pga tour driving strokes gained

Last Updated: Jan 18, 2024

What is Strokes Gained? Explanation, Calculation, and Examples

Strokes gained is a golf stats methodology popularized by Mark Broadie and adopted by the PGA Tour which measures a golfer's skill by each part of their game.

Written By: Zach Gollwitzer

Posted in: Golf Statistics

Tags: Data-Driven Golf

Term Overview

A brief overview of the term including definition, usage, origins, helpful visuals.

The strokes gained methodology is the most accurate way to measure the overall skill of a golfer. It can assess a golfer's putting skill, chipping skill, approach shot skill, driving skill, or all of these combined into one statistic. It is a relative statistic based on average "benchmarks" for each type of shot.

During the Tour Championship, Tiger Woods gained 0.8 strokes putting, lost 0.3 strokes around the greens, gained 1.1 strokes on approach shots, and gained 0.2 strokes on drives. Overall, he gained 1.8 strokes on the field across his entire game during this tournament.

Strokes gained was an effort between Mark Broadie and the PGA Tour. The TOUR gave Broadie, an academic researcher access to the database of ShotLink data, which he then spent years researching, analyzing, and formulating what would become the "Strokes Gained Approach". This is now a statistic published by the PGA Tour for all events.

Table of Contents

Tired of hearing the phrase "strokes gained" from the guys in your fantasy golf league or Sunday foursome and not understanding it?

In this post, I'm breaking it all down— it's a lot easier than you think.

What is it?

Strokes gained is a golf statistics methodology.

It is made up of four main components:

• Strokes gained off the tee
• Strokes gained approach
• Strokes gained around the green
• Strokes gained putting

The purpose of this method is to independently and objectively assess each part of a golfer's game.

It helps us accurately answer questions like:

• What is the strongest part of Rickie Fowler's game?
• Who putted the best at the Masters last year?
• Which golf course has the most challenging greens to putt on?
• How much did approach shots contribute to Tiger's victory at the Tour Championship?

Basic Formula

The basic strokes gained formula is calculated on a shot-by-shot basis and is the following:

Strokes Gained = Benchmark Avg. Shots to Hole Out (start) - Benchmark Avg. Shots to Hole Out (end) - 1

Where "Benchmark" represents an average value calculated by looking at hundreds of thousands of golf shots hit by tour pros and captured by the ShotLink system .

For example, the "benchmark" may say that from 160 yards in the middle of the fairway, on average , a tour pro will take 2.98 shots to hole out, while a 10-foot putt will take an average of 1.61 shots to hole out. If a tour pro hits that 160-yard approach shot from the fairway to 10 feet, we could say their "strokes gained" on this shot was:

Strokes Gained = 2.98 - 1.61 - 1 = 0.37 strokes

In other words, they have reduced their "expected" shots to hole out by 1.37, and after we subtract the shot they just took (1), they gained 0.37 strokes against the "field".

How Amateurs Can Use It

While there are a growing number of ways for amateurs to track their own strokes gained statistics, I recommend purchasing the Arccos tracking system .

This shot-tracking system will track your shots automatically and show you a dashboard of your strokes gained statistics against players of a similar handicap to you.

What is Strokes Gained?

Let's dive a little deeper.

What's the story behind strokes gained, and how does it really work?

Strokes Gained History

While I'm not the one to ask for the full history and backstory (you can read Every Shot Counts for that), here are the cliff notes of how we got here:

• Early 2000s —The concept of "strokes gained" was developed by Mark Broadie, a quant-finance professor at Columbia Business School thanks to hundreds of thousands of shot data points collected by the Tour's ShotLink system
• 2011 —In May of 2011, the PGA Tour officially adopted strokes gained putting and soon thereafter introduced the remaining statistics ( approach , off the tee , around the green ).
• Coaches and their players start using strokes gained stats to influence their practice strategy and on-course strategy .
• Shot tracking systems like Arccos begin incorporating these statistics in their ecosystems making these metrics available to amateur golfers for the first time ever (technically, GolfMetrics, developed by Broadie was first, but Arccos is far more popular nowadays)

Common Uses of Strokes Gained Data

Strokes gained data is primarily used for the following:

• Game improvement —gives golfers better insights of what they need to practice and how they should strategize while playing
• Live Broadcasts —gives announcers incredibly detailed metrics to share with viewers (e.g. "Tiger has never missed a putt inside 5 feet on this hole")
• Sports Betting (fantasy golf) —many sports betting models and algorithms incorporate strokes gained data

Is Strokes Gained Better than Traditional Statistics?

By a landslide.

While traditional statistics are easier to track and a great way to get started for amateur golfers, they come with some severe limitations:

• Not Independently Measured —traditional stats like GIR , scrambling, fairway percentage, and putts per round are not independent. For example, I could chunk a chip shot, make a 40 foot putt for par, and my "scrambling" stat will improve. Does this mean I'm great at chipping? No! It just means I made a lucky putt. These traditional stats are co-mingled.
• Do not account for external factors —if a golfer plays a course that has tight fairways, their driving accuracy will decline. This doesn't always mean they hit the ball poorly; it just means they played a TOUGH course!

These are just a few of the many problems that come with traditional stats.

I won't sit here and claim that strokes gained stats don't have any limitations, but they're significantly better than traditional golf stats.

Let's find out why.

How is Strokes Gained Calculated?

In its most basic form, "strokes gained" measures how many strokes a golfer gains or loses against the "benchmark", which is generally historical shot data from players of similar skill levels.

The PGA Tour (and other tours) measure every shot a player takes during the competition using ShotLink , which then goes into their databases and is used to calculate the "benchmark".

The "benchmark" tells use the average number of strokes taken from various distances and locations (fairway, rough, sand) on the golf course.

Example Benchmark Data

Below are some sample benchmarks from Broadie's book, Every Shot Counts. These benchmarks represent PGA Tour data from 2004-2012.

Long Game Benchmarks

In reality, strokes gained will be calculated from a benchmark table with thousands of distances and data points.

But how do we read this?

Here are a few examples:

• If a tour pro is hitting a 100-yard shot from the rough, we expect them to take 3.02 strokes to hole out from this scenario.
• A 400-yard par 4 is short for tour pros, so it makes sense that the average is under par
• If a tour pro is stuck behind a tree from 200 yards and has to chip out to the fairway, we expect them to take 3.87 shots to hole out (see "Recovery" column)

As you can see, the "average shots taken" benchmarks are a function of both location AND distance.

Putting Benchmarks

Similar to the first table, we have average benchmarks for putting at different distances.

These are pretty straightforward—if a tour pro has a 9-foot putt, we expect them to take 1.56 strokes to hole out. In other words, a 45% probability of making the putt.

Strokes Gained Formula

As mentioned above, the strokes gained formula is:

We take the benchmark number of strokes from the shot we are hitting, subtract the benchmark number of strokes from where we hit the shot to, and subtract 1 (because we hit 1 shot).

This formula is used on a shot-by-shot basis.

Strokes Gained Example Calculation

Imagine we are given the following "benchmark" tables for long game and putting:

Using this table, let's follow Tiger Woods as he plays the 18th hole at Pebble Beach .

Shot 1: Tee Shot

Tiger's first shot is from the tee box from 540 yards. Looking at the sample table above, we can see that the "benchmark" at this location (tee) and from this distance (540 yards) is 4.65 strokes.

Tiger hits his drive down the middle (fairway) and ends up 240 yards (distance) from the pin, which from the table above, we know has a benchmark value of 3.45 strokes.

Given this information, we can calculate strokes gained off the tee for this shot:

Strokes Gained Off the Tee = 4.65 - 3.45 - 1 = 0.20 strokes

Shot 2: Approach Shot

Tiger's next shot is from 240 yards in the fairway. He plays conservatively and hits a 4-iron 20 yards short of the green.

Let's grab our benchmarks at these starting and ending locations:

• 240 yards (distance) from fairway (location) has a benchmark value of 3.45 strokes
• 20 yards (distance) from the fairway (location) has a benchmark value of 2.40

So our strokes gained approach is:

Strokes Gained Approach = 3.45 - 2.40 - 1 = 0.05 strokes

So far, after two shots, Tiger has gained 0.20 + 0.05 = 0.25 shots on the field.

Shot 3: Chip Shot

For Tiger's third shot, he chips it from 20 yards to a distance of 10-feet from the hole.

Not exactly what he was looking for, but he's got a makeable birdie putt!

Let's look up our benchmark averages for these two shots:

• 20-yard chip from the fairway has a benchmark value of 2.40
• 10-foot putt has a benchmark value of 1.61

Since Tiger is within 30 yards from the edge of the green, this shot qualifies as a strokes gained around the green calculation:

Strokes Gained Around the Green = 2.40 - 1.61 - 1 = -0.21 strokes

In this case, Tiger didn't hit a great chip, and therefore, has lost strokes on the field.

So far, through 3 shots, he has gained 0.20 + 0.05 - 0.21 = 0.04 strokes on the field this hole.

Shot 4: Birdie Putt

In this scenario, let's say Tiger nails his birdie putt from 10 feet.

Since a 10-foot putt has a benchmark average of 1.61, he gains 0.61 shots on the field with the strokes gained putting metric:

Strokes gained putting = 1.61 - 0 - 1 = 0.61

Entire Hole Calculation

If we wanted to calculate the entire strokes gained value for this 18th hole, we just add the individual components together:

Strokes Gained = SG Tee + SG Approach + SG Around Green + SG Putting

Our final calculation is:

Strokes Gained (hole) = 0.20 + 0.05 - 0.21 + 0.61 = 0.65

And guess what?

The math all ties out. Remember how a 540-yard hole from the tee had an average of 4.65 strokes to hole out?

If we subtract Tiger's score, we arrive at the same value:

Strokes Gained = 4.65 - 4 = 0.65

Calculation Methodology

As you can see, we can use this strokes gained methodology in all sorts of ways:

• By area of game (e.g. putting)
• By tournament
• By a player's career
• By a player's season

Since we're dealing with the same base unit (strokes), we can mix and match however we want!

The overall methodology goes like this:

• Establish a baseline —to calculate strokes gained, you need a dataset that will allow you to establish your "benchmark" or "baseline" for shots of varying distances and locations (see table above)
• Calculate —you can then calculate individual strokes gained values
• Aggregate —and finally, aggregate them by hole, round, tournament, or however you can think of!
• Adjust —we haven't talked about this yet, but as you'll see in the strokes gained putting section below, some adjustments are made for official reporting on Tour.

What types of Strokes Gained Data Can we Calculate?

As you may have noticed from our example hole at Pebble Beach above, I calculated strokes gained in several "buckets".

While the math is the same for each, it is useful to measure individual areas of a golfer's game.

Let's see what each represents:

Strokes Gained Off the Tee

Strokes gained off the tee measures all tee shots on par 4s and par 5s. It does NOT include par 3 tee shots.

This metric is a measure of both driving distance AND accuracy.

In his book, Every Shot Counts , Mark Broadie calculated that for every 20 yards added to tee shots, a tour player gains ~0.75 strokes on the field. Furthermore, he found a positive correlation between a player's distance off the tee and overall driving accuracy.

To learn more about this statistic, you can read my full post on strokes gained off the tee .

Strokes Gained Approach Shots

Strokes gained approach shots represent par 3 tee shots + any shot that is greater than 30 yards from the edge of the green (excluding par 4 and 5 tee shots)

This metric is a measure of ball striking , typically with irons .

In his prime, Tiger Woods led the tour in this stat by a large margin. In 2006, Tiger gained 2.1 strokes per round through his ball striking.

Absolutely INSANE.

To learn more about this statistic, you can read my full post on strokes gained approach shots .

Strokes Gained Around the Green

Strokes gained around the green measures all shots within 30 yards of the edge of the green that are not putts.

This metric measures a golfer's chipping, pitching, and bunker play inside 30 yards.

To learn more about this statistic, you can read my full post on strokes gained around the green .

Strokes Gained Putting

Strokes gained putting measures all putts.

As you can probably guess, this tells us how skilled a golfer is with the flat stick .

Unlike other strokes gained stats, this metric is reported by the tour on an adjusted basis.

Strokes Gained Putting to the Field: An Adjusted Metric

Let's imagine two pro golfers play in two separate tournaments.

At one tournament, the greens are wicked fast and dry. At the other tournament, it just rained, so the greens are much slower and relatively flat.

If we calculated strokes gained putting for each of these golfers, who do you think will have a better metric?

