Rickie Fowler shot a 2-under-par back nine in the final round to overtake Henrik Stenson and win the Deutsche Bank Championship. Fowler won the PLAYERS Championship and the Scottish Open earlier this season.
Fowler won with superb putting and approach shot play. He gained 3.7 strokes per round against the Deutsche Bank field, with putting contributing 48 percent of the gain (rank 2) and approach shots driving contributing 43 percent (rank 5).
Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Fowler’s play at the Deutsche Bank Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Rickie Fowler | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 1.4 (15) | 0.2 (76) | 0.5 (28) | 0.3 (31) | 0.4 (28) | 205 |
| Deutsche Bank Championship | 3.7 (1) | 0.4 (21) | 1.6 (5) | 0.0 (44) | 1.8 (2) | 74 |
| Round 1 | 4.7 (9) | 0.9 (10) | 1.2 (27) | -0.4 (62) | 2.9 (6) | 98 |
| Round 2 | 3.5 (17) | 0.5 (33) | 2.9 (5) | -0.1 (59) | 0.2 (43) | 98 |
| Round 3 | 2.9 (11) | -1.0 (68) | 0.7 (26) | 0.2 (36) | 3.0 (3) | 74 |
| Round 4 | 3.7 (10) | 1.0 (10) | 1.4 (14) | 0.3 (32) | 1.0 (17) | 74 |
Henrik Stenson finished in second place for the second week in a row. The real killer of his round was the tee shot into the water on hole 16, which had a strokes gained of minus 2. Stenson said, “I obviously pulled the wrong club … and that was the crucial mistake, making double there was really a killer.” Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Stenson’s play at the Deutsche Bank Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Henrik Stenson | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 2.7 (1) | 0.5 (22) | 1.6 (1) | 0.2 (68) | 0.5 (19) | 205 |
| Deutsche Bank Championship | 3.4 (2) | 0.8 (5) | 2.4 (1) | -0.3 (53) | 0.6 (21) | 74 |
| Round 1 | 4.7 (6) | 0.0 (53) | 3.2 (2) | -0.8 (76) | 2.3 (12) | 98 |
| Round 2 | 2.5 (20) | 1.2 (6) | 2.6 (8) | -0.4 (67) | -0.9 (70) | 98 |
| Round 3 | 4.9 (2) | 0.6 (14) | 3.1 (2) | 0.9 (24) | 0.2 (34) | 74 |
| Round 4 | 1.7 (21) | 1.2 (8) | 0.6 (26) | -0.9 (51) | 0.9 (19) | 74 |
Approach shots accounted for 34 percent of the gain of the top finishers in the tournament. Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top eleven finishers at the Deutsche Bank Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Rickie Fowler | 3.7 (1) | 0.4 (21) | 1.6 (5) | 0.0 (44) | 1.8 (2) |
| Henrik Stenson | 3.4 (2) | 0.8 (5) | 2.4 (1) | -0.3 (53) | 0.6 (21) |
| Charley Hoffman | 2.7 (3) | 0.7 (6) | 1.0 (11) | 0.1 (36) | 0.8 (13) |
| Hunter Mahan | 1.9 (T4) | 0.1 (35) | 0.4 (32) | 1.4 (3) | 0.1 (43) |
| Jim Furyk | 1.9 (T4) | 0.6 (12) | 1.7 (2) | 0.4 (26) | -0.7 (63) |
| Sean O’Hair | 1.9 (T4) | 0.8 (4) | -0.9 (68) | 1.2 (4) | 0.8 (14) |
| Matt Jones | 1.9 (T4) | 0.4 (20) | -0.2 (50) | 0.8 (8) | 0.9 (10) |
| Patrick Reed | 1.9 (T4) | -0.1 (43) | 1.0 (13) | 0.2 (34) | 0.8 (15) |
| Jerry Kelly | 1.7 (T9) | 0.4 (16) | 1.2 (9) | 0.4 (24) | -0.3 (55) |
| Matt Kuchar | 1.7 (T9) | 0.6 (9) | -0.2 (48) | 1.6 (1) | -0.3 (56) |
| Daniel Summerhays | 1.7 (T9) | 0.0 (41) | 0.4 (28) | 0.1 (38) | 1.2 (8) |
| Top 11 average | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 18% | 34% | 24% | 23% |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the final round for the top eleven finishers at the Deutsche Bank Championship:
| Strokes gained in the final round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Player | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Rickie Fowler | 3.7 (10) | 1.0 (10) | 1.4 (14) | 0.3 (32) | 1.0 (17) |
| Henrik Stenson | 1.7 (21) | 1.2 (8) | 0.6 (26) | -0.9 (51) | 0.9 (19) |
| Charley Hoffman | 4.7 (3) | 1.1 (9) | 0.4 (29) | 0.9 (22) | 2.3 (7) |
| Hunter Mahan | 1.7 (23) | 0.0 (35) | -0.9 (53) | 2.4 (5) | 0.2 (37) |
| Jim Furyk | 1.7 (20) | 0.9 (15) | 2.2 (6) | 0.0 (38) | -1.5 (61) |
| Sean O’Hair | -2.3 (59) | 0.0 (32) | -2.9 (73) | 0.9 (23) | -0.3 (45) |
| Matt Jones | -2.3 (56) | -0.1 (37) | -1.3 (57) | -0.9 (53) | 0.0 (40) |
| Patrick Reed | 1.7 (24) | 0.1 (31) | 1.0 (21) | 0.0 (37) | 0.5 (28) |
| Jerry Kelly | -0.3 (43) | 1.0 (13) | 1.1 (18) | -0.2 (42) | -2.2 (70) |
| Matt Kuchar | 0.7 (32) | 1.4 (4) | -1.1 (55) | 2.1 (7) | -1.7 (64) |
| Daniel Summerhays | 3.7 (7) | -0.3 (45) | 1.0 (22) | 1.1 (19) | 1.8 (11) |
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.