.8 (77) -0.5 (63) 76
Round 1 -2.3 (105) 0.3 (54) -0.1 (64) -2.8 (130) 0.3 (59) 132
Round 2 -10.0 (131) -0.4 (92) -1.4 (113) -6.9 (131) -1.3 (106) 131

Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top nine finishers at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in four categories: driving (tee shots on par-4 and par-5 holes), approach shots (shots starting outside 100 yards from the hole, excluding drives), short game shots (shots starting inside 100 yards from the hole, excluding putts) and putting:

Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses)
Golfer Total Drive Appr Short Putt
Brooks Koepka 3.3 (1) 0.6 (21) 0.9 (20) 0.9 (9) 0.9 (19)
Bubba Watson 3.0 (T2) 1.9 (1) 1.5 (5) -0.1 (40) -0.3 (56)
Hideki Matsuyama 3.0 (T2) 0.6 (18) 1.6 (2) 0.3 (30) 0.6 (27)
Ryan Palmer 3.0 (T2) -0.1 (54) 1.5 (4) 0.0 (39) 1.7 (1)
Eli Cole 2.5 (T5) 0.9 (10) 1.0 (18) 0.5 (21) 0.2 (41)
Martin Laird 2.5 (T5) -0.6 (66) 1.0 (17) 1.6 (1) 0.5 (28)
Jordan Spieth 2.3 (T7) 0.7 (14) 1.4 (6) 0.1 (38) 0.0 (44)
Freddie Jacobson 2.3 (T7) -0.1 (53) 1.0 (16) -0.2 (51) 1.6 (4)
Graham DeLaet 2.3 (T7) 0.6 (20) 0.6 (27) 1.1 (6) -0.1 (51)
Top 9 average 2.7 0.5 1.2 0.5 0.6
Fraction of total 100% 19% 43% 17% 21%

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.

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