Of course, the golfer on the easy, slow greens!

Since strokes gained statistics are reported across tournaments, the PGA Tour needed a method for adjusting it based on the difficulty of the greens.

So on a per-round basis, strokes gained putting is adjusted based on historical performance of all pros at a given course. For example, Pebble Beach has notoriously challenging greens, and therefore, a player will get ~0.77 strokes added to their strokes gained putting metric for each round played at Pebble beach.

To learn more about this statistic, you can read my full post on strokes gained putting .

Strokes Gained Tee to Green (Aggregate Metric)

Strokes gained tee to green is an aggregate metric that combines strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approach, and strokes gained around the green.

There's not much to say about this one. It's a measure of how well a golfer performs excluding putting.

Strokes Gained Total (Aggregate Metric)

Total strokes gained combines all non-aggregated metrics which includes off the tee, approach, around the green, and putting.

As we have discussed throughout this post, the aggregated strokes gained metric is an overall measurement of a golfer's skill.

In general, this is correlated with world golf rankings. The players leading this metric win lots of tournaments.

Can Amateur Golfers Use Strokes Gained Off the Tee?

At the time of writing, the golf industry has come a long way with consumer-grade technology. With the proliferation of shot trackers and personal launch monitors , it has become easier for amateur golfers to assess their games with real on-course data.

That said, tracking strokes gained off the tee statistics still proves difficult for many golfers.

Because as we talked about earlier, strokes gained calculations require benchmark data.

This means that for a 15-handicap golfer to assess their game with strokes gained data, all of the following things must be tracked:

• Every shot must be tracked (ending location AND distance)
• Thousands of golfers who play to a 15 handicap must also track their shots
• All this data must be aggregated in one spot (ecosystem)

For the PGA Tour, this is easy. ShotLink tracks every golf shot from every tournament for every tour pro automatically.

For us amateurs, we don't have this luxury (and frankly, most of us probably don't want all of our shots tracked!)

There are a few options though and I'm excited to see how this evolves in the next decade!

Option #1: Automatic Tracking

In my opinion, automatic strokes gained tracking is the best option. Tracking every shot for every round you play is exhausting and most golfers do not have the discipline to keep this up over a long enough period for it to start helping their games.

At the time of writing, here are a few shot trackers that also have strokes gained statistics built-in to their ecosystems:

• Arccos Shot Trackers: The Arccos system has strokes gained calculations available to users (via the app) and thanks to all the amateur data they have collected, you can compare your rounds against golfers of similar skill levels. This is a huge benefit and allows for the most accurate strokes gained data.
• ShotScope Trackers: A close second to Arccos, ShotScope offers shot trackers and an app that calculates strokes gained data. From what I've seen, ShotScope does not have quite as many data points as Arccos, but is a great alternative.

Option #2: Manual tracking

Several apps allow you to track all of your shots manually and then review strokes gained data within the dashboard. While this can be cumbersome and exhausting to some golfers, it is a great option if you are highly disciplined and dedicated to improving your golf game.

Here are a few to check out:

• My Round Pro
• PinPoint Golf
• Decade Golf: This is more of a system than an app. While it does have an app, this is a premium service you pay for to help learn better golf strategy based on strokes gained data.

Concluding Thoughts: How does strokes gained benefit YOU?

By now, you probably understand how strokes gained work, but may not see the benefit to your game yet.

I'll leave you with a few ideas of how you can use this to improve your game:

• It tells you what to practice —Unlike traditional stats, strokes gained clearly shows you what parts of your game stink
• You can manage expectations better —Have you ever gotten mad at yourself for missing a 10-footer? I know I have. But what if I told you that even the pros only make 40% of these? Feels a bit better right?
• It tells you where to aim —If you're hitting driver on a par 4 with OB right and rough left, strokes gained tells you that you might want to aim left of the fairway . For most golfers, the penalty for being in the rough is significantly less than the penalty of going out of bounds.

About the author: Loading...

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About the author: Zach Gollwitzer

Hey, I‘m Zach, the founder of The DIY Golfer! I created this site while playing D1 collegiate golf with a simple mission—I wanted to learn the golf swing and get better at golf myself.

Fast forward a few years, and my “journal“, The DIY Golfer, has been viewed by millions of golfers worldwide looking to do the same with their games. my mission is to make golfers more consistent in just a few hours a week through advanced practice strategies and timeless, first-principle golf instruction.

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Strokes gained around the green is an objective way to measure a golfer's chipping. In this post, I'll explain how it is calculated and why it matters.

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Strokes gained and the stats behind the scorecards on the PGA Tour

Published: 10 January 2024 Last updated: 10 January 2024

As the newly revamped 2024 season tees off, Today’s Golfer reflects on what it takes to succeed on tour and the metrics that matter most.

Merger mayhem, mega money moves , ‘Capgate’ controversy, and the battle to bifurcate – 2023’s off-course antics proved more turbulent than ever before.

“Golf is a mess” , puts Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, as the PGA Tour’s reimagined calendar-year schedule teed off for its ‘Opening Drive’ in Hawaii. A much-needed pause from the drama dividing a game glittering with talent, global superstars, and record-breaking performances.

Take Scottie Scheffler. The World No.1’s spectacular season of ball striking saw him top the ‘Strokes Gained’ (SG) leaderboards for SG: Off-the-tee and SG: Approach in 2023 – the first time the feat has been achieved in the SG era.

Despite a deflating start to his TGL virtual venture , Rory McIlroy became the first player since 1981 to finish a season with a streak of 10 consecutive top-10 results. Team Europe’s premier gladiator in Rome also set a new all-time driving distance record on tour of 326.3 yards.

And, what to make of Ryder Cup bolter Ludvig Aberg’s remarkable breakthrough season. It took the Texas Tech graduate a mere 75 days to register his first professional win, before slotting in seamlessly alongside Europe’s big guns at Marco Simone.

By mid-November, Aberg had also added a first PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic, rewriting the PGA Tour record book along the way with his 72-hole total of 253 – equaling Justin Thomas’ mark, with closing back-to-back 61s adding up to the lowest final 36-hole total ever. Somehow that wasn’t enough to pip Eric Cole to the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year award.

Scandi compatriot Viktor Hovland also had a 2023 to remember, finishing as FedExCup Champion after storming to back-to-back victories at the business end of the season.

Not only were the numbers following the dollar sign on Hovland’s cheques rather impressive, but so too were the stats behind his performances.

The Norwegian World No.4 became the first player in 30 years to lead the field in Driving Accuracy, Greens in Regulation and Scrambling on route to the Tour Championship, and the first in 40 to win back-to-back while topping both fields in Driving Accuracy.

A resurgent Rickie Fowler returned to the winner’s circle at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on the back of reinventing his approach play. The Californian finished 2023 tied sixth for SG: Approach, after struggling to break 150 th in the two preceding seasons.

A special mention must also go to Lucas Glover who delivered his first multi-win season at 43 years old. His two wins came back-to-back, stealing the perhaps unwanted title of the oldest back-to-back winner on tour from Vijay Singh.

Of course, the above achievements provide a mere snapshot of a season where the talent on the turf still managed to outshine the chaos off it.

And whether you prefer Coke or Pepsi, DC or Marvel, PGA or LIV, a 58 is a 58, and Bryson DeChambeau’s historic efforts at Greenbrier stand with the best performance across golf’s 2023 tours.

Performances of this caliber not only take an extraordinary work rate, talent, and belief, but an uncompromising attention to detail, and hunger to dive down into the metrics that matter most and differentiate the best from the rest at this elite level.

DeChambeau is not alone in his data-driven approach to understanding performance. Matt Fitzpatrick is another determined to find silver bullets in the data he religiously records from every shot, and Edoardo Molinari’s stock is fast rising as a leading performance analyst to Team Europe and others looking for an empirical edge.

Numbers can have their pitfalls, however.

Granted, they don’t have opinions – which is refreshingly helpful in golf at present – but they can lead us all off the fairway and down a rabbit hole.

Which ones are meaningful, and which ones are simply ‘nice to know’?

Golf is a multi-faceted skill-based game like no other. There is no hierarchical model that determines performance outcomes. Good shots can be punished, bad shots can be rewarded, and we can all lay testament to that.

The right player, on the right day, on the right course has a puncher’s chance of winning on tour. The 69 different winners across 92 PGA and DP World Tour tournaments illustrate this point as well as any.

Climbing to the top tiers of the Official Golf World Rankings requires something more, however.

The highest rungs on the ladder can only be reached via a consistency of performance over time, earned by featuring frequently on the first page of Sunday afternoon leaderboards.

What can we learn from the performance characteristics of these players? What are the non-negotiables and how well-rounded do the best really need to be?

The validity of ‘Strokes Gained’ as a performance measure

Columbia University professor Mark Broadie’s ‘Strokes Gained’ measurement tool has undoubtedly revolutionized our understanding of the critical determinants of golf performance at the highest level.

An ever-growing bank of ShotLink data continually refines our knowledge of the exact number of strokes required for the ‘average PGA Tour golfer’ to put the ball in the hole from any given location on the course.

SG essentially provides a meaningful performance benchmark, enabling interested parties to measure how much better or worse a tour pro performs in specific areas of the game compared to their counterparts.

And in the same way that we accept the end-of-year world rankings to fairly reflect ‘what’ happened in the preceding 12 months of competition, the vast data underpinning end-of-season SG leaderboards is now widely accepted as a logical explanation of ‘how’ it happened too.

The cumulation of SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Putting is known as SG: Total – a leaderboard topped by Scottie Scheffler in 2023, despite being the only player in the top 10 to finish below the tour average for putting. More on Scottie’s flat stick issues later.

Diving into the data

A linear regression of SG: Total against a medium-term success metric (end-of-year world ranking), shows a reasonable measure of fit against the model (R 2 = 0.51).

Simply put, SG: Total is roughly 50% successful at predicting world-ranking positions at the end of a season.

The relationship appears strongest for those players at the top of the SG: Total leaderboard, an observation also noted in a previous analysis that reported how SG: Total is an increasingly useful indicator of end-of-year ranking for the top 30 players.

But what for the relative importance of SG: Total’s constituent parts? Does the age-old anecdote of “drive for show, putt for dough” have any credibility?

Quite the opposite in fact.

We took the top 90 players from each SG leaderboard on the PGA Tour and divided them into three groups to see how proficiency in each facet of the game affected WR.

Not all SG statistics are born equal!

For this to be true we might expect more balanced average rankings for each SG metric and more proportional differentials between each level of player.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the SG: Total leaders had the lowest WR for the most elite group (24.73), followed by SG: Tee-to-Green (30.57), and then SG: Approach (35.40).

SG: Around-the-Green (46.47), SG: Putting (52.83), and SG: Off-the-Tee (56.50) round off the order – which would be sequential in terms of importance be it not for performance Off-the-tee on par 4s and 5s.

These data therefore highlight the importance of a strong all-round tee-to-green game if you want to reach the higher echelons of the WRs, and more specifically a dialed-in ‘approach game’ is critical.

A glance at the illustrious list of PGA Tour winners on the SG: Approach leaderboard and you’ll understand why.

The next pool of players (ranked 31-60) for SG: Approach don’t necessarily end the year further up the WRs than the final group (ranked 61-90). The same can be said of the SG: Around-the-Green leaderboard.

Birdie or better conversion rate may go some way to explaining this. It’s one thing hitting the green, it’s another taking your chances – and you’re not mixing it with the McIlroys and Hovlands of this world without being able to do this somewhat consistently.

With average driving distance on tour in the region of 300 yards, players are typically left with 125-150 yards on average length par 4s on tour.

A key distance to get nailed down, and interestingly the Green-in-Regulation leaderboards read very differently when the approach length edges beyond 150 yards.

Food for thought considering the recent decision to roll the golf ball back 15 yards from 2028.

How important is a well-rounded skillset?

Back to Scottie Scheffler, and if you’re going to have a weakness…

The World No.1 ranked first on four out of the six SG leaderboards, fifth for SG: Around-the-Green, and an eyebrow-raising 162 nd for SG: Putting, losing an average of 0.3 shots on the field.

McNealy, Montgomery, and McCarthy stepped up on 2023’s putting podium. Not exactly golf’s household names with all due respect.

And while we do see the likes of Schauffele, Homa, Hatton, and Burns challenging atop the SG: Putting leaderboard, our results tend to support the notion that the putter doesn’t need to be red hot every week.

