19th Hole
Tiger Woods is 2nd in swing speed, 24th in driving distance. GolfWRX members discuss
GolfWRX member cavemeister took a look at Tiger Woods’ stats, and something didn’t add up for him.
Here’s what he saw.
- Tiger Woods is 24th on the PGA Tour in average driving distance at 306.6 yards.
- Tiger Woods is 2nd on the PGA Tour in average clubhead speed at 122.04 mph
Now, only drives that find the fairway are measured, and swing speed is only recorded a couple of times per round, but what gives, cavemeister wonders in a forum thread.
Not surprisingly, WRX members had a range of opinions for the disparity between TW’s swing speed and driving distance.
Flog2 points out
“distance is only measured when you are on the fairway!”
Woods is doing the above at just over 51 percent this season, so the sample may be small.
Torrujean suggests Woods may not be finding the center of the clubface on some of the measured drives.
“Quality of strike does not match the speed.”
MSUIRONDAWGS says
“You have to understand also, that distance is only measured for official stats on a few holes on Tour. So if he happens to hit 3 wood on one of those holes, the avg distance comes down in the calculation of his 3 or 4 holes that day.”
And of course, there conspiracy theorists, such as QuigleyDU…
“the numbers are not accurate.”
Shot-savior may have the best take
“So many variables:
1. Quality of strike
2. Launch/Spin
3. Type of shot played; high/low, fade/draw
4. Run out versus carry
5. Favorable bounce; catching the slope
6. Landing in fairway first versus hitting in rough then kicking into fairway
7. Riding the wind or knocking it under the wind
8. And so on…
High SS is the best indicator of potential distance. But, it’s conditional and there’s some luck involved to. That’s why we periodically see lower SS players out drive the highest SS players on tour. There are always random outliers not consistent with normal findings.”
See the thread for more replies.
What do you think, GolfWRX members? Is this interesting, or meh? There are clearly a number of possible explanations…which do you find the most plausible?
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19th Hole
Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
While speaking with Hugo Costa of Golf Channel Latin America, Jon Rahm indicated that he wasn’t too well recieved by some PGA Tour players at The Masters.
“Some did. I expected it. And then, there was someone else who I expected to be a little tougher… and one of them hugged me. I think that, among all the relationships I have, it has been everything what I expected. My friends are still my friends. And then someone, with whom I was very cordial and had a positive relationship (in quotes), has not even looked at me”.
“If someone changes their opinion of me, it is more their problem than mine. I am not worried”.
According to Costa, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa were the two who were hostile towards Rahm
“Important players with whom Jon Rahm had a good relationship, such as Patrick Cantlay or Max Homa, could have had gestures of contempt towards the Spaniard in this Masters.”
Rahm will tee it up next at LIV Adelaide in a few weeks.
More from the 19th Hole
- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
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19th Hole
Report: Greg Norman spotted following a surprise grouping on Thursday at the Masters
Greg Norman is at this week’s Masters tournament but found himself in a situation where he had to buy himself a ticket to enter the grounds.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Norman explained why he was at Augusta National:
“I’m here because we have 13 players that won 10 Masters between them. So I’m here just to support them, do the best I can to show them, ‘Hey, you know, the boss is here rooting for you.’ ”
So who was Norman following during the opening round of this year’s Masters? Well the answer may surprise you.
Per Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig, Norman was spotted following the LIV-less grouping of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.
Spotted in the gallery at Augusta: Greg Norman following Rory McIlroy ? (and Scottie and Xander)
— Bob Harig (@BobHarig) April 11, 2024
We’ll find out a little later today whether Norman will make his third appearance in as many days at this year’s opening major.
More from the 19th Hole
- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
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19th Hole
Collin Morikawa makes surprising late putter switch at Masters
Collin Morikawa has had plenty of success with a blade in his hands over the course of his young career, but after a lean spell on the greens lately, it appears that the 27-year-old is ready to try something new.
The California-native began the year with his TaylorMade TP Soto before switching to a Logan Olson proto last month. Now at this week’s Masters, Morikawa has been spotted with a Spider Tour X, the same flatstick that Scottie Scheffler will be using at Augusta.
The move would represent a big change, but it has been a very frustrating year on the greens for Morikawa, who will hope the TaylorMade mallet can offer him a similar upturn in fortune to that of Scheffler. In 2024, Morikawa ranks 164th for Strokes Gained: Putting, and 157th for Total Putting.
We’ll keep an eye whether Morikawa puts the mallet into action on day one of the Masters.
More from the 19th Hole
- The wild reason why Mark Wahlberg was initially denied entry to an Australian golf club
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
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- LEGIT1
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