The Joe Durant Example

Joe Durant is probably the best ballstriker on the PGA Tour today. With a career spanning 13 years 1997-2009, he has a career average ranking for hitting greens in regulation of 7th versus Tiger Woods' career average ranking of 11th (over the same 1997-2009) or Tom Lehman's 14th (1992-2007). If you exclude his first 2 years on Tour, Durant has actually averaged 3rd in GIRs over 11 years -- absolutely dominating. Woods' best run has been the 6-year run 2003-2008 with an average ranking of 10th.

But Durant's also one of the lowest-ranking putters of all Tour players, every year. In 2008 he was simultaneously 1st on Tour in ballstriking GIRs and dead-last in putts per GIR. The only other player in modern times to hold this dubious double-crown is Sergio Garcia in 2005, 1st in GIRs and 196th in putts/GIR, versus Durant's 2nd in GIRs and 194th in putts/GIR.

So what does it mean to young players? If you think 5 hours on the range every day and 1-2 hours rolling a few 30 footers mixed with some chipping and some chit-chat, or weekly sessions with your swing coach and a few focused moments asking your caddie or your pals about putters and grips, is what feeds the bulldog, think again.

In Durant's case, over this 13 years he has started 345 events, made 212 cuts (60%, missing cuts 4 out 10 times), won 4 events, and earned a cumulative (gross) total of $12.2 million or $35,400 per start. That seems like a very full glass to amateur golfers until you look at the glass from the same perspective as other Tour players. From this perspective, Durant has seriously underperformed throughout his career.

With top-4% ballstriking, Durant has averaged only 92nd for money, which is just about exactly middle-of-the-pack of about 185 players per year. Here are the comparisons at the high end of the money:

Joe Durant

• 13 years 1997-2009
• 4 wins in 345 starts (1.1%),
• 212 cuts (61%),
• $0.940 million per year,
• $35,400 per start,
• GIR avg 7th (top-4%),
• Putts/GIR avg 151st (bottom-20%).

Tiger Woods

• 13 years 1997-2009
• 71 wins in 231 starts (30.7%),
• 225 cuts (97.4%),
• $7.495 million per year,
• $421,800 per start,
• GIR avg 11th (top-6%),
• Putts/GIR avg 38th (top-20%).

Vijay Singh

• 16 years 1994-2009
• 34 wins in 407 starts (8.4%),
• 362 cuts (89%),
• $3.830 million per year,
• $150,600 per start,
• GIR avg 39th (top-20%),
• Putts/GIR avg 82nd (top-45%).

Phil Mickelson

• 17 years 1993-2009
• 37 wins in 370 starts (10%),
• 316 cuts (84.5%),
• $3.275 million per year,
• $150,500 per start,
• GIR avg 58th (top-32%),
• Putts/GIR avg 34th (top-20%).

Sergio Garcia

• 10 years 2000-2009
• 7 wins in 185 starts (3.8%),
• 154 cuts (83%),
• $2.483 million per year,
• $134,200 per start,
• GIR avg 71st (top-40%),
• Putts/GIR avg 95th (50%).

Sergio has a respectable win percentage despite putting that is average at best. Along with Sergio Garcia and Durant, another all-time top ballstriker who has underperformed due to chronic putting difficulties is Tom Lehman.

Tom Lehman

• 16 years 1992-2007
• 5 wins in 355 starts (1.4%),
• 286 cuts (81%),
• $1.229 million / year,
• $55,400 per start,
• GIR avg 14th (top-8%),
• Putts/GIR avg 118th (bottom 40%).

What sort of career would a pro expect if he was a top-10 ballstriker who improved putting from bottom-20% to middle of the pack? The answer is "That's better than Vijay!" -- over 400% more earnings per start.

What sort of career could a middle-of-the-pack ballstriker have if he could muster top-20% putting year-in and year-out? The answer is Tim Clark -- twice as much money each year:

Tim Clark

• 8 years 2002-2009
• 0 wins in 191 starts (0%),
• 141 cuts (74%),
• $1.732 million per year,
• $72,500 per start,
• GIR avg 102nd (middle of the pack),
• Putts/GIR 33rd (top-20%).