It seems more important to give yourself chances all year round and keep faith that a putting purple patch will arrive, and hopefully in time for Major week.

We shouldn’t dismiss the short game as a ‘nice string to the bow’, however. The world’s best take fewer putts per round, convert more birdies, scramble better from both the sand and rough, and gain more shots in general both around and on the green.

The differentials between performance levels are just smaller than tee-to-green.

A final result of note is that driving the ball further does not differentiate between these groupings of elite players.

It appears to be important enough to put a shorter shaft in your hand for the next shot, but no match for being able to pepper the pin. A 300-yard drive quickly loses its value if you struggle to hit areas of the dancefloor where more putts are holed than missed.

This is what the best are doing consistently better than the rest.

But what does it actually take to win you ask?

Reassuringly, more of the same.

The SG data from the 41 PGA Tour events with individual champions in 2023 again stress the importance of a skillset with a laser-like approach play at the heart.

Champions on tour placed 39th on average for SG: Total, with the relative importance of each game facet decreasing in importance as the ball made its way to the hole.

The most striking difference between the two measures of success (WR and winning on tour), lies in the superior performance off the tee across the season for those going on to lift trophies.

It appears a less crucial weapon for climbing the WRs but is seemingly a key piece of artillery for those who won in 2023. Winners Scheffler, Aberg, McIlroy, and Hovland all feature in the top 8 for SG: Off-the-Tee, helping the metric rise in stature.

Interestingly, despite Scheffler dominating the majority of the SG leaderboards, it’s McIlroy who has the lowest average ranking across all six SG categories, adding weight to the Northern Irishman’s stake as the most complete player on tour.

Rahm, Homa, and Hovland also feature in the conversation for the best all-rounder based on this data.

Let’s wrap up by contradicting the last 2,000 words.

Statistics are great talking points, and very often can be reliable predictors of future success. But the beauty of sport, and indeed professional golf resides in its unpredictability and unwillingness to read the script.

Take a bow Nico Echavarria, stepping up from 406 th in the WRs to win the Puerto Rico Open on 21-under par, rising over 100 places in the space of a week to 287 th .

What was his super-strength? Timing. Pure and simple. The Columbian didn’t break inside the top 125 in any SG category that year.

It may not have been the most stellar field in the world, but Echavarria can call himself a PGA Tour winner, and no doubt the only numbers that mattered to him were $684,000.

It just goes to show the strength in depth across the tour, every dog has his day, but consistency is king if you want to be a top dog on tour.

Analysis – what we did

Our sample explored relationships between the top 90 ranked players from PGA Tour ShotLink leaderboards and success outcomes in golf – world ranking and tour wins.

The only exception being if a featured player finished the year ranked outside the world’s top 200. We deemed this as being a reasonable cut-off for describing players who regularly compete in top-tier tour events.

Limitations worth noting are the significant absence of data from LIV Tour players, and the fact that not every round of golf is captured by ShotLink, which may elevate or suppress a true reflection of performance across the season in some cases.

That said, the results are in good agreement with past studies and provide an objective starting point for conversations into the performance determinants of elite golfing performance.

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About the author

Ross Tugwood

Golf Equipment Writer

Ross Tugwood is a golf equipment writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

He has post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.

What Is Strokes Gained In Golf?

You might have heard of the term 'Strokes Gained', but what does it mean? We speak to an expert to find out...

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'Strokes Gained' is fast becoming one of the most used terms in the world of golf . It is seen by many as the most definitive marker of player performance at the professional level, and thanks to the latest partnerships and technology it's even moving into the amateur game. But what exactly is 'Strokes Gained'?

To get a better grasp of the term, we spoke with Sal Syed, CEO and Co-Founder of Arccos , a company which integrates automatic shot tracking, with artificial intelligence, to deliver insights that help players maximise their potential.

What Is Strokes Gained?

The simplest way to define Strokes Gained is a method of analysing each facet of a players game in comparison to the rest of the players in the field or at the same level. You can do this across recent performances, or even compare the best players in each statistical category over the past 20 years !

The main categories where the comparison is drawn are off-the-tee, approach, tee-to-green, around-the-green and putting. There is also a useful measure, titled Strokes Gained: Total, which gives an overall indicator based on the player's full game.

For decades, there wasn't a consistently used metric to measure this data, with ShotLink becoming available on the PGA Tour in 2007. Developed by Professor Mark Broadie at Colombia University, the whole philosophy of 'Strokes Gained' came about because the data was made available to academic institutions from that year. Ever since, term has grown in importance.

Q. In the simplest way possible, from an Arccos perspective, can you explain what Strokes Gained is, please?

S: Sure. Without getting into the technical details I would say it is the right way to analyse your game. So let's say you are shooting 85 and want to shoot 80. The difference of five strokes from where you are to the average 80 is distributed over various aspects of your game and what Strokes Gaines is able to do is tell you where you are losing the most strokes whether that be putting or whatever.

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So, in the simplest form, Strokes Gaines is doing the correct analysis on your game to help you understand where your strengths and weaknesses are. Traditional stats in golf can be misleading, so for example they used to look at fairways hit as a good metric for how good a driver of the ball you are, but you could be driving it 150 yards and hitting every fairway, and you know that's not good.

The number of putts is another. You may be two-putting from five-feet, or two-putting from 50 feet, one you are annoyed about, the other you are happy about. So Strokes Gained doesn't look at number of putts, it takes into account how far away did you two-putt from, so it is doing the right analysis for you to understand and breakdown your game.

Let me give you a simple example of an eight foot putt. The average PGA Tour pro makes 50% of their putts from eight feet. So then their expected number of putts from eight feet is 1.5 putts. And so, if you make one putt you gain 0.5 strokes but if you miss it you lost that half a stroke. So for each shot we are assessing how many strokes you are gaining or losing versus the benchmark.

And we at Arccos are able to quantify, aggregate and present that information in a very easy to understand way because in the end it just comes down down to how many strokes did you lose in an aspect of the game.

Q. What are some of the aspects that are more important, or what does Strokes Gained tell us about some misconceptions about the game?

S: Probably the number one misconception is that old saying 'driving for show, putt for dough'. Driving is really important.

If you are a good driver of the golf ball it positions you well and you gain a lot of strokes, and the golf world is certainly realising that. But at the same time, the accuracy is important because if you hit a bad drive and hit a recovery shot, you are losing strokes there because of your drive. If you are punching back out, that's half a shot penalty, so it is not all about distance.

As I mentioned earlier the number of putts is a misconception because it makes people think there putting may need work whereas actually it is approach game or around the green aspects that need practice. Really, the number of putts doesn't tell you literally anything.

Q. How does Strokes Gained account for different courses, because some are obviously harder than others?

S: Well for Arccos, it has so many rounds of shots taken that our algorithms are targeted and take difficulty into account. We also account for different flag positions because holes can play drastically differently dependent on the flag so it is all in the data. So when we develop our Strokes Gained models, we take that into account.

Ideally, in the future for Arccos, I want to take things like rough height, green speeds, weather conditions, wind, wind direction too because those things do have an impact.

Q. Looking to amateur golf, because Arccos has access to so much data, what would you say is the most common area where people lose strokes? 

S: So the reality is everybody is different. Arccos breaks it down into driving, approach, short game and putting, and I would honestly say it is evenly spread.

The other thing that is interesting is your golf game is not static. You are getting older, you are experimenting, you may have lessons and so on. So your game is constantly fluctuating and that is true for PGA Tour players as well as beginners.

Q. When it comes to analysing Strokes Gained, because it can be quite complicated, what tips do you have for people to actually understand that data and implement into their game?

S: Sure, well it is very simple to implement because with Arccos, when players look at their last five rounds and see where the weaknesses are, that gives players the ability to go and work on something, to put extra effort into that facet.

And we have seen that when people understand weaknesses, they improve at that aspect the fastest because they put more practice in. What we are able to point out are the three things that require your attention and work on them. Even when you take lessons, share that with your instructor so they have a clearer idea of how you play on the course.

Q. How can Arccos make things easier for coaching, but also maybe a buying decision?

S: Yeah there is no doubt. In my case, if I am trying two putters and deciding which one is better, I have three rounds with one and three with the other and that provides a lot of data to show which I perform better with.

So I think in the future, when it comes to a lesson, or a purchase you are making, it has to be tied to 'is this helping me play better golf? is this helping me to improve?'

And I think this is how golfing decisions will be made in the future, and that's how decisions are made on the PGA Tour right now.

Key Strokes Gained Terms

Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee

The measure of a player's performance with their tee shots on all par-4 and par-5 holes.

Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green

The measure of all shots taken by a player from the tee box to the green.

Strokes Gained: Approach

The measure of performance on all approach shots. Approach shots are categorised as any shot not hit from the tee on par-4 and par-5 holes, and any tee shots on par-3s. This also doesn't include any shots on or around the green.

Strokes Gained: Around-The-Green

The measure of player performance with any shot up to 30 yards from the edge of the green, excluding any shots taken on the putting surface.

Strokes Gained: Putting

The measure of strokes gained or lost on the green, based on length of putts and likely make percentage.

Barry Plummer is our Staff Writer, joining in January 2024 after seven years as a PE Teacher. He now writes about instruction, working closely with Golf Monthly's Top 50 Coaches to provide hints and tips about all aspects of the game. As someone who came into golf at a later age, Barry is very passionate about supporting the growth of the game and creating opportunities for everyone to access it. A member at Sand Moor Golf Club in Leeds, he looks forward to getting out on the course at least once a week and making up for lost time in the pursuit of a respectable handicap.

Barry is currently playing:

Driver: Ping G425

Hybrid: TaylorMade Stealth 4 Hybrid

Irons: Mizuno JPX 921 4-PW

Wedges: TaylorMade RAC 60, Callaway Jaws MD5 54

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour

Sam De’Ath tests the performance of the Beaver Golf All Season Ultra golf glove out on the course

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Sam De’Ath tests the Bridgestone Tour B RXS golf ball on the golf course and analyses the performance on offer

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Opinion & Analysis

Do you actually understand “strokes gained” stats here’s a breakdown.

In 2011, the PGA Tour introduced ShotLink, which is a real-time scoring system that captures data points on all shots taken during PGA Tour events. ShotLink measures the distance from the hole, as well as categorizing shot types like tee, fairway, rough, sand, and green.

Mark Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, took the data from ShotLink and helped develop a new way to analyze putting performance. This new statistic was called “strokes gained: putting,” and it measures the number of putts a golfer takes relative to the PGA Tour average from that same distance. Strokes gained putting recognizes that sinking a 20-foot putt represents a better performance than sinking a three-foot putt, even though they both count as a single putt and a single stroke on the scorecard.

This was revolutionary because golfers no longer had to rely on the number of putts per round to understand their putting performance. Strokes gained also provided a unified way to measure an individual golfer against his opponents on the PGA Tour.

In 2016, the same concept used for strokes gained: putting was applied to other areas of the game. The PGA Tour developed new statistics including “strokes gained: off-the-tee,” “strokes gained: approach-the-green,” and “strokes gained: around-the-green.” This expansion allowed a PGA Tour golfer to precisely see where he excels and where he needs to improve.

What is strokes gained

In the most simple terms, “strokes gained” is a way to measure a player’s performance compared to the rest of the field. It also allows you to isolate different parts of a player’s game. In order to understand the statistic, you have to know that the PGA Tour has historical data from ShotLink that has calculated the average number of strokes needed to hole out from every distance and location on a course. Below I have included four scenarios to better illustrate the idea of strokes gained.

The scenarios below show how strokes gained could work on a single hole. Remember most strokes gained statistics are the aggregate of all the holes for a players round.

Scenario No. 1: Driving

You are playing a 450-yard par 4. The PGA Tour scoring average for a par 4 of that length is 4.1 strokes.

You hit a drive that ends up in the fairway, 115 yards from the hole. The PGA Tour scoring average from in the fairway, 115 yards out is 2.825 strokes. In order to calculate strokes gained: off-the-tee you use the formula below

(PGA Tour average for the hole) – (PGA Tour average left after your drive) – 1 = strokes gained: off-the-tee

Next, plug the numbers from the scenario above into this formula to calculate the s trokes gained: off-the-tee

4.100 – 2.825 = 1.275 – 1 = 0.275 s trokes gained: off-the-tee

Since you hit your drive in the fairway 115 yards from the hole you gained .275 strokes off the tee from the average PGA Tour player.

