Strokes Gained at the Wyndham: Davis Love III wins

At 51 years old, Davis Love III became the third-oldest winner on the PGA TOUR. Love and second-place finisher Jason Gore moved into the FedEx Cup playoffs with their play at the Wyndham Championship.

Love said, “This week I putted really well. Made some great putts today that won the tournament for me.” This season Love lost an average of 0.3 strokes per round with his putting (rank 169), but at the Wyndham he gained 2.2 strokes per round (rank 3).   Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Love’s play at the Wyndham Championship:

  Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) Rank
Davis Love III Total Drive Appr Short Putt out of
2015 Season -0.4 (155) 0.2 (68) -0.2 (163) -0.1 (131) -0.3 (169) 211
Wyndham Championship 3.1 (1) 0.0 (48) 1.1 (8) -0.2 (55) 2.2 (3) 69
Round 1 4.5 (8) 1.1 (19) 0.9 (52) 0.2 (56) 2.3 (13) 154
Round 2 3.4 (10) -1.8 (139) 0.9 (40) 0.0 (75) 4.3 (2) 152
Round 3 -0.6 (45) 0.1 (41) 0.7 (25) -0.9 (58) -0.5 (43) 69
Round 4 4.9 (2) 0.5 (25) 1.8 (8) -0.3 (46) 2.9 (4) 69

After the tournament Jason Gore said, “I didn’t hit my irons very well.” In fact, he lost 0.2 strokes per round (rank 52) with his approach shots. Jason Gore worked with putting coach David Orr prior to the start of the tournament and he finished first in strokes gained putting, compared to his season-long rank of 142. Gore gained 2.7 strokes per round on the field with his putting, a full 95 percent of his total strokes gained on the field.   Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Gore’s play at the Wyndham Championship:

  Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) Rank
Jason Gore Total Drive Appr Short Putt out of
2015 Season -0.2 (134) 0.2 (79) 0.1 (108) -0.3 (191) -0.1 (142) 211
Wyndham Championship 2.8 (2) 0.4 (28) -0.2 (52) -0.1 (40) 2.7 (1) 69
Round 1 2.5 (34) -0.6 (124) 1.9 (14) -0.8 (125) 2.0 (18) 154
Round 2 2.4 (20) 0.8 (27) -1.8 (137) 0.0 (73) 3.4 (4) 152
Round 3 6.4 (2) 1.0 (11) 0.8 (22) 0.2 (29) 4.4 (1) 69
Round 4 -0.1 (44) 0.3 (32) -1.5 (60) 0.1 (33) 0.9 (21) 69

Tiger Woods’s tie for tenth place was his best finish for the season.   Woods gained 1.2 strokes per round with his putting (rank 10) and 1.1 strokes per round with his approach shots (rank 7). Woods lost 1.9 strokes with his short game in the final round, all due to three poor wedge shots on hole No. 11.   Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown of Woods’s play at the Wyndham Championship:

  Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) Rank
Tiger Woods Total Drive Appr Short Putt out of
2015 Season -0.5 (159) -0.5 (196) 0.6 (22) -0.9 (211) 0.3 (38) 211
Wyndham Championship 2.1 (12) 0.3 (33) 1.1 (7) -0.5 (61) 1.2 (10) 69
Round 1 4.5 (7) -0.1 (112) 1.4 (30) 0.5 (45) 2.8 (5) 154
Round 2 4.4 (3) 0.5 (50) 3.6 (2) -0.2 (91) 0.5 (59) 152
Round 3 0.4 (34) 0.9 (14) -0.1 (44) -0.6 (51) 0.3 (31) 69
Round 4 -1.1 (50) -0.1 (43) -0.3 (40) -1.9 (66) 1.1 (19) 69

Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top thirteen finishers at the Wyndham Championship:

  Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses)  
Player Total Drive Appr Short Putt
Davis Love III 3.1 (1) 0.0 (48) 1.1 (8) -0.2 (55) 2.2 (3)
Jason Gore 2.8 (2) 0.4 (28) -0.2 (52) -0.1 (40) 2.7 (1)
Charl Schwartzel 2.6 (T3) 0.6 (16) 1.8 (1) 0.4 (16) -0.3 (52)
Paul Casey 2.6 (T3) 0.8 (8) 0.7 (17) 0.1 (29) 0.9 (15)
Scott Brown 2.6 (T3) 0.5 (23) 0.9 (13) 0.8 (6) 0.4 (35)
Bill Haas 2.3 (T6) 1.0 (5) 0.7 (16) -0.2 (52) 0.8 (18)
Carl Pettersson 2.3 (T6) -0.1 (51) 1.7 (3) -0.7 (67) 1.5 (6)
Webb Simpson 2.3 (T6) 0.7 (11) 1.4 (4) 0.5 (11) -0.4 (55)
Brooks Koepka 2.3 (T6) 1.5 (1) 1.1 (9) 0.1 (33) -0.3 (54)
Jonas Blixt 2.1 (T10) 0.6 (18) 0.2 (40) 0.0 (36) 1.3 (8)
Ben Martin 2.1 (T10) 0.4 (25) 1.4 (5) -0.5 (62) 0.8 (20)
Tiger Woods 2.1 (T10) 0.3 (33) 1.1 (7) -0.5 (61) 1.2 (10)
Ryan Moore 2.1 (T10) 0.7 (13) 0.0 (49) 0.9 (4) 0.5 (33)
Top 13 average 2.4 0.6 0.9 0.0 0.9
Fraction of total 100% 24% 38% 2% 36%

Love’s closing 64 was the second-best round of the day, gaining 4.9 strokes against the field average of 68.9. Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the final round for the top thirteen finishers at the Wyndham Championship:

  Strokes gained in the final round (ranks in parentheses)
Player Total Drive Appr Short Putt
Davis Love III 4.9 (2) 0.5 (25) 1.8 (8) -0.3 (46) 2.9 (4)
Jason Gore -0.1 (44) 0.3 (32) -1.5 (60) 0.1 (33) 0.9 (21)
Charl Schwartzel 2.9 (13) 1.0 (11) 1.0 (15) 0.4 (23) 0.4 (29)
Paul Casey 1.9 (17) 1.1 (9) 0.0 (35) -0.5 (51) 1.3 (15)
Scott Brown 0.9 (25) 0.3 (33) 2.1 (7) 0.9 (12) -2.4 (64)
Bill Haas 1.9 (18) 1.1 (8) 0.0 (36) 0.4 (25) 0.4 (30)
Carl Pettersson 1.9 (21) -1.2 (61) 2.5 (5) -1.4 (61) 2.0 (10)
Webb Simpson 0.9 (29) 0.6 (23) -0.2 (38) 0.4 (24) 0.0 (36)
Brooks Koepka 3.9 (5) 2.1 (1) 0.9 (18) 1.6 (3) -0.7 (46)
Jonas Blixt -1.1 (48) -0.7 (54) -1.2 (56) -0.5 (52) 1.3 (16)
Ben Martin 2.9 (16) 0.7 (20) 0.9 (17) -0.8 (57) 2.1 (8)
Tiger Woods -1.1 (50) -0.1 (43) -0.3 (40) -1.9 (66) 1.1 (19)
Ryan Moore 1.9 (23) 0.4 (31) -2.2 (65) 1.9 (2) 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.

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