After 13 years, Durant finished 182nd on the 2009 money list and missed qualifying at Q-School by one shot. The best ballstriker of modern times is trying to earn a card this year the hard way.

This "great ballstriker but not-so-hot putter" problem run throughout the PGA Tour. There is only one top-10 ballstriker who ranks in the top 50 for putts per GIR, and he ranks 49th. Top-50 ballstrikers who also rank at least in the top-50 for putting are a very small group (only 8 out of about 200 PGA Tour players, or 4%):

Scott Verplank GIR 32nd, Putts/GIR 16th,

Tiger Woods GIR 13th, Putts/GIR 21st,

Zach Johnson GIR 29th, Putts/GIR 29th,

Stephen Ames GIR 35th, Putts/GIR 34th,

David Toms GIR 20th, Putts/GIR 34th,

Fred Couples GIR 42nd, Putts/GIR 45th,

Hunter Mahan GIR 14th, Putts/GIR 45th,

Jonathan Byrd GIR 5th, Putts/GIR 49th.

Along with Durant, other 2009 top-10 ballstrikers in the bottom-33% of the putting stats:

John Senden GIR 1st, Putts/GIR 126th

Robert Garrigus GIR 4th, Putts/GIR 132nd

Joe Durant GIR 3rd, Putts/GIR 133rd

Briny Baird GIR 9th, Putts/GIR 134th

DJ Trahan, GIR 8th, Putts/GIR 144th

Greg Owen GIR 6th, Putts/GIR 169th

Jay Williamson GIR 2nd, Putts/GIR 188th of 189 total

The remaining three top ballstrikers are:

Jonathan Byrd GIR 5th, Putts/GIR 49th

Jason Bohn GIR 7th, Putts/GIR 82nd

Chad Campbell GIR 10th, Putts/GIR 93rd

Of the top 10 ballstrikers on the PGA Tour, 7 of them need to address major problems in their putting if they hope to compile a solid competitive record, or at least make the most with the opportunity for earnings. The other three top ballstikers could also stand some improvement.

That's the memo to the young guns on Tour -- don't go a decade on Tour ONLY with ballstriking skills above average for the Tour.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum

Putting Coach and Theorist

PuttingZone.com

Golf's most advanced and comprehensive putting instruction.

Phil at Phoenix - Close but No Cigar for Putting

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Phil Mickelson had a much better performance with his flatstick in Round 4 of the Phoenix Open, but overall his putting held him back. His final round featured 83.33% GIRs and 28 putts (1.667 putts per GIR against the field average 1.797). With the final -4 under 67, Phil climbed from T54 of 78 to T24. His tournament average of 28.5 putts per round, however, was T41 of 78 -- below average for the field. His ballstriking was average at T31.

Phil saved par with 1-putts 10 times and failed to save par with his putter 7 times. He 3-jacked a par 4 he reached in two from 20 feet, leaving the first putt nearly 5' short and then missing that putt. In four rounds he sank only 4 putts over 10' while missing 17 putts in the 11-19' range. In the 5-10' range, he sank 8 and missed 7.

After four events in 2010, Phil ranks 117th in putts per GIR (1.788) and 92nd in total putts (29.31).

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum

Putting Coach and Theorist

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Ballstriking Wins Phoenix Open

Ballstriking Wins Phoenix Open

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Hunter Mahan won the 2010 Phoenix Open with top ballstriking and only so-so putting. he was 1st in GIRs but only 71st out of 78 players in putting, with rounds of 30, 32, 30, and 30 putts (122 total). No one in the field stepped up with both top-10 ballstriking and top-10 putting to claim the title.

