As an admitted statistical stalker of Tiger, I have good perspective on the parts of his game that separate him from the rest and punctuate his wins. Until his two most recent wins, the dominant facet of his game has not been his putting. An outrageous statement? Let me explain:
It has been his Long Game Efficiency! Tiger consistently hit more greens in regulation in fewer long game strokes than anyone in golf. When I discovered this 2000 and 2001, I created my patented Long Game Efficiency Index to quantify his prowess. The index also works well for amateurs, and is the foundation of the Long Game analysis contained in ShotByShot.com and fully explained in: A Better Way to Track Long Game Improvement.
This is not to in any way diminish Tiger's putting. His has been consistently ranked near the top since Strokes Gained Putting has been used to analyze putting by the PGA Tour. Further, we have all witnessed over and over that Tiger is one of the best clutch putters of all time. So what is my point?
In my analysis of the Winners on the PGA Tour, putting is more often than not the difference maker and the Winners often record 'Strokes Gained' totals above 2.00 and even 3.00 (meaning that they have "gained" 2+ or 3+ strokes on the field PER ROUND. Not so with Tiger.
Since 2004, Tiger has recorded 29 wins in which Shotlink captured his putting and Strokes Gained numbers were published. Here are the Strokes Gained putting highlights of his prior 28 Wins:
This is not to in any way diminish Tiger's putting. His has been consistently ranked near the top since Strokes Gained Putting has been used to analyze putting by the PGA Tour. Further, we have all witnessed over and over that Tiger is one of the best clutch putters of all time. So what is my point?
In my analysis of the Winners on the PGA Tour, putting is more often than not the difference maker and the Winners often record 'Strokes Gained' totals above 2.00 and even 3.00 (meaning that they have "gained" 2+ or 3+ strokes on the field PER ROUND. Not so with Tiger.
Since 2004, Tiger has recorded 29 wins in which Shotlink captured his putting and Strokes Gained numbers were published. Here are the Strokes Gained putting highlights of his prior 28 Wins:
- 2013 Bay Hill was the first event with a SG total above 2.00 (an impressive 2.798)
- Tiger's prior high was 1.981 @ 2013 Honda - just 2 weeks ago.
- The average of his 28 prior wins was 1.087 vs. 1.398 and 1.360 for 2012 and 2011 winners respectively.
- Tiger posted a win at the 07 WGC Cadillac Champ. with a -.793 SG Total. This means that he won despite giving back over 3 strokes to the field in four rounds. I have seen this once before BUT in a much reduced field. It was Rory McIlroy's -.21 in the BMW Championship semi-finals of the FEDEX Cup.
Finally, it should be noted that two of his best statistical putting performances EVER came in very close succession in his most recent two wins. If Tiger has found something and can hold onto it for a couple of weeks, I make him a clear favorite at the Masters. Ignore this if you are part of my Master's Weekend Pool!
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