Wednesday, May 9, 2012

No wonder Rickie Fowler hasn't WON before!

I have never paid much attention to Rickie Fowler - although he is hard to miss when he shows up dressed like a giant creamsicle.  But then, if I were paid what I can only guess he is paid, I would probably...  In what little I have seen of Rickie on TV, I have concluded that he is a poor putter.  He just seems to miss too many key putts when in the spotlight.  So when I saw him sneaking up the leaderboard on Sunday at Quail Hollow I assumed that he would fall short, again.  The fact that he hung on to win surprised me and made me question my belief that Rickie's weakness is his putting.  As I try to study the winner of every event, I looked forward to taking a close look at Rickie and what he did to get his first win.

First, my impressions were correct - Rickie is a POOR putter - by PGA Tour standards.  In this event he simply putted well enough to squeak by.  The Strokes Gained Putting stats - by far the Tour's BEST stat -  support my point (for an explanation of this stat, see: At-last-putting-analysis-we-can-trust):
  • Fowler's Strokes Gained total of .672 at Quail Hollow was the second worst of the 13 Winners that I have studied this season.  Only Justin Rose putted worse in his win at Doral (.114).  
  • The 2012 Winners have averaged 1.549.  This means they have gained 1.5+ strokes on the field per round, or just over six strokes per 4-round event. 
  • Rickie has recorded NEGATIVE Strokes Gained putting totals in SIX of the TEN "measured" events this season.   (Measured means tour ShotLink data is collected.)
  • His average for these six events is -1.345 vs. only .695 for the three positive Strokes Gained totals.
  • For the season to date, Rickie is ranked 140 in this important stat.  His overall average per round is -.235.
  • This is clearly why Rickie has had trouble getting a win on Tour.  Just like the old adage that "99% of putts that don't reach the hole, don't go in" - I can add that 99% of players that give back strokes to the field on the greens, DON'T WIN!  
So how did Rickie win at Quail Hollow?
Very simply, his long game carried him to victory.  It was sharp and efficient and featured zero serious errors.  His short game complemented his long game in that it was solid and also produced no errors.  Rickie's putting - just good enough.

Driving - 2nd in accuracy, but more importantly, no penalty strokes on a very difficult driving golf course with many well-placed hazards.

GIR's - Ranked 5th with 14.25.  This is very good -  the 2012 Winners average just under 13 GIR's.

Proximity ARG - Ranked 8th @ 5' 10."  This is the stat that measures the putting distance after every shot that starts within 30 yards of the edge of the green.  The field avg. was 7' 3."

Hopefully Rickie's coach has recognized and is addressing the glaring weakness in Rickie's game.  Clearly, if he expects to contend with top tier players on the PGA Tour, he needs dramatic improvement in his putting. 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Player Ranking Report is ready!

What is it?
This new report can be run on selected players within a group (or an entire group) for a certain event or period of time.  It Ranks each player by Score and for each facet of the game in ShotByShot.com terms.  Further, it supports the analysis with the key pieces of data that most influence each piece of the puzzle.

Background
For the past two years I have prepared this report for RCGA and GAO Junior events.  The first year, I transferred each piece of data (for hundreds of players) from each player's individual analysis and did all the Rankings and summary calculations by hand.  It seemed like a good idea at the time... AND IT WAS as these unique reports were very well received.  So well received that I made a commitment to make it available as an additional feature for the appropriate groups. 

This also seemed like a good idea...  Two different programming companies, four different programmers and countless dollars have passed under the bridge BUT, FINALLY, and thanks to the professionalism of my friends at USchedule, my idea has become a reality.  The Player Ranking Report is now available as a Group Leader option.

Who wants or needs it?
The obvious candidates are:
  • HS and College Golf Teams
  • Junior programs
Instructors with motivated players that want to improve and become better competitors.  After discussing it with a long-time instructor/client, we came up with the following:
  • Build a group of similarly motivated students.
  • It will help if they are of a similar handicap range.
  • Designate Tournament days or weekends during which the players record stroke play rounds.
  • Run the reports and share/discuss them with the group.
This will be great experience and allow them to see exactly where they stand among their peers.  Great preparation for competition and for seeing what it really takes to get to the next level.

What does the report function cost? 
I have not decided yet.  For a limited time, I will allow my current Group Leaders to use it.  If interested, please contact me.
Phone:  203-968-1608
Email:  PSanders@shotbyshot.com