Scenario No. 2: Approach Shot

Let’s take the same drive from the first scenario. You hit a drive on a par 4 that ends up in the fairway, 115 yards from the hole. The PGA Tour scoring average from in the fairway 115 yards out is 2.825. You hit your approach shot on the green 10 feet from the hole. The PGA Tour scoring average from on the green 10 feet from the hole is 1.61 strokes.

(PGA Tour average from your approach) – (PGA Tour average for your putt) – 1 = strokes gained: approach-the-green

2.825 – 1.61 = 1.215 – 1 = . 215 s trokes gained: approach-the-green

Since you hit your approach shot to 10 feet you gained .213 strokes from the average PGA Tour player.

Scenario No. 3: Putting

Continuing the scenario from example scenario No. 2. You have a 10-foot putt left for birdie which you make.

(Your # of Putts) – (PGA Tour average from that distance) = strokes gained putting

1 putt – 1.61 = .61 strokes gained putting

Since you made that 10-foot putt you gained .61 strokes from the average PGA Tour player.

Scenario No. 4: Total for the hole:

To calculate strokes gained total use the formula below:

Strokes gained off-the-tee + Strokes gained approach-the-green + strokes gained around-the-green + strokes gained putting= strokes gained total

0.275+. 215+0+ .61=1.1 Total Strokes Gained on that hole

This makes sense because the PGA Tour average for the hole was 4.1 and you made a 3.

Definitions of Strokes Gained Statistics

• Strokes gained: off-the-tee: Measures player performance off the tee on all par 4s and par 5s. This statistic looks at how much better or worse a player’s drive is then the average PGA Tour player.
• Strokes gained: approach-the-green: Measures player performance on approach shots and other shots that are NOT included in strokes gained: around-the-green and strokes gained: putting. It does include tee shots on par 3s.
• Strokes gained: around-the-green: Measures player performance on any shot within 30 yards of the edge of the green without measuring putting.
• Strokes gained: putting: Measures how many strokes a player gains (or loses) on the greens compared to PGA Tour average.
• Strokes gained: tee-to-green:  Strokes gained: o ff-the-tee + strokes gained: approach-the-green + strokes gained: around-the-green
• Strokes gained: total: Strokes gained: off-the-tee + strokes gained: approach-the-green + strokes gained: around-the-green + strokes gained: putting

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18 Comments

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Sep 4, 2018 at 12:55 pm

All approach shots 10 feet from the hole aren’t created equal.

Justin Dohnson

Sep 4, 2018 at 12:53 pm

The comment section, a quick reminder of people’s inability to comprehend what they read.

Sep 3, 2018 at 8:21 pm

All you need to understand is the lowest score in golf wins….the rest of stats is unnecessary.

Sep 4, 2018 at 12:14 pm

If you understand the concept of Strokes Gained (which based on all the prior comments it seems most do not) it can be very valuable teaching you which areas are costing you strokes in relation to your peers.

Sep 3, 2018 at 9:33 am

I have read similar explanations before this one and none of them register with me. It seems to me that it still all comes down to putting. The driver example given is meaningless if you cannot capitalize on it. Same with approach/around the green. I think Broadie should have stopped with the putting stat and left it at that.

Sep 3, 2018 at 11:38 am

Read Mark book, “Every Shot Counts”. It shows that putting isn’t as important for the good players as you think. Wants really more important is being able to drive it far and straighish and being to hit iron shots close to the hole. Look at player like Dustin Johnson who in the past his putting stroke has held him back (this year he is putting really good for him), yet he still won 4 times on tour last year. Why, well he is one the longest on tour and he hit his irons and wedge really tight, his birdie putts are going to be alot easier to make than say a Kevin Kisner. Kisner is one of the better putters on tour, though he is outside the top 150 in both driving and iron play; perfect examples for why he struggling this year; sure he is making alot putts, though those putts are for par, unlike DJ who putts are for birdie. Look Brandt Snedcker, he too has been struggling with his iron play all year, though still being able to putt. The stat that stood out the most when he cruise to a win 3 weeks ago was his ball striking. Sure you cant Putt awful and still win (Vijay did use to do it and Hideki does it know), but it is becoming very difficult to win on tour when you are not hitting iron shots close to the hole. Look at Jason Day, he had 9 wins between 15-16 despite being one the worst iron players on tour, he though was one the best putters from outside 25 feet. Though eventually you can’t keep making those putts, the pressure is going to weigh you down eventually. That is why he has only won since those two great season.

Sep 4, 2018 at 1:28 pm

Back in the ’80s/early ’90s there was a PGA Tour player named Tim Simpson who was a legendary ball-striker. Comparisons to the all-time greats were happening. But his putting skills were absolutely woeful, to the point where jokes were made about it.

When lowest score wins, it all comes down to putting/short game. The rest is an exercise that may be useful to help PGA Tour players work on their weak spots but that is about all it is good for. Strokes gained is getting undue attention as a useful yardstick.

Sep 3, 2018 at 9:20 am

Your Scenario #3 Putting equation doesn’t work for me. If I took 3 putts to finish from 10 feet strokes gained would = 2.61. What am I missing?

Sep 3, 2018 at 9:15 pm

The number should read -.61. With your scenario the number should be +1.39. So you were +1.39 from that distance. You want a negative number.

Apr 12, 2019 at 2:32 am

No.. this is wrong. It’s strokes GAINED. You don’t want a negative number.

Scenario 3 is incorrect because the author wrote it backwards. It should be 1.61 – 1 for the gain of .61 strokes.

Sep 2, 2018 at 11:01 pm

This is such an unrealistic example for the average golfer, they are never going to play a 450 yard par 4 and hit it 335 yards in the fairway and hit it to 10 feet from 115 yards afterwards, get out of here.

Sep 3, 2018 at 7:37 pm

There aren’t stroked gained stats for average golfers; when is the last time you’ve seen shotlink out on the muni?

Sep 2, 2018 at 8:48 pm

Game Golf will calculate this for you.

Sep 2, 2018 at 5:28 pm

Trey, I believe the Strokes Gained Putting stat must help certain ball strikers more than others due to their approach shot skills. As an example, Rose, Day, Stenson will hit the right part of the green with his precise irons and their respective 20 foot putt is in a better (possibly easier) position than another player’s 20 foot putt. I think equating all 20 foot putts is where this stat is somewhat flawed or susceptible to its problems. It should factor in the speed and break to really determine what the average pro putter would do. I look at many of the past top 20 SGP players and see many players that you would not want putting for the win. I know this is subjective, but Rose, Day, and Stenson are great ball strikers that I feel their respective SGP stat being higher has ball striking influences due to them leaving the ball in the right place vs the less precise ball strikers. If you subjectively look at the list each year, you can see some really good examples of this. Please don’t take my comments overboard, I think the SGP stat is good, just not 100 % effective at evaluating putting skill (imo).

Johnny Penso

Sep 2, 2018 at 7:20 pm

I think what you’re missing is that it’s not meant to be an accurate statistic from shot to shot but in the aggregate. On a particular hole or putt, yes there will be all kinds of differences in lies, stances, ball position, green undulations etc. but over time, with enough data points, that will all even out as the variation is generally random in nature.

Sep 2, 2018 at 12:35 pm

Is there a place to find average strokes for approach and putt distance for scratch golfers? I loaned my copy of the book out…

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Just a two-hour drive from Augusta National, the PGA TOUR heads to Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Hilton Head Island is a golfer’s paradise and Harbour Town is one of the most beautiful and scenic courses on the PGA TOUR.

Harbour Town Golf Links is a par-71 that measures 7,121 yards and features Bermuda grass greens. A Pete Dye design, the course is heavily tree lined and features small greens and many dog legs, protecting it from “bomb-and-gauge” type golfers.

The field is loaded this week with 69 golfers with no cut. Last year was quite possibly the best field in RBC Heritage history and the event this week is yet another designated event, meaning there is a $20 million prize pool.

Most of the big names on the PGA Tour will be in attendance this week with the exceptions of Hideki Matsuyama and Viktor Hovland. Additionally, Webb Simpson, Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland and Kevin Kisner have been granted sponsors exemptions. 

Past Winners at Harbour Town

• 2023: Matt Fitzpatrick (-17)
• 2022: Jordan Spieth (-13)
• 2021: Stewart Cink (-19)
• 2020: Webb Simpson (-22)
• 2019: CT Pan (-12)
• 2018: Sotoshi Kodaira (-12)
• 2017: Wesley Bryan (-13)
• 2016: Branden Grace (-9)
• 2015: Jim Furyk (-18)

In this article and going forward, I’ll be using the Rabbit Hole by Betsperts Golf data engine to develop my custom model. If you want to build your own model or check out all of the detailed stats, you can sign up using promo code: MATTVIN for 25% off any subscription package (yearly is best value).

Key Stats For Harbour Town

Let’s take a look at key metrics for Harbour Town Golf Links to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their past 24 rounds.

Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes Gained: Approach is exceedingly important this week. The greens at Harbour Town are about half the size of PGA TOUR average and feature the second-smallest greens on the tour. Typical of a Pete Dye design, golfers will pay the price for missed greens.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

• Scottie Scheffler  (+1.27)
• Tom Hoge  (+1.27)
• Corey Conners  (+1.16)
• Austin Eckroat  (+0.95)
• Cameron Young  (+0.93)

Good Drive %

The fairways at Harbour Town are tree lined and feature many dog legs. Bombers tend to struggle at the course because it forces layups and doesn’t allow long drivers to overpower it. Accuracy is far more important than power.

Good Drive % Over Past 24 Rounds

• Brice Garnett  (88.8%)
• Shane Lowry  (+87.2%)
• Akshay Bhatia  (+86.0%)
• Si Woo Kim  (+85.8%)
• Sepp Straka  (+85.1%)

Strokes Gained: Total at Pete Dye Designs

Pete Dye specialists tend to play very well at Harbour Town. Si Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk and Webb Simpson are all Pete Dye specialists who have had great success here. It is likely we see some more specialists near the top of the leaderboard this week.

SG: TOT Pete Dye per round over past 36 rounds:

• Xander Schauffele  (+2.27)
• Scottie Scheffler  (+2.24)
• Ludvig Aberg  (+2.11)
• Brian Harman  (+1.89)
• Sungjae Im  (+1.58)

4. Strokes Gained: Short Game (Bermuda)

Strokes Gained: Short Game factors in both around the green and putting. With many green-side bunkers and tricky green complexes, both statistics will be important. Past winners — such as Jim Furyk, Wes Bryan and Webb Simpson — highlight how crucial the short game skill set is around Harbour Town.

SG: SG Over Past 24 Rounds

• Jordan Spieth  (+1.11)
• Taylor Moore  (+1.02)
• Wyndham Clark  (+0.98)
• Mackenzie Hughes  (+0.86)
• Andrew Putnam  (+0.83)

5. Greens in Regulation %

The recipe for success at Harbour Town Golf Links is hitting fairways and greens. Missing either will prove to be consequential — golfers must be in total control of the ball to win.

Greens in Regulation % over past 24 rounds:

• Brice Garnett  (+75.0%)
• Scottie Scheffler  (+69.9%)
• Corey Conners  (+69.0%)
• Shane Lowry  (+68.3%)
• Patrick Rodgers  (+67.6%)

6. Course History

Harbour Town is a course where players who have strong past results at the course always tend to pop up. 

Course History over past 24 rounds:

• Patrick Cantlay  (+2.34)
• Cam Davis  (+2.05)
• J.T. Poston  (+1.69)
• Justin Rose  (+1.68)
• Tommy Fleetwood  (+1.59)

The RBC Heritage Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (24%), Good Drives (20%), SG: SG (14%), SG: Pete Dye (14%), GIR (14%), and Course History (14%)

• Shane Lowry
• Russell Henley
• Scottie Scheffler
• Xander Schauffele
• Corey Conners 
• Wyndham Clark
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Cameron Young
• Ludvig Aberg  

2024 RBC Heritage Picks

Patrick Cantlay +2000 (FanDuel)

With the exception of Scottie Scheffler, the PGA Tour has yet to have any of their star players show peak form during the 2024 season. Last week, Patrick Cantlay, who I believe is a top-5 players on the PGA Tour, took one step closer to regaining the form that’s helped him win eight events on Tour since 2017.