Of the 13 players who finished in the top 10:

• Ballstrikers: 4 were top-10 ballstrikers (Mahan & Fowler & Molder & Allenby)
• The winner (Mahan) was the top ballstriker and the worst putter of the group
• The runner-up (Fowler) was the next-best ballstriker and the next-worst putter of the group

• Putters: 3 were top-10 putters (Yang & Ogilvie & Every)
• All 3 top putters were the worst 3 ballstrikers of the group
• Tthe next 2 top putters in the 13 (not top-10 putting) (Howell & Piercy) had next-best ballstriking to the top 4 ballstrikers

• Balanced: 4 were balanced players (Goggin & Couch & Taylor & Viilegas) each ranked about 25-35 in both skills

Finish Player Putts/GIR Ttl Putts GIR (top-10 in red)

1 Mahan T71 54 1

2 Fower T56 62 T5

3 Yang T8 4 T38

T4 Goggin T34 T28 T27

T4 Couch T34 T51 T31

T4 Howell T12 21 T20

7 Taylor T28 T28 T27

T8 Molder T54 27 T5

T8 Allenby T41 T44 T10

T8 Ogilvie T16 7 T50

T8 Villegas T28 T22 T38

T8 Piercy T56 T12 T20

T8 Every T22 T9 T50

Hunter's putting was below average for the field, with total putts and putts per GIR for the four rounds of 30 (1.846), 32 (1.786), 30 (1.750), and 30 (1.706). The field average stat was 1.761 and Hunter's stat was 1.767. Among the 13 players finishing in the top 10, Mahan was the worst putter in the group. The only two players in this group with comparable ballstriking were also not great at putting (Ricky Fowler and Brice Molder, the players next worst to Mahan in putting in the top-10 group).

Mahan's ballstriking ranked 1st, hitting 83.33% of the greens compared to the field average of 69.94%. But with a total of 122 putts, Mahan had difficulty outside 10 feet, missing 19 and sinking 5 in the range 11-19'. He also had poor lags with 10 leaving next putts over 3 feet. In Phoenix there were only 3 par-5s, and despite his advantage with distance off the tee, Mahan played the par-5s with uneven putting. Although he eagled the 13th hole twice (from 16' and 8'), he also 3-putted the par-5 15th and failed to 1-putt after reaching the par-5s with a close-by third shot 6 out of 7 times. Pretty normal event.

On this occasion, Mahan was basically fortunate some other player did not step up with a combined game of putting and ballstriking. No one in the top-10 group had this combination.

The closest top putter in this group to Mahan's ballstriking was Y.E. Yang, who had T8th ranking in putts per GIR, 4th ranking in total putts, and T38 in GIRs. Yang finished two shots back. Whereas Mahan had 7 good putts in the 11-19' range, Yang had 9. Whereas Mahan had 21 poor putts in the 11-19' range, Yang had 8 fewer poor putts in this range (13). Whereas Mahan had 122 total putts, Yang had only 108. Mahan's ballstriking made up 16 shots to overcome Yang's 14-stroke putting advantage.

Ballstrikers can win on Tour without great putting, but putters cannot win when there is a great ballstriker in the field without nearly matching the ballstriking skill and then winning with the putting.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum

Putting Coach and Theorist

The best putting instruction book in golf history is now available for purchaseas an ebook download: Optimal Putting: Brain Science, Instincts, and the Four Skills of Putting (2008, 282-pages)

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Golf Owes Tiger an Apology

Golf Owes Tiger an Apology

Okay, Tiger read a script in an effort to salvage Tiger Inc. and the cash cow. Good luck with that (or, who really cares about that?).

But Tiger is not really the problem. The main problem WE have concerns the game of golf. Is golf unique as a sport of honor and integrity, or not? Does anyone not notice that "golf" is in crisis?

Golf at the present means ET-style celebrities, private Gulfstream GV jets, gi-normous mega-yachts (Tiger's is 155 feet long, Greg Norman's is 228 feet), $4,000-a-day sex rehab clinics, gold-plated helicopters toting golf toadies of Wall-Street marquee frauds, bagmen and pimps and wingmen masquerading as sports agents, secret cell phones and hook-up hotels, tabloid paparazzi following trophy wives on "Shop Therapy" junkets, lying on television, police investigations, prostitutes and whores and gigolos and threesomes, $10,000-a-hand blackjack and Jack Daniels and $2 tips, ...

