Jason Day demolished the field at the Barclays, securing his third win in his last four starts. After starting the final round sharing the lead, Day’s closing 62 was the lowest round of the day and beat the average score of the field by a whopping 8.5 strokes.
Day gained 5.1 strokes per round against the strong Barclay’s field, with putting contributing 43 percent of the gain and driving contributing 29 percent. He ranked first in strokes gained putting and second in strokes gained driving for the tournament.
Day gained 3.8 strokes on the field with his putting in the final round, with a gain of 2.8 strokes coming from putts 22 feet and longer. Day said, “I holed a lot of long putts.” In fact, he holed putts of 28, 29, and 34 feet on holes 10, 14, and 15, respectively. Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Day’s play at the Barclays:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Jason Day | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 2.4 (4) | 0.8 (3) | 0.4 (43) | 0.4 (16) | 0.8 (3) | 204 |
| The Barclays | 5.1 (1) | 1.5 (2) | 0.6 (23) | 0.8 (7) | 2.2 (1) | 72 |
| Round 1 | 2.8 (28) | 1.2 (12) | 0.9 (36) | -0.1 (71) | 0.8 (38) | 119 |
| Round 2 | 3.1 (17) | 1.4 (3) | 0.2 (57) | -0.4 (77) | 1.9 (22) | 119 |
| Round 3 | 6.0 (3) | 1.7 (1) | 0.3 (32) | 1.8 (6) | 2.3 (7) | 72 |
| Round 4 | 8.5 (1) | 1.5 (3) | 1.1 (23) | 2.0 (1) | 3.8 (2) | 72 |
Henrik Stenson finished second in the tournament on the strength of his field-leading approach shots. Stenson said “I thought I hit the ball really nicely today. Putting, I’ve been working away.” Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Stenson’s play at the Barclays:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Henrik Stenson | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 2.6 (2) | 0.4 (27) | 1.5 (1) | 0.2 (54) | 0.5 (20) | 204 |
| The Barclays | 3.6 (2) | 0.6 (11) | 2.6 (1) | -0.2 (52) | 0.6 (29) | 72 |
| Round 1 | 2.8 (19) | 0.2 (56) | 1.0 (30) | 0.8 (24) | 0.9 (37) | 119 |
| Round 2 | 5.1 (4) | 1.1 (13) | 2.8 (5) | -1.1 (100) | 2.2 (15) | 119 |
| Round 3 | 2.0 (11) | 0.4 (20) | 3.8 (1) | -0.4 (47) | -1.8 (61) | 72 |
| Round 4 | 4.5 (5) | 0.8 (12) | 2.6 (6) | 0.1 (37) | 0.9 (16) | 72 |
Approach shots accounted for 37 percent of the gain of the top finishers. Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top ten finishers at the Barclays:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Jason Day | 5.1 (1) | 1.5 (2) | 0.6 (23) | 0.8 (7) | 2.2 (1) |
| Henrik Stenson | 3.6 (2) | 0.6 (11) | 2.6 (1) | -0.2 (52) | 0.6 (29) |
| Bubba Watson | 3.1 (3) | 1.0 (5) | 1.8 (3) | 0.7 (9) | -0.4 (61) |
| Zach Johnson | 2.8 (T4) | 0.3 (21) | 1.8 (2) | 0.4 (24) | 0.4 (36) |
| Zac Blair | 2.8 (T4) | 0.1 (40) | 0.7 (19) | 0.4 (25) | 1.7 (3) |
| Ryan Palmer | 2.6 (T6) | 1.1 (4) | 0.4 (36) | 0.6 (13) | 0.5 (31) |
| Daniel Summerhays | 2.6 (T6) | 0.0 (47) | 0.9 (15) | 0.5 (16) | 1.2 (6) |
| Sangmoon Bae | 2.6 (T6) | 0.2 (32) | 1.1 (11) | 0.2 (36) | 1.1 (12) |
| Dustin Johnson | 2.3 (T9) | 1.6 (1) | 0.7 (20) | 0.1 (44) | 0.0 (50) |
| Jason Bohn | 2.3 (T9) | 0.5 (15) | 0.6 (26) | 0.4 (29) | 0.9 (21) |
| Top 10 average | 3.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 23% | 37% | 13% | 27% |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the final round for the top ten finishers at the Barclays:
| Strokes gained in the final round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Player | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Jason Day | 8.5 (1) | 1.5 (3) | 1.1 (23) | 2.0 (1) | 3.8 (2) |
| Henrik Stenson | 4.5 (5) | 0.8 (12) | 2.6 (6) | 0.1 (37) | 0.9 (16) |
| Bubba Watson | 1.5 (29) | 0.8 (13) | 3.2 (2) | -1.0 (62) | -1.6 (62) |
| Zach Johnson | 1.5 (27) | 0.7 (15) | 2.1 (11) | 0.3 (34) | -1.6 (63) |
| Zac Blair | 4.5 (8) | -0.3 (46) | 1.4 (19) | 0.0 (40) | 3.4 (4) |
| Ryan Palmer | 0.5 (31) | 1.1 (7) | -0.2 (36) | 0.7 (19) | -1.2 (55) |
| Daniel Summerhays | 4.5 (6) | 0.2 (32) | 3.1 (3) | 1.1 (10) | 0.1 (31) |
| Sangmoon Bae | -1.5 (50) | 0.6 (17) | -0.4 (39) | -0.4 (52) | -1.3 (58) |
| Dustin Johnson | 5.5 (3) | 2.1 (1) | 2.4 (8) | 1.1 (12) | -0.1 (37) |
| Jason Bohn | 5.5 (4) | 0.6 (19) | 1.6 (16) | 1.0 (13) | 2.2 (8) |
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.