Cantlay limped into the Masters in poor form, but figured it out at Augusta National, finishing in a tie for 20th and ranking 17th for the week in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. The former FedEx Cup champion will now head to one of his favorite golf courses in Harbour Town, where he’s had immaculate results over the years. In his six trips to the course, he’s only finished worse than 7th one time. The other finishes include three third places (2017, 2019, 2023) and one runner-up finish (2022). In his past 36 rounds at Harbour Town, Cantlay ranks 1st in Strokes Gained: Total per round at the course by a wide margin (+2.36).

Cantlay is winless since the 2022 BMW Championship, which is far too long for a player of his caliber. With signs pointing to the 32-year-old returning to form, a “signature event” at Harbour Town is just what he needs to get back on the winning track.

Tommy Fleetwood +3000 ( FanDuel )

I truly believe Tommy Fleetwood will figure out a way to win on American soil in 2024. It’s certainly been a bugaboo for him throughout his career, but he is simply too talented to go another season without winning a PGA Tour event.

At last week’s Masters Tournament, Fleetwood made a Sunday charge and ended up finishing T3 in the event, which was his best ever finish at The Masters. For the week, the Englishman ranked 8th in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, 10th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking and 16th in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Harbour Town is a perfect layout for Fleetwood, and he’s had relative success at this Pete Dye design in the past.  In his four trips to the course, he’s finished inside of the top 25 three times, with his best finish, T10, coming in 2022. The course is pretty short and can’t be overpowered, which gives an advantage to more accurate players such as Fleetwood. Tommy ranks 8th in the field in Good Drive % and should be able to plot his way along this golf course.

The win is coming for Tommy lad. I believe there’s a chance this treasure of a golf course may be the perfect one for him to finally break through on Tour.

Cameron Young +3300 ( FanDuel )

Cameron Young had a solid Masters Tournament last week, which is exactly what I’m looking for in players who I anticipate playing well this week at the RBC Heritage. He finished in a tie for 9th, but never felt the pressure of contending in the event. For the week, Young ranked 6th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 6th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking.

Despite being one of the longest players off the tee on the PGA Tour, Young has actually played some really good golf on shorter tracks. He finished T3 at Harbour Town in 2023 and ranks 20th in the field in Good Drive% and 16th in Greens in Regulation in his past 24 rounds. He also has strong finishes at other shorter courses that can take driver out of a players hand such as Copperhead and PGA National.

Young is simply one of the best players on the PGA Tour in 2024, and I strongly believe has what it takes to win a PGA Tour event in the very near future.

Corey Conners +5500 ( FanDuel )

Corey Conners has had a disappointing year thus far on the PGA Tour, but absolutely loves Harbour Town.

At last week’s Masters Tournament, the Canadian finished T30 but ranked 20th in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach. In his past 24 rounds, Conners ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach, 3rd in Greens in Regulation % and 24th in Good Drive %.

In Conners’ last four trips to Harbour Town, his worst finish was T31, last season. He finished T4 in 2021, T12 in 2022 and ranks 8th in Strokes Gained: Total at the course over his past 36 rounds.

Conners hasn’t been contending, but his recent finishes have been encouraging as he has finished in the top-25 in each of his past three starts prior to The Masters, including an impressive T13 at The PLAYERS. His recent improvement in ball striking as well as his suitability for Harbour Town makes Conners a high upside bet this week.

Shane Lowry (+7500) ( FanDuel )

When these odds were posted after Lowry was announced in the field, I have to admit I was pretty stunned. Despite not offering much win equity on the PGA Tour over the last handful of years, Shane Lowry is still a top caliber player who has the ability to rise to the top of a signature event.

Lowry struggled to score at The Masters last week, but he actually hit the ball really well. The Irishman ranked 1st for Strokes Gained: Approach on the week and 7th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. As usual, it was the putter that let him down, as he ranked 60th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Harbour Town is most definitely one of Lowry’s favorite courses on the PGA Tour. In his six starts there, he’s finished in the top 10 three times, including third twice. Lowry is sensational at Pete Dye designs and ranks 7th in Strokes Gained: Total in his past 36 rounds on Dye tracks. 

Lowry is perfect for Harbour Town. In his past 24 rounds, he ranks 5th in Strokes Gained: Approach, 2nd in Good Drive% and 5th in Green in Regulation %. If he figures it out on the greens, Shane could have his first win in America since 2015.

Lucas Glover +12000 ( FanDuel )

This is one of my weekly “bet the number” plays as I strongly believe the odds are just too long for a player of Glover’s caliber. The odds have been too long on Glover for a few weeks now, but this is the first event that I can get behind the veteran being able to actually contend at. 

Glover is quietly playing good golf and returning to the form he had after the understandable regression after his two massive victories at the end of 2023. He finished T20 at The Masters, which was his best ever finish at Augusta National. For the week, Lucas ranked 18th for Strokes Gained: Approach and 20th in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking.

Over his past 24 rounds, Glover ranks 9th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th in Good Drive %. Harbour Town is a short course that the 44-year-old will be able to keep up with the top players on Tour off the tee. He’s played the course more than 20 times, with mixed results. His best finishes at Harbour Town include a T7 in 2008, but recently has a finish of T21 in 2020.

Glover has proven he can contend with the stars of the Tour on any given week, and this number is flat out disrespectful.

Vincenzi: The 6 biggest takeaways from the 2024 Masters

The 2024 Masters offered up plenty of excitement throughout the week with Scottie Scheffler delivering when it mattered to live up to his pre-tournament favorite tag. With the year’s opening major now in the books, here are my six biggest takeaways from the 2024 Masters.

Scheffler In a League of His Own

In the most impressive way possible, Scottie Scheffler won the Masters without having his absolute best stuff. For the week, Scottie ranked 19th in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is a category the number player in the world typically dusts the rest of the field in. After a strong approach day on Thursday, the 27-year-old lost strokes to the field on approach on Friday and Saturday, before gaining on Sunday. The iron performance was more than solid, but it was an all-around game that helped Scheffler get it done around Augusta National.

For a year or more, the narrative around Scheffler has been, “With his ball striking, if he can just putt to field average, he’ll be unbeatable.” At Augusta, his ball striking came back down to earth, but his touch around the greens and ability to manage the golf course demonstrated why he is the best player on the planet right now. For the week, Scheffler ranked 1st in the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 24th in Strokes Gained: Putting.

For the time being, there is a major gap between Scottie Scheffler and the second-best player in the world, whoever that may be.

The Future is Now

Ludvig Aberg went into his first back-nine at the Masters with a legitimate shot to win the tournament. When he teed it up on the treacherous 11th hole, he was one behind Scottie Scheffler, who had just stuck one to a few feet on the 9th. By the time he approached his tee shot, which was perfectly striped down the left side of the fairway, he was two behind. Unfortunately, the 24-year-old got too aggressive with his approach at the 11th and found the water, making double bogey. Ludvig rebounded nicely and finished the event in solo second place.

With the Masters now in the rearview, it’s never been more evident that Ludvig Aberg is no longer an “up-and-comer” — he has arrived. The Swede has been an integral part of a winning European Ryder Cup team and has now contended at Augusta National. With a calm demeanor, a picture-perfect swing, and a build and stature that appears as if it was built in a lab, Ludvig Aberg is already amongst the world’s best. I’d be extremely surprised if he wasn’t in the mix at next month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Nostalgia Wins

I try to avoid as many cliches as possible, but there’s something about the Masters that brings out the sentimentality in me. Tiger Woods strategically making his way around Augusta National without all of the physical tools that made him arguably the most dominant athlete in the history of sports will always be riveting, regardless of what score he shoots. Woods made it interesting until a tough stretch of holes on Saturday, but he ultimately wore down, shooting 16 over for the week in difficult conditions. It’s remarkable that the 15-time major champion was able to put together a few solid rounds of golf despite barely playing any competitive golf in 2024. As long as Woods tees it up at Augusta, we will all continue to be mesmerized by it.

Verne Lundquist’s 40th and final Masters Tournament was also a must-watch aspect of the event. The iconic voice of Lundquist and his calls throughout the years still give me chills each time I hear them. Verne is an icon of the game and will be missed in future renditions of the Masters.

The Masters also brings another element that is unique to the tournament. Former champions turn back the clock to battle with the golf course again which creates some amazing stories. There are a few that stick out this year and were an absolute pleasure to witness. 61-year-old Vijay Singh made the cut for the first time since 2018 and shot a pretty incredible even-par, 72 on Sunday. 58-year-old José María Olazábal made the cut as well, reminding us why fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm sought his valuable advice prior to his Masters victory in 2022.

Regardless of who wins, the Masters always delivers.

Bryson Moves the Needle

Plenty will disagree with me on this point, but outside of Tiger Woods, and potentially Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, no one moves the needle in golf as much as Bryson DeChambeau. The uniqueness in which Bryson approaches the game has always been fascinating, and if he gets near the top of the leaderboard at any major championship, whether it’s to root for him or against him, people are interested.

It began on Monday with a pretty bizarre story of DeChambeau using 3D-printed irons that got just got cleared for use by the USGA when the week began. It once again felt like a storyline that would only be possible with a character as eccentric as Bryson. He then raced off to a first-round lead in tough conditions, reminding the world of what made him such a great golfer to begin with. He made some mistakes on the weekend, but still finished a career best T6 at The Masters.

Bryson is more than just quirky; he is a former U.S. Amateur Champion and U.S. Open who I believe will contend for more majors in the future. I will continue to root for DeChambeau, but I’m perfectly content with the fact that plenty will root against him, and I encourage those people to do so. That’s what makes it fun.

LIV Walks Away Empty-Handed

Last year, there were a multitude of questions about LIV players coming into the year’s first major. They had played very limited tournament golf, and critics of LIV questioned whether the 54-hole events were enough to sharpen the players enough to compete against the best in the world on the biggest stage.

The results were fascinating, with LIV players all over the leaderboard. Brooks Koepka held the 36- and 54-hole lead, with Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed finishing T2 and T4, giving LIV three golfers in the top-4 of the leaderboard.

This season, with even more time removed and with some more massive additions to the roster, the intrigue surrounding LIV players at Augusta was once again palpable. While some players, including Bryson DeChambeau, exceeded expectations, I can’t help but walk away from the Masters feeling underwhelmed by the performance of the LIV players.

Brooks Koepka finished runner-up last season and is a certified major championship killer. The 5-time major champ was never involved and simply didn’t have it at Augusta. Dustin Johnson put together a putrid performance, shooting 13 over for his two rounds, making it fair to wonder if his days of contending at major championships are over as he rapidly approaches his 40th birthday.

Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann were both players who were amongst the favorites this week, but Rahm was faced with the daunting duties of defending champion and Niemann proved he was still not quite ready to master the quirks of Augusta National, bleeding strokes both around and on the greens.

To be fair, when all was said and done, LIV had four players in the top twelve at The Masters. Tyrrell Hatton stormed the leaderboard early on Sunday, finishing T9 and earning himself an invite back to Augusta next season. Cam Smith and Patrick Reed put together gritty performances, which isn’t too surprising considering the fact that they both absolutely love Augusta National, but neither ever felt a real threat to win. There’s no doubt the players on LIV are good, and that’s why some encouraging leaderboard positions aren’t enough. They needed to contend.

With no players part of the storyline on Sunday, I view the first major of the year as a disappointment for LIV. The players will head into next month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla with a lot to prove.

Rory’s Struggles Continues

Rory struggling at Augusta National is no surprise at this point. The four-time major champion has now had 10 attempts to complete the career grand slam and has never had a chance to win. His T2 in 2022 was deceiving, the Northern Irishman stormed the leaderboard on Sunday, but was never in contention, and never got within three shots of the winner, Scottie Scheffler.

I didn’t expect Rory to win, but I have to admit that this year felt a bit different. McIlroy played the week prior to the Masters, which he typically doesn’t do, and finished third at the Valero Texas Open. He gained 7.56 strokes on approach and 2.0 strokes off the tee, which told me that his visit with world-renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, after the Players Championship paid dividends.

McIlroy also approached the media quite differently. He cut his pre-tournament press conference short after only 10 minutes and seemed to be laser-focused on just playing golf.

Despite the different approach to the Masters, the results were the same. McIlroy struggled over the course of the week, finishing T22 (+4) and never sniffed a decent weekend position on the leaderboard. It’s back to the drawing board for McIlroy, and I have doubts that he will ever figure it out at Augusta.

Vincenzi: The 8 best prop bets for the 2024 Masters

We’ve finally reached The Masters and excitement is at an all-time high. The world of golf has been fractured for the better part of two years, but for a week at Augusta National, all of the outside noise will disappear. All of the best players in the world will be together seeking to make history.

