Drive for Show and Putt for Dough????

Think again!! Columbia Business School Professor Mark Broadie has analaysed over 10 million shots on the PGA Tour and has developed a strokes gained category for all aspects of the game. Broadie initially developed Strokes Gained category for putting for the PGA Tour.

What is strokes gained?
I'll try and explain as simply as possible....The PGA Tour average success rate for an 8 foot putt is 50%. If a player holes a putt from 8 foot then he has gained 0.5 of a stroke over the field average, if he misses the putt then he has lost 0.5 strokes over the field. With shot link available on the PGA Tour, it has allowed Broadie to capture all data and convert it into statistics. When Rory McIlroy had his 2/3 month spell winning the tour events this year, his supreme driving was gaining a couple of shots per round on the field average. 
How does this compare to amateurs? Broadie analysed over 100,000 shots from amateur golfers. He broke it down to where amateurs handicaps differed more in their golf game. The difference between someone who shoots 80 and someone who shoots 100 was the test area. Out of the 20 shots, only 3 shots were lost due to putting....the rest were lost getting to the green!!!

Over the last 10 years Broadie listed four areas of strengths on the PGA Tour and listed them in importance from 1-4:

Most important area to reduce scores: (2004-2014)

   Number 1 : Shots outside 100 yards (Tiger Woods Leads this)
   Number 2: Driving (Bubba Watson)
   Number 3: Shots within 100 yards (Steve Stricker)
   Number 4: Putting (Luke Donald)


Many of the top coaches and players are now consulting in Broadie to develop practice plans and analyse performance of key areas in their game!!

So, where is your focus going to be on for practice this winter??