So whose fault is that? Tim Finchem's, that's who! And oh yes, me. And you too.

Tiger Woods is golf's crack cocaine. He's that good. Which is too bad for golf. Golf has an addiction, and golf is stealing grandma's egg money to support it.

The cure probably won't take.

Golf enabled Tiger Woods. He was given $50,000 country club memberships at the age of 14, for heaven sakes (send us your name, please, so we can talk about you guys who did this.) IMG hired his dad under the table and off the books as a "consultant" while Tiger played junior golf, ostensibly paying Earl to keep IMG informed about the great prospects he saw competing alongside his little boy. Stanford cashed in as well. Good grief -- the Lasik surgery business that performed Tiger's laser eye surgery PAID Tiger Inc. $1 million to be allowed to do it and has since paid an additional $3 million yearly to be allowed by Tiger Inc. to mention this fact in ads. CBS paid $850 million to the PGA Tour for the first 4-year television rights cycle. Nike's Knight stroked the check for $40 million that persuaded Tiger to quit college and become a celebrity "hero" for kids who might like a cool pair of sneakers to wear when they also quit school.

So, how's it going, golf?

An apology from golf to Tiger goes something like this: "We generate $75 billion each year in consumer spending and support an entire sector of the real estate and resort industry with a capital value many times greater. Each year the lowest paid professional Tour players take home nearly $1 million each for having served as cannon fodder for Tiger, with the also-rans near the top of the heap getting $4-$5 million out of the kitty. Fans who couldn't care less about golf as a game watch the sport and buy the beer in droves only if Tiger plays. So, "we're sorry already", okay?? Now, will you please start playing again?"

Puff puff.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist

The best putting instruction book in golf history is now available for purchaseas an ebook download: Optimal Putting: Brain Science, Instincts, and the Four Skills of Putting (2008, 282-pages)

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Where's Phil's Improved Putting?

Where's Phil's Improved Putting?

I realize it's early days yet to be relying upon the stats, but Phil Mickleson's much-touted improved putting is really nowhere to be seen.

Early 2010 putting stats:

Putts per GIR: 1.818 143rd

Putts per round: 29.58 105th

Total putting: 81st

Avg distance putts made: 171st

3-putt avoidance: 63rd

Results in first 3 events of 2010:

Farmers Ins.: 19th with 1.780 putts per GIR; per round:

33 / 1.929, 27 / 1.615, 25 / 1.600, 32 / 1.923 putts (29.3 / 1.780)

Northern Trust: T45th with 1.844 putts per GIR; per round:

32 / 2.000, 26 / 1.500, 31 / 1.917, 31 / 2.000 putts (30.0 / 1.844)

Pebble Beach: T8th with 1.830 putts per GIR; per round:

33 / 1.938, 30 / 1.733, 25 / 1.889, 30 / 1.769 (29.5 / 1.830)

Of the 12 rounds so far, Phil has 4 good putting rounds, 1 fair round, and 7 pretty stink-o rounds averaging over 1.900 putts per GIR.

At Torrey Pines (Farmers Ins.), Phil's childhood and junior home course, he wasted two rounds with 33 and 32 putts and lost by 5 strokes. At Pacific Palisades (Northern Trust), he finished 14 shots out despite T26 in GIRs. At Pebble Beach he finished only 5 shots back with three bad putting days.

Not a good sign of great things to come!

In 2009 Phil won 3 times, but only when his putting was "on song" (Northern Trust 1.667, WGC-CA 1.587, and Tour Championship 1.617). He was also T2 in the US Open (1.660). But other than this, he had only two other good-putting events (under 1.750), and had 7 "bad putting" (over 1.800) events, the worst being the PGA (1.913). Altogether, not a fabulous year putting, but not terrible either. he ended the year 35th in putts per GIR (1.753), 69th in putts per round (28.92), and 134th in total putting.

