This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing finishes this week with the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. James Hahn is the defending champion. Here's our stats column.
The Tale of Phil
We all know by now that Phil Mickelson missed a 5-foot, 1-inch putt for birdie that would have put in him a playoff against Vaughn Taylor last Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. It was part of a frustrating day for Mickelson, after making 14-of-14 putts from inside 10 feet Saturday and ending with a strokes gained-putting mark of 4.451. On Sunday at Pebble, however, he struggled from that distance, and his strokes gained-putting was 0.937, ultimately not good enough to walk away with the title. That's something to watch.
The Field
Rory McIlroy makes his 2016 PGA Tour debut this week, coming off a win in Dubai. He's joined by Jordan Spieth -- who may have found something on Sunday at Pebble Beach while playing with no pressure -- Sergio Garcia, Fred Couples, Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Tony Finau, Bill Haas, Billy Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Danny Lee, Justin Rose, Patrick Rodgers, Adam Scott, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker.
The Winning Stat
Last year while winning in a playoff, Hahn was second in strokes gained-tee to green gaining more than 12 shots on the field in department (he gained 14 on the field for the week, so you can see how much came from the
The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing finishes this week with the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. James Hahn is the defending champion. Here's our stats column.
The Tale of Phil
We all know by now that Phil Mickelson missed a 5-foot, 1-inch putt for birdie that would have put in him a playoff against Vaughn Taylor last Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. It was part of a frustrating day for Mickelson, after making 14-of-14 putts from inside 10 feet Saturday and ending with a strokes gained-putting mark of 4.451. On Sunday at Pebble, however, he struggled from that distance, and his strokes gained-putting was 0.937, ultimately not good enough to walk away with the title. That's something to watch.
The Field
Rory McIlroy makes his 2016 PGA Tour debut this week, coming off a win in Dubai. He's joined by Jordan Spieth -- who may have found something on Sunday at Pebble Beach while playing with no pressure -- Sergio Garcia, Fred Couples, Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner, Ernie Els, Tony Finau, