golfrewind.com

I am simply providing some stats for the lpga and the pga seasons so far.
It should be noted that the pga is by far the harder tour, and the players are obviously of a much higher quality.

However it has been said that despite the lpga's easier courses, the lpga stats are no better. That isn't actually true, so far this year anyway.


Driving Distance
PGA
1 Bubba Watson 319.4
2 J.B. Holmes 312.9
3 Camilo Villegas 308.5
4 Tag Ridings 306.9
5 John Daly 306.7
LPGA
1 Michelle Wie 293.5
2 Karin Sjodin 292.6
3 Natalie Tucker 290.7
4 Sophie Gustafson 285.4
5 Brittany Lang 284.4


Driving Accuracy
PGA
1 Fred Funk 78.4
2 Jim Furyk 76.6
3 Bart Bryant 71.8
4 Brian Davis 71.3
5 Joe Durant 71.3
LPGA
1 Tina Barrett 83.9
2 Kim Williams 82.1
3 Rosie Jones 82.1
4 Morgan Pressel 81.4
5 Leta Lindley 80.6


Greens In Regulation
PGA
1 Tiger Woods 72.5
2 Kenny Perry 72.2
3 Jeff Gove** 71.9
4 Vijay Singh 71.6
5 John Senden 71.3
LPGA
1 Michelle Wie 83.3
2 Wendy Doolan 80.6
3 Paula Creamer 80.0
4 Jeong Jang 78.9
5 Michelle Estill 78.6


Putts Per Round
PGA
1 Retief Goosen 26.83
2 Brian Gay 27.55
3 Scott Verplank 27.74
4 Mark O'Meara 27.80
5 Lee Westwood 27.88
LPGA
1 Jennifer Rosales 23.00
2 Aree Song 25.71
3 Riko Higashio 25.75
4 Minea Blomqvist 26.67
5 Sarah Lee 27.11



Scoring Average
PGA
1 Vijay Singh 69.26
2 David Toms 69.26
3 Rory Sabbatini 69.29
4 Arron Oberholser 69.46
5 Luke Donald 69.57
LPGA
1 Michelle Wie 67.66
2 Juli Inkster 69.60
3 Natalie Gulbis 69.69
4 Cristie Kerr 69.69
5 Paula Creamer 69.77



These stats have been provided for amusement purposes mainly, but they do also show that the lpga is progressing well.

so just by the #s, Wie could do it: win a PGA torunement if she'd make the cut

The sample size is quite a bit smaller for the LPGA...Michelle is included in the stats despite playing only one event, while guys will have had to play at least 3 or 4 to be included in the PGA stats. We'll see how those stats hold up over an entire season, but it doesn't change the fact that you put a bit of work into digging those up. Thanks for sharing.

it's a shame Rodney isn't getting paid for all this PR work he's doing for Wie.

Maybe he is? "Wie" don't know, he hasn't told us....

Yes I completely agree about 1 tournament not being anywhere near enough to give an accurate picture. I simply included Wie because people often ask me where she lies in certain stats in regard to the other players.
Also, it is true that the lpga season started alot later. It is only 4 tournaments old, and there are only driving stats for 3, because Mexico was not included due to the big altitude factor.

You're not far off the mark there. Actually I do get paid for some of that kind of work for players, but Wie isn't on my books,,,,,,,,,,,, yet.

It's quite important to note the course conditions for PGA tournament courses are set up to be much more difficult than for LPGA tournaments. That's why you'll see lower scores, more fairways and greens hit, and fewer putts.

I'm still a bit surprised at the numbers though.

So let me get this straight. You agree that 1 tournament is not enough of a sample size to compare Wie's driving average to that of other LPGA players with only 3 tournaments. But you absolutely believe that 15 tournaments is a big enough sample size to compare Wie to players with 30 - 50 tournaments under their belt in the Rolex rankings.

And secondly, I find it hard to believe that people are beating down your door and saying "Hey yo Rodney_Wie, how is Michelle stacking up in the numbers these days".

Maybe some people believe all of this **, but not all of us are dullards.

Todd

No sorry, you don't have it straight yet.
I actually stated that I don't believe Wie's 1 tournament is enough to compare her in any statistic to anyone whatsoever. One tournament is not enough, I simply included her stat because if she wasn't on the list, people would have been asking was she not good enough to get on it.


In the case of 15 tournament that is completely different.
For example, if Wie were to play 1 tournament and win it, would that make her better than everyone else? No it certainly wouldn't.
However 15 tournaments is quite alot of golf, and it is a reasonable basis for drawing conclusions on a players performance.
15 is a very decent sample size.
1 is not.


People ask me about it alot. There is particular interest in relation to her driving averages and putting stats. Whether you believe that is up to you, it will remain a fact either way.

Very interesting thread...thanks!

Very interesting indeed.......I was amazed the the LPGA putting stats, 23 putts, that is amazing on any tour.

Okay, she only played 2 rounds, so it isn't quite so amazing. If she can keep that level up, that would really be amazing.
That's why I sounded a note of caution with the stats.

However Aree Song 25.71 putts per round, is amazing, considering she has played 10 rounds.

What I want to know is...how can you play 10 rounds and not get a round number (to the tenths place, anyway) in putts per round? So is that to say she took 257.1 putts in those 10 rounds?

Hmm, checking the stats, it says she had 180 putts in 10 rounds. Of course that should give her an 18 putt average per round, if that was the case. Now that would be sensational.

Okay, I've checked and she has indeed played 10 rounds.

Okay, I checked the individual stats for each tournament. She took 180 in two tournaments. For the Mastercard no stats were forthcoming, so they took her 180 putts that she had in 7 rounds at the other 2 touranments and that gave 180/7 = 25.71 putt average.