In contrast, his start in 2010 appears significantly under-par for him. Last year at PB, Phil had 1.703 putts per GIR and won the Northern Trust with 1.667.

Perhaps 2010 will be a good year for Phil with the flatstick, but thus far the stats aren't glowing.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum

Putting Coach and Theorist

Optimal Putting: Brain Science, the Instincts, and the Four Skills of Putting (2008, 282-pages in full-cover) -- "The best putting instruction book in golf history." -- Bob Toski -- available as an ebook download.

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Adam Scott Needs to Fix More than His Swing

Adam Scott missed 10 of 19 cuts in 2009 including 6 in a row and in a recent interview blames his swing. This year so far he missed the cut in LA and finshed T52 at PB. He was ranked 3rd in the world in the summer of 2008, but has imploded since. "I got away from swinging like me, somehow," he said. [Mick Elliott, "Adam Scott Hoping Worst is Behind Him," Golf Industry Central, 11 Feb 2010.] What is he smoking? His MAIN problem has always been his poor putting. Add to that a poor swing, and that does not equal: "If I just get my swing back, then all's sunshine and roses."

Here are some rude facts, since pro golfers play in public:

2010: 181st in putts per GIR, 173rd in putts per round. MC in LA with 1.950 putts per GIR, and T52 at PB with 1.852 putts per GIR.

0 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

2 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 2 starts.

2009: 177th in putts per GIR, 176th in putts per round. Only one good finish, T2 in Hawaii, with 1.667 putts per GIR. All other events had terrible putting, with nine events between 1.850 and 2.000 putts per GIR, and the remaining not too hot either.

3 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

12 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 18 starts.

2008: 116th in putts per GIR, 153rd in putts per round.3 weeks of good putting early in the year (1.660, 1.714, and 1.696 in late April, winning the Byron Nelson), followed by bad putting the rest of the year, averaging close to 1.800).

3 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

6 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 14 starts.

2007: 21st in putts per GIR, 104th in putts per round.

7 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 balancing

8 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 19 starts.

2006: 64th in putts per GIR, 113th in putts per round. His career's best year, with

9 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 balancing

6 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 18 starts.

2005: 132nd in putts per GIR, 133rd in putts per round.

4 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

8 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 18 starts.

2004: 45th in putts per GIR, 79th in putts per round.

5 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

4 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 10 starts.

2003: 153rd in putts per GIR,103rd in putts per round.

3 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

7 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 13 starts.

2002: 181st in putts per GIR, 123rd in putts per round.

1 week of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

6 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 8 starts.

2001: 123rd in putts per GIR, 1st in putts per round.

1 week of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

2 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 5 starts.

2000: 175th in putts per GIR, 181st in putts per round.

1 week of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

3 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 4 starts.

Total:

37 weeks of top-50 putting under 1.750 against

65 weeks of bad putting over 1.800 in 129 starts.

That means Adam Scott has top-50 putting about 1 in 4 starts (29%), but has bad putting in 50% of his events. Overall, Adam's lifetime average over ten years 2000-2009 PGA Tour ranking for putts per GIR is 112th of 185; his career ranking for putts per round is 105th. There were only two years in ten when his putting didn't hurt him (2006-2007). His putting has been on a serious decline since 2007.

So how's his ball striking (GIR rank)? 10-year average ranking of 109th of 185 players -- not great. His best year was 2006 at 12th, but recently he had been going rapidly downhill: 2007: 72nd; 2008: 128th; 2009: 162nd.

Adam Scott can get his swing back to 2006 if he likes, but his putting is his real problem explaining his chronic underachievement.

What's odd is that he says he has analyzed his game and the problem is his swing. He doesn't even mention his putting, which has been very poor lo these many years.

"I learned a lot about what I need to do with my golf game for it to be world-class," he said. "I feel like if I can work my game and my confidence back up to the level to where I was two or three years ago, I think I can be better than then -- just with some maturity and experience. ... I got away from swinging like me, somehow," he said.