• RELATED:   Vincenzi’s 2024 Masters betting preview: Niemann to play star role at Augusta National

In addition to betting on The Masters champion. This is one of the few weeks of the year where there are so many more markets to explore, with value to be had in plenty of different categories.

Throughout this article, I’ll discuss all of my favorite props and players for the 2024 Masters.

Placement Bets:

Tony finau top 5 +750 (draftkings):.

I badly wanted to include Tony Finau in my outright betting selections, but I simply ran out of room on my card. Additionally, it’s slightly difficult to see him hitting the putts necessary to win the Masters on back nine on Sunday. However, I do strongly believe he will play great golf this week at Augusta National.

In his past 24 rounds, Finau ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Approach is always amongst the best drivers of the golf ball in the game. Back in 2019, Finau had a great chance to win The Masters. I expect him to be hanging around over the weekend once again in 2024.

Gary Woodland Top 20 +550 (DraftKings), Gary Woodland to make the cut -110 (DraftKings):

Last season, Gary Woodland had his best ever finish at The Masters in his eleven tries. The 39-year-old finished T14 and played incredibly steady across all four rounds.

In Woodland’s most recent start at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, he struck the ball incredibly well. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach (+8.8) and Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (+10.0).

Gary has been working with Butch Harmon and absolutely flushing the ball both in tournaments and during practice.

Woodland appears to be healthy once again and in a great place physically and mentally. If he can build off his impressive performance at Augusta last year, he can place inside the top ten in 2024.

Additionally, the make the cut number on Woodland seems generous considering the number of players who miss the cut will be relatively small this week. Woodland is striking it well enough to make the cut even if he’s hindered by a balky putter once again.

Thorbjorn Olesen Top 20 +400 (FanDuel):

The Thunder Bear, Thorbjorn Olesen, made his Masters debut in 2013 and finished an incredibly impressive T6 for the week. In the two additional starts he’s made at Augusta National since then, the Dane has continued to be incredibly solid, finishing T44 and T21.

This week, Olesen heads into the week playing some good golf. He gained 3.8 strokes on approach and 5.52 strokes around the green at last week’s Valero Texas Open on his way to a strong T14 finish. Back in January, he won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship on the DP World Tour.

Olesen has the skill set to be successful at Augusta and seems primed for a good performance this week.

Top Nationalities:

Sergio garcia top spanish player +280 (draftkings):.

I believe Sergio Garcia can get into contention this week with the way he’s striking the ball in addition to his good vibes with a refurbished version of the Scotty Cameron that he used at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah.

I am slightly concerned about the emotional letdown he may face after losing in a playoff at LIV Miami, but I believe a veteran and former Masters champion should be able to regroup and focus on an event far more meaningful.

This is essentially a tournament head-to-head with Jon Rahm at +280. While Rahm deserves to be respected this week, the history of the lack of success of defending champions at The Masters is difficult to ignore.

Joaquin Niemann Top South American Player -230 (FanDuel):

While I hate paying this much juice, I don’t see a world in which Joaquin Niemann isn’t the top South American this week at The Masters. Joaco comes in playing better golf than anyone in the world not named Scottie Scheffler and has a serious chance to win the green jacket.

He only needs to beat two players: Emiliano Grillo and Camilo Villegas.

Tournament Head-to-Heads:

Justin thomas -110 over collin morikawa.

JT isn’t having his best season but is playing a lot better than he is getting credit for at the moment. In the past three months, there are only six players on the PGA Tour who have averaged 1.7 Strokes Gained: Tee to Green or better. Justin Thomas (+1.7) is one of the six and is currently tied with Rory McIlroy (+1.7).

Morikawa, on the other hand, has been extremely poor with his irons, which is incredibly uncharacteristic for him. I can’t help but feel like something is completely off with the two-time major champion.

Tony Finau -110 over Wyndham Clark

I explained in the placement section why I’m so high on Tony Finau this week. With how well he’s striking the ball, it seems as if his floor is extremely high. I’m not sure if he can make the putts to win a green jacket but I believe he will be in the mix similarly to 2019 when Tiger Woods emerged from a crowded pack of contenders.

Clark is a debutant, and while some debutants have had success at The Masters, it certainly poses a challenge. I also don’t believe Augusta National suits Clark as well as some of the other major championship venues.

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The CJ Cup Byron Nelson

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The golf stats that matter most on the PGA Tour

Consider, for a moment, Denny McCarthy. In the 2019-20 season, he was the strokes gained/putting champion of the PGA Tour , and almost became just the second person (after Jason Day) to average an entire stroke gained over the field per round. It was his second straight mythical putting title, and it’s not even a little hyperbolic to call him one of the greatest putters on Earth. That said, if you know anything about Denny McCarthy, you know he’s not one of the greatest players on Earth. In the two seasons when he led the PGA Tour in putting, he finished 111th and 73rd in the FedEx Cup standings and only managed six top-10s in 51 tournaments. There’s no doubt that he’s very good, but there’s also no doubt that in this case, his brilliant putting didn’t translate to superlative results.

Golf, like many sports, is fertile ground for folk wisdom. If you’ve spent time around a course, you’ve heard the expression “drive for show, putt for dough.” McCarthy’s case would cast some doubt on this formulation, but of course the 27-year-old is just one person and it would be a mistake to draw any statistical conclusions from the smallest possible sample size. Right or wrong, though, the “putt for dough” idea is attempting to answer a question of critical importance for players: Which skill matters the most? Which specific aspect of golf has the greatest correlation to sustained success? And which elements are less important than we think?

To search for the answer, I reached out to Rick Gehman, founder of RickRunGood.com and a Golf Digest contributor. There are a few brilliant numbers guys in golf, and he’s one of them. As expected, he took the concept and blew it out of the water. In his words:

I’ve attached a sheet that looks at the 130 official PGA Tour stats and compares them for the 2020 season FedEx Cup Regular Season Points. With only one year, and a shortened one at that, there’s going to be more randomness than usual BUT I think the list certainly passes the eye test.

Gehman’s method was what he called a “straightforward regression model,” in which two variables are compared to each other using 129 qualifying players. The steady variable is FedEx Cup points accrued by a player during the regular season, which was our metric for success (you could argue that total strokes-gained average is better, but I wanted to go by the PGA Tour’s own standard, albeit before the points blow up in the playoffs and skew the results). The second variable is the other 130 stats, with a ranking value assigned to each based on a player’s finish in the year-end standings. By finding out which ones have the closest correlation to each other, you can see which statistics might predict success.

In simpler words, this shows us what the best players did the best.

RELATED: The top 100 PGA Tour pros in 2021, ranked

Let me echo Gehman’s caution up top: With only an abbreviated season’s worth of data, there is bound to be some statistical noise, and to draw definite conclusions of any kind, you’d need to look at a years-long study.

With that said, the list can be found here . The higher the number, the more closely correlated the result is with FedEx Cup success. A few observations:

• As a quality control test, it’s good to see that “official money” and “Official World Golf Ranking” are the top two. Clearly, if these didn’t correlate with our concept of success, something would be seriously wrong.

• Of the comprehensive strokes-gained numbers, SG/approach the green is the most “important” to overall success. It’s the top stat after money and World Ranking, and it’s even above SG/total, which comes in fourth. That last fact is the least intuitive of the results and probably deserves closer inspection.

RELATED: What the sophisticated golf fan should be looking for in 2021

• The top six are: SG/approach the green, SG/off-the-tee, scoring average, SG/total, SG/around the green, and SG/tee-to-green. Again, this all stands to reason and functions as good quality control.

The saying "putt for dough" on the PGA Tour hasn't held up the last two seasons, as Denny McCarthy led both times in strokes gained/putting but finishing 111th and 76th on the FedEx Cup points list, respectively.

Gregory Shamus

• But you might have noticed something missing … where’s putting? Incredibly, SG/putting ranks 64th on the list, exactly at the halfway mark. It’s hard not to think of that number in relation to McCarthy, and while the warning above still has to be observed, it definitely raises some questions about the relative value of putting.

• Looking at the top of the list, there are a lot of stats like “birdie average” and “scoring average” that you’d expect. But when you start getting into highly specific stats, like driving distance and “approaches from > 200 yards” you see the putting categories appear only after several tee-to-green stats.

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• In particular, long approaches seem to be of some importance. Approaches from longer than 175 yards seem more correlated with success than anything on the green. Greens in regulation is hugely critical, coming in 16th.

• Scrambling matters, too. Not only is SG/around the green fifth overall, but scrambling itself (31st), sand-save percentage (35th), scrambling from the rough (44th) and scrambling from 10-20 yards (49th) are all relatively high.

• Interestingly, “consecutive cuts” finished dead last, one of only two stats with a negative correlation value. Clearly, in a system like the FedEx Cup where points are top heavy, consistency without at least sporadic excellence is a dubious merit.

• In the “Bryson was right” department, driving distance average (28th) is more closely correlated with success than driving-accuracy percentage (52nd).

• If you’re looking for a magic secret stat that perfectly predicts success, you’ll be disappointed. Personally, I was hoping that we’d somehow find out that all the best players were wizards from the left rough between 150-175 yards. Alas …

RELATED: 7 sleepers you need to watch in 2021

After reading Gehman’s list, I wanted to try one more approach that looked only at the top 30 players on tour from last season. It’s less scientific, but I thought it might be worthwhile. Luis Rivera at the PGA Tour helped immensely by providing me with a spreadsheet of the overall ranking in all the major strokes-gained categories from the top 30 in the 2020 FEC rankings. With these numbers, it was possible to do a quick and dirty check for success correlation.

A clutch putt from Mackenzie Hughes, something his stats show he's prone to do, at the BMW Championship earned him the last spot into the 2020 Tour Championship.

Stacy Revere

With fewer players, there will be outliers, and the data will necessarily be less precise. As an example, we can look at Mackenzie Hughes, who missed nine of his first 11 cuts, then made it all the way to the Tour Championship by virtue of catching fire late. He’s in the McCarthy vein, having finished eighth in putting but worse than 140th in the other major categories. Meanwhile, Hideki Matsuyama goes the other way, cleaning up from off the green but finishing a sad 170th in putting.

Here were the average season-ending rankings for each category among this group of 30:

SG/total : 29.7 SG:/tee-to-green : 41.47 SG/approach : 52.97 SG/off-the-tee : 53.67 SG/putting : 65.73 SG/around the green : 71.9

The similarity here is that putting is relatively low, and the biggest difference comes with “around the green,” which looks a lot less significant here. (Also, fans of strokes gained will be relieved to know that SG/total is No. 1 here, as you’d expect it to be.) Again, Gehman’s method is the more sophisticated metric, and should take precedence, but it’s interesting to see what changes and what doesn’t with a slightly different method.

The broad conclusion is that when you look at 2020, tee-to-green golf seems to be a more useful skill than putting. In the real world, a great player needs both, but we may want to get ahead of the curve and tweak that famous expression: Putt for show, do everything else for dough.

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Drivers used by pga tour players ranked in the top 10 in strokes gained off the tee, share this article.

With the Fall Series and the West Coast Swing now in the rearview mirror and the PGA Tour’s Florida Swing having started, there have been enough events played in the 2021-2022 season to start to get a good statistical feel for the game. Most players have competed in at least four to six events, so their stats have meaning and are less likely to see wild changes based on one week’s performance.

One of the most coveted stats on the PGA Tour is strokes gained off the tee, which measures the advantage (or disadvantage) a player has exclusively from his performance on par 4s and par 5s off the tee. A positive number means a player is better than the average golfer on Tour, while a negative number means the player is worse than average. Golfers who excel in this statistic tend to make a lot of money, find themselves in contention on the weekends and become household names. The best season-ending strokes gained off the tee average ever was turned in by Bubba Watson in 2012 (1.485), and Rory McIlroy has finished the season ranked either first or second five times in the past 10 years.

Below is a list of the golfers who rank in the top 10 in strokes gained off the tee, along with the drivers they are currently using.

