This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
It is finally here: The United States Open Championship, golf's second major of the year at Pinehurst No. 2. This is a different Pinehurst No. 2 than the last two times it hosted, however, and thus will need a couple different skills than usual. We explain in this week's stats preview:
Useless Stats
Yes, you read that category headline correctly. There are some stats this week that are utterly useless when making fantasy picks. For my fellow ShotLink addicts, here they are:
• Left Rough Tendency
• Right Rough Tendency
• Rough Proximity
• Scrambling from Rough
• Rough Tendency
I think you get the picture here. There is no rough this week at Pinehurst. None whatsoever. In the restoration by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, they ripped all of it out, and instead replaced it with native areas, that include sand and wire grass, which can be found at various thicknesses and heights. But the universal, classic U.S. Open rough is nowhere to be seen.
Stats that Matter
• Driving Accuracy
It's still the U.S. Open, however, and as a result you will still need to drive it accurately, as it's pure luck as to what you get once off the fairway.
The leaders in this category in the field this week:
1. David Toms -- 73.21 percent
6. Zach Johnson -- 69.90 percent
8. Boo Weekley -- 69.21 percent
• Scrambling:
Donald Ross greens - with their upside down "U" undulations means the ball propels off on all
It is finally here: The United States Open Championship, golf's second major of the year at Pinehurst No. 2. This is a different Pinehurst No. 2 than the last two times it hosted, however, and thus will need a couple different skills than usual. We explain in this week's stats preview:
Useless Stats
Yes, you read that category headline correctly. There are some stats this week that are utterly useless when making fantasy picks. For my fellow ShotLink addicts, here they are:
• Left Rough Tendency
• Right Rough Tendency
• Rough Proximity
• Scrambling from Rough
• Rough Tendency
I think you get the picture here. There is no rough this week at Pinehurst. None whatsoever. In the restoration by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, they ripped all of it out, and instead replaced it with native areas, that include sand and wire grass, which can be found at various thicknesses and heights. But the universal, classic U.S. Open rough is nowhere to be seen.
Stats that Matter
• Driving Accuracy
It's still the U.S. Open, however, and as a result you will still need to drive it accurately, as it's pure luck as to what you get once off the fairway.
The leaders in this category in the field this week:
1. David Toms -- 73.21 percent
6. Zach Johnson -- 69.90 percent
8. Boo Weekley -- 69.21 percent
• Scrambling:
Donald Ross greens - with their upside down "U" undulations means the ball propels off on all sides on most holes. In other words: you won't hit a lot of them this week. Thus, chipping and pitching will be vital. Now without rough, the basic scrambling stat isn't the best to pull from. Thus, we present you scrambling from fringe and scrambling from sand:
Fringe:
1. Bobby Gates -- 100 percent
6. Nick Watney -- 97.30 percent
10. Brooks Koepka -- 96.67 percent
Sand:
1. Seung-Yul Noh - 71.43 percent
2. Adam Scott -- 70.83 percent
3. Patrick Reed -- 67.92 percent
Strokes Gained-Putting:
In the end, you still have to make putts, and here's the leaders in that category:
1. Aaron Baddeley -- 1.033
2. Graeme McDowell -- 1.005
3. Matt Every -- .999
Our best picks out of that bunch: Zach Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott and Graeme McDowell.