Right-o, mate. And then there's that OTHER problem in your game.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum

Putting Coach and Theorist

The best putting instruction book in golf history is now available for purchaseas an ebook download: Optimal Putting: Brain Science, Instincts, and the Four Skills of Putting (2008, 282-pages)

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Putting on Windy Greens

The 30-second takeaway message is wind at the surface of the green matters once your pants legs are flapping, and the golfer should learn the effects of strong winds by discriminating among headwinds, tailwinds, and crosswinds, as well as strength or wind speed perception and steadiness and its effect on long and short putts on slow and fast surfaces in terms of line and distance and how to play breaking putts. Surface wind is similar to slope and grain, with headwinds having the most pronounced effect on putts and any wind having the most effect when the ball is rolling slowly.

Conventional golf lore teaches that when the wind is strong enough to challenge balance, the golfer can "take in sail" by setting up in a low and compact posture with wider stance and a lower and tighter grip, and use a more decisive stroke, but the skill of appropriately playing the wind is much more than this adjustment of setup and stroke! The golfer needs to know what the wind will do to line and distance.

How the air density, direction and speed affectts the rolling ball is a bit of a trick. The cross-sectional area of the ball and the wind-ball relative directions and speeds of ball into wind create a high pressure resistance on the front of the ball and a low pressure "drag" behind the ball that is like attaching a tail to a kite or a tail-fin to a glide plane. This added "tail " or "drag" both slows the ball down and also directs the ball's path into the wind's direction. The more direct the ball roll into the wind, the greater the "drag", so sidewinds and various crosswinds create some pressure against the ball's cross-sectional area, but the relative ball-wind speed in these cases results in not so much "drag" along the ball's line of roll as happens when the ball heads straight into the wind and the net result is a smaller effective "drag" located between the wind direction and the ball direction. A little paradoxical is the cross-effects of ball speed in wind: the faster the ball rolls, the greater the "drag" slows and steers the ball, but also the faster the ball the less time the wind has to affect the roll.

Consequently, wind acts like break and grain at once. Wind effectively sticks a dab of mud ("drag") on the ball that imbalances it the same way slope imbalances a ball, and the mud dab "turns" the ball's roll according to the location of the mud and its size. That's what slope and gravity do also. Tailwinds less than the ball speed reduce the size of this mud and tailwinds faster than the ball effectively sick a dab of mud on the front area of the ball. Balls rolling directly in line with a headwind get slowed down, but also get steered to stay on line more than balls rolling in calm air or the same wind coming directly from behind.

For the wind influence on ball direction, perhaps a better image is that of the wind vane. Wind for direction X influences ball rolling in direction Y by "steering" the ball onto the wind's heading, the same way the wind steers a wind vane. The tail of the vane with a dab of mud both influence the direction of the roll similarly. The magnitude of the influence and the effect on the actual curving path of the ball depend upon the relative forces of wind and ball, given their speeds and directions and the density of the air.

The "effect" wind has on a rolling ball will depend upon the total sum of instantaneous effects of wind vector (both speed and direction of speed relative to the ball) and the ball vector at each point along the path. Hence, the longer the wind operates before the hole is reached, the greater the effect. Playing less break in the wind is similar to keeping an iron show "below" the wind, but there is a limit of how fast the ball's delivery speed can be played before the trade-off becomes negative. Sometimes, the golfer should simply accept the wind and play the wind as it is. The real trouble comes from changeable, gusting winds. That's like playing a green with the surface contour and slope or green speed changing right after you start the ball rolling!

For MUCH more about wind, perceiving and measuring wind speed and direction, and how to take this into account on the greens -- complete with video examples and tools for the knowledgeable golfer -- visit this webpage on the PuttingZone.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist

"The best putting instruction book in golf history" is now available for purchase as an ebook download: Optimal Putting: Brain Science, Instincts, and the Four Skills of Putting (2008, 282-pages, only $9.95).

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