While his score of 3-under with five birdies and 2 bogeys was darn good, it was really about how much his putting got out of his ballstriking that day.
Here are the putts for each hole:
Hole Par Yds GIR? Putt Distance(s) Totals
1pbi=1-putt birdie (5)
2pp=2-putt par (7)
1pudp=1-putt up and down par (4)
2pudbo=2-putt up and down bogey (2)
1 4 434 MGIR 26 yds to 5'8 p41pudp
2 4 341 GIR 69 yds to 27'11 p41pbi
3 4 431 GIR 126 yds to 9'6 p41pbi
4 4 481 MGIR 16 yds to 3'10 1'4 p42pudbo
5 3 223 MGIR 14 yds to 10'4 p31pudp
6 5 574 GIR 27 yds to 11'0 p51pbi
7 4 443 GIR 147 yds to 28'10 2'3 p42pp
8 3 202 GIR 203 yds to 30'9 12'3 p32pp
9 4 406 GIR 140 yds to 22'8 3'10 p42pp
10 4 462 MGIR 14 yds to 3'10 p41pudp
11 3 158 GIR 160 yds to 31'2 0'7 p32pp
12 4 411 MGIR 13 yds to 0'10 p41pudp
13 5 523 GIR 22 yds to 4'10 p51pbi
14 4 421 GIR 152 yds to 28'8 p41pbi
15 4 296 MGIR 12 yds to 9'0 0'4 p42pudbo
16 3 171 GIR 159 yds to 33'9 1'1 p32pp
17 4 420 GIR 166 yds to 19'8 0'2 p42pp
18 4 444 GIR 169 yds to 26'7 2'9 p42pp
There are 9 1-putts and 1 long par putt (12'3). Of the 9, 5 are birdies and 4 are par-save putts.
The birdie putts came from distances of 27'11", 9'6", 11'0", 4'10", and 28'8". That is fantastic in itself, as these 5 birdie sinks total 81'11" (983") and average 16.4'. That's sinking a 16.4' birdie putt five times! Rockin' great putting.
The 7 other birdie opportunities were 28'10", 30'9", 22'8", 31'2", 33'9", 19'8", and 26'7". Elk 2-putted all these for par. The average of these 7 birdie opportunities is 26.2'. Roughly speaking, Elk missed 7 putts from 26.2' and 2-putted all these but sank 5 of his birdie opportunities from 16.4'!!
Facing 6 up-and-down par-save putts, Elk sank 4 and regrettably missed two -- one from 3'10" and one from 9'0". The par-saves he made were from 5'8", 10'4", 3'10", and 0'10". And then there was that 2nd putt of a 2-putt from 12'3", which is basically a par-save more like one in an up-and-down than in a routine 2-putt par.
Ignoring the kick-in from 0'10", that's six par-save putts faced for a total of 44'11" (539") for an average of 7'6". So Elk's par-save putting was 4/6 or 67% from 7'6" -- not bad.
All together, Elk hit 2/3rd of the greens (12 of 18) and saved par on the others 4 of 6 times. Of the 12 greens he reached with birdie opportunities, he converted 5 averaging 16.4' and missed but 2-putted 7 averaging 26.2'.
For the holes Elk reached in regulation, he averaged merely 1.583 putts per GIR holes and had a total of 27 putts.
In comparison to his 4-under 66 in the first round with 6 birdies and 2 bogeys, Elk had crisper and sharper ballstriking that 1st round, but his putting wasn't quite as marvelous as it was in round 2. In round 1 he reached 83% of the greens in regulation (15 of 18) but saved par only once of the 3 greens missed, and the birdie and par-save putts weren't as challenging.
Hole Par Yds GIR? Putt Distance(s) Totals
1pbi=1-putt birdie (6)
2pp=2-putt par (9)
1pudp=1-putt up and down par (1)
2pudbo=2-putt up and down bogey (2)
1 4 434 GIR 158 yds to 22'5 2'11 p42pp
2 4 341 GIR 87 yds to 6'5 p41pbi
3 4 431 GIR 132 yds to 5'2 p41pbi
4 4 481 GIR 190 yds to 22'0 p41pbi
5 3 223 GIR 218 yds to 21'0 2'5 p32pp
6 5 574 GIR 96 yds to 6'8 p51pbi
7 4 443 GIR 160 yds to 27'9 1'1 p42pp
8 3 202 GIR 194 yds to 28'0 2'6 p32pp
9 4 406 MGIR 24 yds to 22'10 1'5 p42pudbo
10 4 462 GIR 145 yds to 34'7 2'1 p42pp
11 3 158 GIR 153 yds to 30'2 2'4 p32pp
12 4 411 GIR 131 yds to 11'11 3'2 p42pp
13 5 523 GIR 68 yds to 5'11 p51pbi
14 4 421 MGIR 6 yds to 1'11 p41pudp
15 4 296 GIR 32 yds to 13'4 1'6 p42pp
16 3 171 MGIR 21 yds to 13'0 2'6 p32pudbo
17 4 420 GIR 155 yds to 0'10 p41pbi
18 4 444 GIR 143 yds to 20'1 0'6 p42pp
The 6 1-putts for birdie came from 6'5", 5'2", 22'0", 6'8", 5'11", and 0'10". The 1-putt up and down par-save came from 1'11". Ignoring the 2 putts inside 2', the 5 birdie 1-putts total 46'2" (554") and average 9'3". There's plenty to write home about in that, to be sure, but it's not as good as making 5 birdies from 16.4' in round 2.
In round 1 Elk had 29 total putts and averaged 1.600 putts on the 15 GIR holes. That's great by any standard -- just not as great as his putting in round 2.
All tolled, Elk's putting in round 1 went along with some some fantastic ballstriking and was pretty spectacular, but his BETTER putting in round 2 got more out of his ballstriking and was simply stunning!
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
