PGA Tour Stats Review: Entering the Wells Fargo

PGA Tour Stats Review: Entering the Wells Fargo

This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.

PGA TOUR STATS: Wells Fargo Championship

Each week we'll list the statistical breakdown of the upcoming PGA Tour event. Below are the results of recent tournaments, including last week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and the top finishers from last year's Wells Fargo Championship.

The results grid was reduced for easier reading, starting with the Masters. However, the AVERAGE statistics at the bottom of the grid will continue to reflect data from completed 2012 tournaments.

For results from earlier events, go here.

For last year's full-season results, go here.

2012 PGA Tour Events

EVENTWINNERDRIVEDRIVEDRIVEDRIVEGIRGIRSTK GNPUTTSEAGLESBIRDIEBOGEYDBL BOG
%of56RNKDISDIS RNK%of72RNK/PUTTRNK
Masters Watson -10 P1 66.0 48 290.4 4 73.6 4 1.67 37 0 19 0 0
Heritage Pettersson -14 66.1 39 279.1 31 69.4 1 1.24 10 0 22 6 1
Texas Curtis -9 73.2 2 289.1 74 68.1 1 2.06 3 0 17 4 2
Zurich Dufner -19 P1 64.3 31 291.0 35 72.2 25 1.53 6 1 21 4 0
Els -19 P2 67.9 18 290.5 37 72.2 25 1.74 4 1 20 3 0
AVERAGE 64.0 31.4 282.9 41.9 72.8 17.9 1.60 9.6 0.7 19.7 5.1 0.3


Last Week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Jason Dufner finally broke through at the Zurich Classic for his first PGA Tour victory. He appears to be "still water" on the surface, the proverbial duck paddling like crazy under the water

PGA TOUR STATS: Wells Fargo Championship

Each week we'll list the statistical breakdown of the upcoming PGA Tour event. Below are the results of recent tournaments, including last week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and the top finishers from last year's Wells Fargo Championship.

The results grid was reduced for easier reading, starting with the Masters. However, the AVERAGE statistics at the bottom of the grid will continue to reflect data from completed 2012 tournaments.

For results from earlier events, go here.

For last year's full-season results, go here.

2012 PGA Tour Events

EVENTWINNERDRIVEDRIVEDRIVEDRIVEGIRGIRSTK GNPUTTSEAGLESBIRDIEBOGEYDBL BOG
%of56RNKDISDIS RNK%of72RNK/PUTTRNK
Masters Watson -10 P1 66.0 48 290.4 4 73.6 4 1.67 37 0 19 0 0
Heritage Pettersson -14 66.1 39 279.1 31 69.4 1 1.24 10 0 22 6 1
Texas Curtis -9 73.2 2 289.1 74 68.1 1 2.06 3 0 17 4 2
Zurich Dufner -19 P1 64.3 31 291.0 35 72.2 25 1.53 6 1 21 4 0
Els -19 P2 67.9 18 290.5 37 72.2 25 1.74 4 1 20 3 0
AVERAGE 64.0 31.4 282.9 41.9 72.8 17.9 1.60 9.6 0.7 19.7 5.1 0.3


Last Week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Jason Dufner finally broke through at the Zurich Classic for his first PGA Tour victory. He appears to be "still water" on the surface, the proverbial duck paddling like crazy under the water while gliding calmly across the pond. Whatever, Dufner pushed the right buttons and threw off the onus of being second once again.

As usual with ties at the top, the stats are close. Dufner and Ernie Els have some identical stats and others are quite close. Veteran player meets win-hungry youngster.

checking Driving Distance and GIR, notice a considerable number of players outplayed the top two. However, Dufner and Els shined on the green where they excelled in putts-per-GIR, putts-per round and Strokes gained-putting.

Neither Dufner nor Els are in the field for this week's Wells Fargo Championship.

This Week's Wells Fargo Championship

EVENTWINNERDRIVEDRIVEDRIVEDRIVEGIRGIRPUTTSPUTTSEAGLE/BOGEY/
%of56RNKDISDIS RNK%of72RNKPer GIRRNKRNDRNKBIRDIEDBL
2011 Wells Fargo Glover -15 P1 46.4 49 308.0 25 70.8 26 1.59 1 26.5 3 1/22 9/0
Byrd -15 P2 50.0 30 288.8 60 66.7 52 1.60 2 26.3 2 0/24 7/1
Sabbatini -14 55.4 9 298.3 40 72.2 21 1.67 10 27.8 8 1/19 5/1
Haas -13 55.4 9 298.3 40 76.4 7 1.73 22 28.5 17 0/18 5/0
Na -12 62.5 1 285.4 65 68.1 45 1.74 24 27.8 8 2/15 7/0
Z. Johnson -11 51.8 22 276.3 70 69.4 35 1.68 12 27.5 4 3/13 8/0
Gates -11 53.6 16 301.6 31 66.7 52 1.75 32 28.5 17 2/19 10/1
Perez -11 53.6 16 300.3 33 70.8 26 1.63 4 28.0 11 0/26 13/1
AVERAGE 53.6 19.0 294.6 45.5 70.1 33.0 1.67 13.4 27.6 8.8

Quail Hollow, home of the Wells Fargo, is well known to attract players because it is an excellent examination of a golfer's talent without being contrived or tricked up. The PGA has discussed a possible PGA Championship in Quail Hollow's future. This is an excellent track that calls for course management.

In 2011, winner Lucas Glover recorded four rounds in the 60s for the first time in the championship's nine-year history. Low rounds of the day last year included:

Round 1 - 64 (8-under), Bill Haas
Round 2 - 64 (8-under), John Senden
Round 3 - 65 (7-under), J.B. Holmes
Round 4 - 65 (7-under), Rory Sabbatini

A review of past results shows the prominent players don't always take home the trophies. Glover came from way back last year, moving from 147th in FedEx points to 27th with his win. Further check of the 2011 results shows some headline players missed the cut -- Rory McIlroy (a year after his great success, see below), Paul Casey, Keegan Bradley, Nick Watney and Dustin Johnson, plus others.

Last Five Winners:

2011 - Lucas Glover, 15-under 273
2010 - Rory McIlroy, 15-under 273
2009 - Sean O'Hair, 11-under 77
2008 - Anthony Kim, 16-under 272
2007 - Tiger Woods, 13-under 275

All are in this week's field.

The recap of the top-eight players shows a total of nine eagles, a rare stat. Another eye opener is the number of bogeys, 64, averaging eight for the eight players. Pat Perez easily out-birdied the rest of the field, ranking No. 1 in birdies made. Regrettably, Perez also had 13 bogeys and one double bogey. Alas, the effect of bogey avoidance, or the failure of it.

In 2010, Rory McIlroy put on a five-alarm performance starting with his third-round, 6-under 66. The round of the day was followed by a course-record 10-under 62 for his first PGA Tour win.

Needed here: Total Driving, GIR, Scrambling, Par-5 scoring and bogey avoidance plus patience and course management, as noted.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ed Cushing
Cushing covers the PGA Tour for RotoWire, bringing a sabermetric approach to golf stats. Retired and living in the mountains of North Carolina, Cushing is in the running for the Most Interesting Man in Fantasy Sports. He's golfed the Doral Blue Monster, Harbour Town GC, Hilton Head and Augusta National, among many other tough courses. A classically trained pianist, Cushing still plays professionally. He roots for the University of Virginia because the Cavaliers may lose the game, but they ALWAYS win the party. He also made a fortune off the '72 Dolphins.
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