We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

10. Ryan Palmer, 0.651 strokes gained off the tee

Ryan Palmer (Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)

DRIVER: TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ (9 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 60 shaft

TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ : $599.99 at GlobalGolf

9. Corey Conners, 0.664

Corey Conners (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

DRIVER: Ping G400 LST (8.5 degrees), with UST Mamiya Elements Gold 6X shaft

Ping G400 : $397 at Carl’s Golfland

8. Collin Morikawa, 0.666

Collin Morikawa (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

DRIVER: TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ (9 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana White D+ 60 TX shaft

7. Luke List, 0.685

TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ driver (David Dusek/Golfweek)

DRIVER: TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ (9 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana DF80 TX shaft

6. Sergio Garcia, 0.687

Sergio Garcia (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

DRIVER: TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ (8 degrees), with Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft

5. Patrick Cantlay, 0.692

Patrick Cantlay (Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports)

DRIVER: Titleist TS3 (9.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi ZF60 TX shaft

4. Sungjae Im, 0.711

Sungjae Im (Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)

DRIVER: Titleist TSi2 (8 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-7 X shaft

Titleist TSi2 : $549 at Global Golf

3. Keith Mitchell, 0.793

Keith Mitchell (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

DRIVER: Mizuno ST-Z (9.5 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS T1100 6.5 75X shaft

Mizuno ST-Z : $399.99 at GlobalGolf / $399.95 at Dick’s Sporting Goods

2. Cameron Young, 0.837

Cameron Young (Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)

DRIVER: Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees), with Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX shaft

Titleist TSi3 : $549.99 at GlobalGolf

1. Jon Rahm, 1.227

Jon Rahm (Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)

DRIVER: Callaway Rogue ST Three Diamond LS (10.5 degrees), with Aldila Tour Green 75 TX shaft

Callaway Rogue ST Three Diamond LS : $549.99 at GlobalGolf

See more equipment: Best drivers for 2024 | Best irons for 2024 | Best putters for 2024 | Best golf balls for 2024 We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

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Sports Betting

2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson odds, picks, sleepers: Alex Norén, Adam Scott and Tom Hoge among the best bets

The CJ Cup Byron Nelson is the last chance for players to qualify for the sixth signature event of the 2024 PGA season, the Wells Fargo Championship. The 156 PGA Tour members and sponsor exemptions who are teeing it up this week will be battling for their share of a $9.5 million purse and the 500 FedEx Cup points that go to the winner.

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Players will need to go low just to make the cut as the cut was 4-under last year. The early pace was set by S.Y. Noh in 2023 as he opened with a 60, but was unable to keep his foot on the gas. He finished tied for 74th.

The middle of the PGA Tour season feels a bit muddled with signature events, opposite-field events, and of course the team event at the Zurich Classic. The signature events haven’t drawn the attention the PGA Tour was hoping and honestly, the best thing I have seen since Scottie Scheffler won the Masters was Rory McIlroy’s rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” at the Zurich Classic after-party. Once again proving that you don’t mess with an Irishman or a Filipino when it comes to karaoke skills.

The CJ Cup hasn’t been played since 2022 when McIlroy successfully defended his title, but makes its return as the sponsor for the Byron Nelson. Jason Day is your defending champion after winning with a score of 23-under at TPC Craig Ranch. He has been inconsistent this season and has struggled with his iron play. The field overall isn’t very strong with a signature event on the schedule next week followed by the PGA Championship the following week. Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Will Zalatoris are the biggest names in the field.

Driving distance is not a big factor this week even though TPC Craig Ranch measures over 7,400 yards as a Par 71. My model will consist of strokes gained on approach, strokes gained from 100 yards, birdie or better percentage, birdie streak, strokes gained around the green, strokes gained putting, strokes gained in the wind, strokes gained on easy Par 5s and strokes gained at TPC Craig Ranch at a smaller number. The numbers might be a little skewed as a few tournaments that have been played recently haven’t been measured and the field at the bottom consists of a lot of players with very little data.

Course information

Course: TPC Craig Ranch — McKinney, Texas

Designed by: Tom Weiskopf

Yards: 7,414 yards

Average green size: 6,778 square feet

Features: TPC Craig Ranch was changed from a Par 72 to a Par 71 for the 2023 edition, but that didn’t slow down the scoring. The Par 5 12th was changed from a short Par 5 to a long Par 4, which made it the second hardest hole on the golf course. The scoring average was still just a tick over 69 in 2023. TPC Craig Ranch has hosted the Byron Nelson since 2021 with KH Lee winning the first two editions and Day winning last year. The course features zoysia fairways and large bent grass greens. The stadium set up on the short Par 3 17th makes for the start of an exciting closing stretch as players have a chance to score on the short Par 3 and then a fairly easy Par 5 finish at 18. Wind will be a factor this week with gusts at or above 20 mph being fairly common and storms will threaten throughout the week.

Betting slip

Odds are from  BetMGM  and update live.

Alex Norén +2500 is my top play this week even if he has never once come through for me besides a few first-round leader bets. He comes into this week second in the field in strokes gained and fourth in greens in regulation over his last 36 rounds. His lack of driving distance shouldn’t hurt him this week and he already has two top 21 finishes here.

Adam Scott +2500 comes into this week first in strokes gained total in the field and fifth in strokes gained putting over his last 36 rounds. He had a T8 here last year and is coming off of a T22 at the Masters and a T14 at the Valero Texas Open.

Sungjae Im +2800 has struggled this year with consistency. When his driver is going, his iron play has been erratic. When he is putting well, his driver all of a sudden disappears. He has started to show some signs that he is rounding into form as he is coming off of a T12 at the RBC Heritage and a win in his native South Korea.

Tom Hoge +3300 comes into this week first in the field in strokes gained on approach and 10th in strokes gained putting over his last 36 rounds. He is fourth in strokes gained total and is coming off of two straight top 18 finishes before his team missed the cut at the Zurich Classic.

Seamus Power +6000 is coming off of a T12 at the RBC Heritage and has three straight top 19 finishes at TPC Craig Ranch. He has gained strokes on approach in five straight with his best week coming at the RBC Heritage where he gained over three strokes on approach. He has gained more than 1.9 strokes with his putter in two of his last three outings.

Jordan Spieth $10,900 has an excellent course history here and a stellar record when teeing it up in Texas, but he is struggling with a wrist injury and has not been himself even on tracks where he excels. After missing the cut at the Masters, he finished T39 at the RBC Heritage and the only reason he finished that high was he gained over .4 strokes with his putter. This price will still attract many DFS players, but I will not be one of them. I might put him in one GPP lineup just in case he catches lightning in a bottle.

Si Woo Kim $9,800 is local to TPC Craig Ranch and finished T2 here last year. He comes into this week sixth in the field in driving accuracy and second in strokes gained tee to green. His putter has been an issue, but it hasn’t stopped him from piling up top 30 finishes.

Sungjae Im $9,700 See above.

Adam Scott $9,600 See above.

Alex Norén $9,500 See above.

Tom Hoge $9,100 See above.

Mark Hubbard $8,100 comes into this week second in fantasy points gained over his last 36 rounds and has two straight top 34 finishes here. His price is a little high, but his recent form says he is still a solid play this week despite not being in his usual $7,000 range.

Davis Thompson $7,900 is coming off of four straight made cuts and two top 21 finishes in singles events. He is inside the top 15 in strokes gained tee to green and fantasy points gained over his last 36 rounds.

Seamus Power $7,900 See above.

Doug Ghim $7,700 is third in the field in strokes gained tee to green and inside the top 10 in driving accuracy and fantasy points gained over his last 36 rounds. He missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open and the Houston Open, but bounced back the last two weeks. He finished T19 here last year.

Chan Kim $7,600 has been very consistent with many of his key stats falling inside the top 30 in the field over his last 36 rounds. He doesn’t have any experience at TPC Craig Ranch, but he has two straight top 14 finishes in regular events.

Thorbjørn Olesen $7,600 had a T14 at the Valero Texas Open and made the cut at the Masters. He struggles with driving distance and greens in regulation, but he makes up for a lot of it with his strokes gained on approach and short game. He pops in my model so this might be a week to go back to the Olesen well.

Justin Lower $7,500 has three straight top 28 finishes in regular events and has made the cut here each of the last two years. He is 28th in the field in strokes gained approach and 20th in strokes gained total over his last 36 rounds.

Peter Kuest $7,500 has two straight top 10 finishes in regular events and finished T15 here last year. He is sixth in the field in greens in regulation and fantasy points gained over his last 36 rounds.

CT Pan $7,300 finished fourth here last year and is inside the top 40 in strokes gained on approach and around the green over his last 36 rounds.

Nate Lashley $7,300 comes into this week eighth in strokes gained tee to green and fourth in driving accuracy over his last 36 rounds. He has two straight top 23 finishes here and played well in Texas finishing inside the top 40 at both the Valero Texas Open and the Houston Open.

Ben Martin $7,000 comes into this week 20th in the field in strokes gained approach and finished T7 at the Valero Texas Open. He finished T26 in his only start at TPC Craig Ranch.

Kevin Tway $6,900 comes into this week 10th in the field in greens in regulation and finished third at the Corales Puntacana Championship. He finished T11 here last year. Tway is a risk-reward player and should only be used in GPPs.

Brice Garnett $6,800 comes into this week inside the top 20 in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation over his last 36 rounds. He is also inside the top 30 in strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained around the green over that same time frame. He has three straight made cuts here and is coming off of a T18 at the RBC Heritage.

Henrik Norlander $6,500 finished T34 here last year and comes into this week ranked eighth in the field in strokes gained approach, seventh in strokes gained putting, and third in greens in regulation over his last 36 rounds.

Kris Kim $6,000 is a 16-year-old amateur who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption that you should file away for the future. He might be the best young player in the world and it wouldn’t surprise me if he showed up on the leaderboard on Thursday.

One and done

Each week, we will pick in reverse order of the standings, and we can’t duplicate picks in the same week. Reference this spreadsheet tracking who we have used.

Brody Miller: $5,790,459.83

Hugh Kellenberger: $4,929,899.13

Dennis Esser: $2,446,486

Dennis Esser: I hope you haven’t been riding my coattails this season because I am barely hanging around in my one and done leagues. If you have Alex Noren at your disposal I would definitely look at taking him. I had a choice between Adam Scott and Tom Hoge and I decided to take Tom Hoge because he is first in the field in strokes gained approach over his last 36 rounds and is top 10 in strokes gained putting over that same time frame.

Hugh Kellenberger:  I considered Tom Hoge, but given Dennis’ track record this year I’m going to steer away and go with another Tom — Tom Kim . The Dallas resident should feel at home at TPC Craig Ranch and always seems to perform at events like this one, where the field is just OK and most of the stars are somewhere else.

Brody Miller: Si Woo Kim is quietly having a career in year in tee to green and rising up to No. 21 on DataGolf. The only reason there isn’t more attention on it is because he’s racking up top 30s but hasn’t been higher than 6th. In a very weak field, I’ll take Si Woo to have his big week.

(Photo of Alex Norén: Raj Mehta / Getty Images)

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Dennis Esser is a contributor to The Athletic, covering golf through the lens of sports betting and fantasy sports. A resident of New Jersey, Dennis' writing has appeared in numerous fantasy and betting outlets.

Kevin Chappell Betting Profile: THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

Betting Profile

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At the Corales Puntacana Championship, Kevin Chappell struggled, missing the cut at Puntacana Resort & Club (Corales Golf Course). He is trying for a better outcome in the 2024 THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson May 2-5 in McKinney, TX.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson Tournament & Course Info

• Date: May 2-5, 2024
• Location: McKinney, TX
• Course: TPC Craig Ranch
• Par: 71 / 7,414 yards
• Purse: $9.5M
• Previous Winner: Jason Day

At THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

• Over Chappell's last two visits to the THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, he has missed the cut each time.
• Chappell missed the cut (with a score of -1) in his most recent go-round at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in 2023.
• Jason Day won this tournament in 2023 with numbers of 3.251 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (16th in field), 6.297 in SG: Approach the Green (third), and 2.692 in SG: Putting (28th).
• In addition, Day's average driving distance was 306.8 (23rd in field), he hit % of greens in regulation (), and he averaged 27.25 putts per round (13th).

Chappell's Recent History at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson

Chappell's recent performances.

• In his last five events, Chappell has an average finish of 28th.
• He's qualified for the weekend in two of his last five tournaments.
• Chappell has finished with a score lower than the tournament average in two of his last five appearances.
• He has an average score relative to par of -8 in his last five appearances.
• Kevin Chappell has averaged 301.1 yards off the tee in his past five tournaments.
• In his past five starts, Chappell is averaging -1.479 Strokes Gained: Putting.
• Chappell is averaging -3.403 Strokes Gained: Total in his past five tournaments.

