Dustin Johnson came from five strokes back at the end of the third round to win his ninth PGA TOUR event. Johnson has now won at least once every year since 2008.
J.B. Holmes led after the first round with an opening 62. The field average was 73.4 for the opening round, so Holmes gained an amazing 11.4 strokes against the field. That was the fourth-best round against the field on the PGA TOUR since 1983! The best round against the field was Jim Furyk’s gain of 12.1 strokes with his second round 59 in the 2013 BMW Championship.
Holmes gained 0.5 strokes against the field with his second round 73 and gained another 2.6 strokes with his third round 70. His final round of 75 lost 1.4 strokes to the field, and that stumble was enough to allow Dustin Johnson to overtake him.
In the third round, Dustin Johnson and J.B. Holmes both aced the 207-yard par-3 fourth hole. The average score on the hole in round 3 was 2.9, so each ace gained 1.9 strokes on the field. Tee shots on par-3 holes are counted in the approach shot category, which includes all shots starting outside 100 yards from the hole, except tee shots on par-4 and par-5 holes. Approach shots were the key to Johnson’s win. He gained 3.5 strokes per round against the field in his victory, with 2.7 strokes coming from approach shots. His driving contributed another 0.6 strokes per round, putting another 0.5 strokes per round, while his short game cost him 0.4 strokes per round.
When asked about his game, Johnson said. “I feel really confident in my golf swing. I feel like I’m swinging it really well. I need to do some work with the putter and short game.” Here’s a round-by-round strokes gained breakdown Johnson’s play at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | Rank | |||||
| Dustin Johnson | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | out of |
| 2015 Season | 2.1 (2) | 0.8 (3) | 1.7 (1) | -0.2 (146) | -0.2 (132) | 181 |
| WGC-Cadillac Championship | 3.5 (1) | 0.6 (11) | 2.7 (1) | -0.4 (56) | 0.5 (19) | 73 |
| Round 1 | 5.4 (3) | 0.3 (36) | 3.2 (5) | 0.1 (41) | 1.8 (11) | 73 |
| Round 2 | 0.5 (29) | 0.6 (23) | 0.7 (27) | -1.3 (59) | 0.5 (33) | 73 |
| Round 3 | 3.5 (6) | 0.3 (30) | 4.1 (2) | -0.4 (44) | -0.5 (40) | 73 |
| Round 4 | 4.6 (5) | 1.4 (6) | 2.9 (5) | 0.0 (36) | 0.3 (33) | 73 |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top eleven finishers at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Dustin Johnson | 3.5 (1) | 0.6 (11) | 2.7 (1) | -0.4 (56) | 0.5 (19) |
| J.B. Holmes | 3.2 (2) | 1.5 (2) | 1.0 (8) | 0.6 (12) | 0.0 (35) |
| Bubba Watson | 3.0 (3) | 1.7 (1) | 0.1 (36) | 0.4 (24) | 0.8 (11) |
| Henrik Stenson | 2.2 (T4) | 0.5 (13) | 1.0 (9) | 0.2 (35) | 0.6 (16) |
| Adam Scott | 2.2 (T4) | 0.5 (14) | 1.4 (4) | -0.4 (57) | 0.8 (13) |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 2.0 (6) | 1.2 (4) | 0.0 (37) | 0.7 (6) | 0.0 (36) |
| Bill Haas | 1.7 (T7) | 0.0 (42) | 1.0 (10) | 0.5 (17) | 0.2 (30) |
| Webb Simpson | 1.7 (T7) | 0.3 (30) | 0.0 (39) | 0.9 (4) | 0.6 (17) |
| Rory McIlroy | 1.5 (T9) | 0.5 (19) | -0.1 (43) | 0.8 (5) | 0.4 (22) |
| Kevin Na | 1.5 (T9) | -0.3 (51) | 0.8 (13) | 0.3 (29) | 0.8 (12) |
| Ryan Moore | 1.5 (T9) | -0.5 (56) | 0.9 (12) | 0.1 (37) | 1.0 (5) |
| Top 11 average | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 24% | 37% | 16% | 23% |
J.B. Holmes lost 1.4 strokes to the field in the final round, including a loss of 2.3 strokes from his putting. When asked about his final round, Holmes said, “Just didn’t make any putts. I hit a lot of great putts. A ton of putts I thought I made that were in the center of the cup that at the last second broke out.”
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the final round for the top eleven finishers at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship:
| Strokes gained final round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Player | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Dustin Johnson | 4.6 (5) | 1.4 (6) | 2.9 (5) | 0.0 (36) | 0.3 (33) |
| J.B. Holmes | -1.4 (52) | 1.7 (2) | -1.2 (53) | 0.4 (22) | -2.3 (69) |
| Bubba Watson | 2.6 (10) | 1.2 (7) | 2.4 (10) | -1.7 (69) | 0.7 (25) |
| Henrik Stenson | 1.6 (14) | 1.2 (10) | -0.9 (49) | 1.5 (7) | -0.2 (42) |
| Adam Scott | 2.6 (9) | -1.0 (63) | 3.0 (4) | 0.0 (39) | 0.6 (27) |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 0.6 (41) | 0.8 (19) | 0.9 (24) | -0.2 (49) | -0.9 (52) |
| Bill Haas | -0.4 (49) | 0.4 (27) | 1.5 (17) | -0.2 (46) | -2.1 (67) |
| Webb Simpson | 0.6 (31) | 0.6 (23) | -1.5 (58) | 0.3 (24) | 1.1 (18) |
| Rory McIlroy | 1.6 (26) | 0.0 (40) | -0.1 (38) | 1.1 (12) | 0.6 (28) |
| Kevin Na | 2.6 (13) | -0.5 (52) | 4.6 (1) | -1.0 (61) | -0.5 (45) |
| Ryan Moore | -2.4 (60) | -2.2 (70) | 1.6 (14) | -1.0 (60) | -0.8 (51) |
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.