drewyallop
New
Yes, I am a statistics geek. Love how they can enlighten and deceive.
Building on my discussion with birly I show below the 2011 ranks of players in 3 categories:
Average putts is the average number of putts per green in regulation. Using greens hit in regulation eliminates the effects of chipping close and one-putting.
Putts per round is based on total putts regardless of whether the green was hit in regulation.
The table shows the first fifty players. Note that for Donald, Striker and Molder the ranks in the three categories are close. Yet when we get to Wi things start to breakdown. And look at Howell III. 30th in Strokes gained - putting, 125th in Average putting and 107th in Putts per round.
A couple of observations.
First, I think birly has implied that putts per round is a good proxy for Strokes gained - putting (SGP). This is true for some players but for many others there are big difference between the two measures. And even if you take Average putts and eliminate the chip-on effect there are still large differences. I think the proxy argument fails on this evidence. And I think it is evidence that SGP takes into account important variables like difficulty of green, putting skill of the field when the measurements were taken, and exact distances of each putt.
Second, the three series show how most any conclusion about a player's relative putting skill could be supported by selective use of these numbers. For example, want to prove that Michael Putnam is a terrible putter? Well just look at his Average putts: ranked 143rd. But in strokes gained he ranks 25th. Or consider Dustin Johnson, good or bad? Dustin ranks 36th in Average putts - not bad. But wait, he ranks 144th in Putts per round and he ranks 171st in Strokes gained-putting. Good or bad putter? Take yer pick (for what it is worth I think that Strokes gained-putts in the best measure of putting skill).
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Building on my discussion with birly I show below the 2011 ranks of players in 3 categories:
- Strokes gained - putting
- Average putts
- Putts per round
Average putts is the average number of putts per green in regulation. Using greens hit in regulation eliminates the effects of chipping close and one-putting.
Putts per round is based on total putts regardless of whether the green was hit in regulation.
The table shows the first fifty players. Note that for Donald, Striker and Molder the ranks in the three categories are close. Yet when we get to Wi things start to breakdown. And look at Howell III. 30th in Strokes gained - putting, 125th in Average putting and 107th in Putts per round.
A couple of observations.
First, I think birly has implied that putts per round is a good proxy for Strokes gained - putting (SGP). This is true for some players but for many others there are big difference between the two measures. And even if you take Average putts and eliminate the chip-on effect there are still large differences. I think the proxy argument fails on this evidence. And I think it is evidence that SGP takes into account important variables like difficulty of green, putting skill of the field when the measurements were taken, and exact distances of each putt.
Second, the three series show how most any conclusion about a player's relative putting skill could be supported by selective use of these numbers. For example, want to prove that Michael Putnam is a terrible putter? Well just look at his Average putts: ranked 143rd. But in strokes gained he ranks 25th. Or consider Dustin Johnson, good or bad? Dustin ranks 36th in Average putts - not bad. But wait, he ranks 144th in Putts per round and he ranks 171st in Strokes gained-putting. Good or bad putter? Take yer pick (for what it is worth I think that Strokes gained-putts in the best measure of putting skill).
| PLAYER | Rank - Strokes gained-putts | Rank - Average putts | Rank – Putts per round |
| Luke Donald | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Steve Stricker | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Bryce Molder | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Charlie Wi | 4 | T27 | T11 |
| Greg Chalmers | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 6 | 13 | 5 |
| Jason Day | 7 | 11 | 8 |
| Kevin Na | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Scott McCarron | 9 | T84 | T23 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 10 | T5 | 16 |
| Zach Johnson | 11 | 35 | T29 |
| Nick Watney | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Hunter Mahan | 13 | T24 | T91 |
| Ryan Moore | 14 | T31 | T14 |
| Angel Cabrera | 15 | T46 | T69 |
| Dean Wilson | 16 | T80 | 25 |
| Brian Gay | 17 | T29 | 6 |
| Geoff Ogilvy | 20 | T20 | T14 |
| Blake Adams | 21 | T40 | T29 |
| Michael Thompson | 22 | T69 | 44 |
| Carl Pettersson | 23 | 16 | 34 |
| Andres Romero | 24 | T5 | T11 |
| Michael Putnam | 25 | T143 | 102 |
| Matt Kuchar | 26 | 10 | 17 |
| Kevin Streelman | 27 | T120 | 95 |
| Ben Martin | 28 | T64 | T112 |
| Johnson Wagner | 29 | T132 | T144 |
| Charles Howell III | 30 | T125 | T107 |
| Rickie Fowler | 31 | 3 | 7 |
| Hunter Haas | 32 | T50 | T71 |
| Paul Stankowski | 33 | T95 | T50 |
| Aaron Baddeley | 34 | T14 | 10 |
| Will Strickler | 35 | T169 | T98 |
| Colt Knost | 36 | T132 | T79 |
| Trevor Immelman | 37 | T127 | 151 |
| Nate Smith | 38 | T64 | 26 |
| Steve Flesch | 39 | T17 | 19 |
| Ian Poulter | 40 | T37 | T67 |
| Retief Goosen | 41 | T77 | T67 |
| Brendon de Jonge | 42 | 19 | 39 |
| Y.E. Yang | 43 | T87 | 27 |
| Padraig Harrington | 46 | T104 | 55 |
| Cameron Tringale | 47 | T125 | T131 |
| Lucas Glover | 55 | T27 | T98 |
| Tim Petrovic | 56 | T80 | T23 |
| Shaun Micheel | 59 | T171 | T103 |
| Andres Gonzales | 60 | T123 | T107 |
| Joe Ogilvie | 61 | T24 | 22 |
| Mark Wilson | 66 | T99 | 75 |
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