Chappell's Advanced Stats and Rankings

• Chappell has put up a Strokes Gained: Off the Tee average of -0.668 this season (177th on TOUR). His average driving distance (301.1 yards) ranks 60th, while his 52.8% driving accuracy average ranks 169th.
• In terms of Strokes Gained: Approach, Chappell ranks 173rd on TOUR, putting up an average of -0.722, while he ranks first with a Greens in Regulation mark of %.
• On the greens, Chappell has delivered a 0.162 Strokes Gained: Putting mark this season, which ranks him 69th on TOUR. In addition, he ranks first with a putts-per-round average of , and he ranks first by breaking par % of the time.

Chappell's Best Finishes

• Chappell, who has played six tournaments this season, is still looking for his first top-10 finish.
• In those six tournaments, he had a 50% success rate in terms of making the cut (three cuts made).
• With 49 points, Chappell currently sits 174th in the FedExCup standings.

Chappell's Best Strokes Gained Performances

• This season, Chappell's best Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee performance came at the Mexico Open at Vidanta in February 2024, as he ranked in the field with a mark of 0.138.
• Chappell's best Strokes Gained: Approach effort this season came at the Valero Texas Open, where he ranked 52nd in the field with a mark of 0.343 (he finished 33rd in that event).
• In terms of Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, Chappell's best effort this season was at the Valero Texas Open, where he ranked ninth in the field with a mark of 4.199 (he finished 33rd in that tournament).
• At the WM Phoenix Open in February 2024, Chappell delivered his best Strokes Gained: Putting mark this season (6.384). That ranked fifth in the field.
• Chappell delivered his best Strokes Gained: Total mark this season (4.154) at the Valero Texas Open in April 2024. That ranked 33rd in the field.

Chappell's Strokes Gained Rankings

Chappell's past results.

All stats in this article are accurate for Chappell as of the start of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson.

Note: The PGA TOUR has created this story via a machine-learning model using data from ShotLink , powered by CDW, in addition to player performance data. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the information provided may not be entirely error-free.

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• T4 S.H Kim -20 Final
• T4 Byeong Hun An -20 Final
• T13 Si Woo Kim -17 Final
• T41 Sung Kang -13 Final
• T52 Tom Kim -10 Final
• T59 Kyoung-Hoon Lee -9 Final
• T59 S.Y. Noh -9 Final

2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson leaderboard, grades: Taylor Pendrith wins with birdie on No. 18 to edge Ben Kohles

Kohles' bogey on the last hole allows pendrith to earn his first pga tour victory.

Taylor Pendrith had it won and then it looked like he'd lost, but eventually snatched back his first PGA Tour victory at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday afternoon at TPC Craig Ranch.

Pendrith, who went into the final round with a lead, played well throughout the front nine but started to fade a bit on the back nine as Ben Kohles made a hard charge toward the top of the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17. Pendrith barely saved par on both holes and trailed by one going to the final hole when, just three holes earlier, he had a one-shot lead. 

At No. 18, his persistence paid dividends. Kohles made an astounding bogey after a yippy chip that was the only score worse than par by anyone in the field on Sunday, and Pendrith poured in a two-putt birdie for the first PGA Tour win of his career.

It has not been Pendrith's best year, which he alluded to in an interview after his round with CBS Sports. However, it was an awesome week at the right time. Pendrith finished third in this field from tee to green, which is usually a good formula for winning. And winning this event is a good formula for a few other checkpoints for Pendrith this year.

The first is that he gets into next week's Wells Fargo Championship. The second, and perhaps more important for Pendrith, is that he's now officially on the radar for a Presidents Cup bid later this year when the biennial event heads to Pendrith's home country of Canada where fellow Canadian Mike Weir will be captain.

Both of those are momentous turning points for Pendrith -- to date he had missed six cuts and made just four of them. But like his round on Sunday, he continued to endure and reaped the rewards of that endurance. Even if he had to wait until the very end for it to happen.  Grade: A+

Here are the grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

T11. Si Woo Kim (-17):  My guy Si Woo stays hot with another solid performance. He has not missed a cut this year, and if you look at the three non-putting strokes gained categories, he's been positive in each category for every event he's played starting with the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March except for his approach play at the Masters. That's the only time he was worse than average in any single category at any individual event. That's crazy!  Grade: B+

T30. Nick Dunlap (-14):  The American Express winner has struggled mightily since winning nearly four. months ago. He has played just one tournament in which he was positive both off the tee and with his iron play. Coming into this week, he has only one (one!) top 40 finish since winning in Palm Springs in January and turning pro. It has been an eye-opening experience for somebody who I'm still extremely excited about in the long term. Dunlap is barely 20 years old and simply struggling with the ebbs and flows of pro golf. This week must be an encouragement for him as its his second decent finish in his last four starts (he also finished T11 in Houston before the Masters).  Grade: C+

MC. Jordan Spieth (-4):  I will hit the panic button if you will. After a nice start to the year, here's what Spieth's last eight tournaments look like.

• Genesis Invitational: DQ
• Arnold Palmer Invitational: T30
• Players Championship: MC
• Valspar Championship: MC
• Texas Open: T10
• Masters: MC
• RBC Heritage: T39
• CJ Cup Byron Nelson: MC

Whew, that's bad. And while players like Spieth can almost always find something faster than it seems like they should be able to, there are so many different holes to plug. Here's an example: On Thursday in the first round at TPC Craig Ranch, Spieth hit it well, but finished 113th in putting. On Friday in the second round, he led the field in driving (what?) but finished 154th in approach play (out of 155 golfers). It's not just one thing with him. It's so many different things all the time and all at once. Winning the PGA Championship to complete the grand slam has never looked further away.  Grade: F

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On-Site Recap: Bryon Nelson Final Round

Byron Nelson Recap: Ben Kohles Falls Apart Down The Stretch

Byron Nelson Recap: Taylor Pendrith Wins In Final Hole Comeback

Byron Nelson Recap: Lookahead To Wells Fargo Championship

Highlights: Byron Nelson Round 3

On-Site Recap: Byron Nelson Round 3

Taylor Pendrith Sounds Off Following Round 3

Byron Nelson Round 3 Recap: Taylor Pendrith Leads After Round 3

Byron Nelson Round 3 Recap: Examining The Chase Pack

Byron Nelson: Pick To Win

Highlights: Byron Nelson Round 2

Jake Knapp (-14) Cards 64 Friday, Leads After Round 2

Jordan Speith (-4) Misses Cut At Byron Nelson

Pick To Win Byron Nelson After Round 2

Watch Out! Speith Hits A Spectator

Byron Nelson Round 2 Update

Highlights: round 1 - the cj cup byron nelson.

Highlights: Byron Nelson Day 1

Byron Nelson Round 1 Recap: Matt Wallace Leads After Day 1

More From Forbes

Cj cup byron nelson 2024 golf betting preview, odds and pga picks.

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Hideki Matsuyama of Japan plays his shot from the fourth tee during the final round of the AT&T ... [+] Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch on May 14, 2023 in McKinney, Texas. (Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)

The PGA Tour returns to stroke play format at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson this week following the team pairing win last week by Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in the Zurich Classic . The 156 player field for the Byron Nelson includes just Jordan Spieth (20), Jason Day (22) and Tom Kim (23) from the top 25 players in the world golf rankings after Will Zalatoris (30) withdrew Tuesday after a flare-up in his back.

The top players will attack wide open Zoysia fairways and large bentgrass greens in a birdie-fest and putting contest this week. TPC Craig Ranch is the host course for the fourth time, and the 7,414 yard course now plays to Par 71 with the 12th hole shortened from 547 yards (Par 5) to 493 yards (Par 4). Rowlett Creek runs through the property and crosses 14 of the 18 holes.

TPC Craig Ranch is located in McKinney about 30 miles north of Dallas, where FanDuel ambassador Jordan Spieth lives and enters as the tournament favorite. Close behind is 2023 Byron Nelson champion Jason Day. Longshot K.H. Lee won the other two events held at TPC Craig Ranch.

The field lacks star power as most of the top pros prepare for next week’s Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte followed by the PGA Championship at Jack Nicklaus-designed Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.

CJ Cup Byron Nelson Golf Odds And Favorites

Leading favorites and contenders golf odds from FanDuel Sportsbook refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting.

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• +1400: Jordan Spieth
• +1600: Si Woo Kim
• +2000: Jason Day (defending champion)
• +2200: Alex Noren, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott
• +2500: Byeong Hun An, Stephen Jaeger
• +2800: Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Tom Hoge
• +3500: Keith Mitchell, Adam Schenk
• +4000: Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Detry
• +5000: Maverick McNealy, K.H. Lee
• +5500: Mark Hubbard
• +6000: Seamus Power, Davis Thompson, Beau Hossler
• +6500: Ben Griffin, Aaron Rai
• +7000: Doug Ghim
• +7500: Sam Stevens
• +8000: Taylor Pendrith, Kevin Yu, Nate Lashley
• +8000: Justin Lower, C.T. Pan, Chad Kim
• +9000: Jake Knapp, Ryan Fox, Matti Schmid, Luke List

72 Hole Winning Score (Par 71): Over/Under 260.5

Some key strokes gained stats and performance metrics to consider this week include:

• SG: Approach and Total (easy scoring conditions)
• SG: Putting and Off the Tee
• Birdies or Better Gained
• Proximity to hole from 200+ yards

Jordan Spieth plays his shot from the 14th tee during the final round of the Byron Nelson tournament ... [+] at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Tom Hoge leads the field in SG: Approach and No. 2 in SG: Total and No. 13 in SG: Putting over his last 36 rounds. Hoge’s best finish in three starts at TPC Craig’s Ranch is T17 in 2022 when he shot 18-under par. Jordan Spieth and K.H. Lee have the best Strokes Gained stats profiles in 8 rounds at TPC Craig Ranch. Lee is No. 1 in Approach, Total and No. 2 in Putting while Spieth is 4, 2 and 21.

Byeong Hun An ranks No. 1 in this field in Birdies or Better Gained and No. 4 in this field in Opportunities Gained over his last 36 rounds. He’s also No. 3 in Driving Distance Gained and No. 12 in Greens in Regulation Gained. Hun An also ranks top-20 in Proximity to the hole from 175-200 yards and 200+ yards and top-5 inside 125 yards. Byeong Hun An finished T8 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T16 in The Masters against stronger field on courses where driving and approach were key stats.

CJ Cup Byron Nelson Golf Picks

Leading golf analysts and contributors picks to win and top finishing position include:

• Golf Digest - Alex Noren (2), Sungjae Im, Byeong Hun An, Adam Schenk, Thomas Detry, Keith Mitchell,
• SportingLife: Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim and longshots Sam Stevens, Davis Riley, Nate Lashley and C.T. Pan
• Golf Bet - Tom Kim, Stephen Jaeger, Si Woo Kim, Mark Hubbard
• FanDuel - Si Woo Kim, Alex Noren, Tom Hoge, Mackenzie Hughes

Tournament Matchups

Additional golf betting odds from FanDuel and leading online sportsbooks are updated and adjusted througout the tournament along with props and tournament matchups.

• Sungjae Im (-120) vs. Tom Kim (+100)
• Byeong Hun An (-115) vs. Min Woo Lee (-105) - Bet Byeong Hun An
• Tom Hoge (-120) vs. Keith Mitchell (+100)
• Davis Thompson (-120) vs. Beau Hossler (+100)

How To Watch The CJ Cup Byron Nelson

All times Eastern. Tournament May 2-5

• Thursday-Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)

Thursday and Friday pairings and tee times .

Featured Groups

Thursday PGA Tour Live on ESPN+

• 8:23 am, hole #10: Tom Hoge, Brice Garnett, Daniel Berger
• 8:34 am, hole #10 : Tom Kim, Camilo Villegas, Mackenzie Hughes
• 8:45 am, hole #10 : Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Sungjae Im (Marquee)
• 8:23 am, hole #10 : Jake Knapp, Luke List, Adam Schenk
• 8:34 am, hole #10 : Stephan Jaeger, Nick Dunlap, Byeong Hun An
• 8:45 am, hole #10: Adam Scott, Si Woo Kim, K.H. Lee ‘(Marquee)

Featured holes Par 3’s at No. 4, 7 and 17 and Par 4 at No. 14

Check out more golf news , picks and information you can bet on for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and weekly golf events. The PGA Tour and leading U.S. golf courses are leading the way in technology and sustainability . The top online sportsbooks are leading the way in wagering options as betting on golf continues to be most popular with fans firing for more fairways and greens.

You can bet on it.

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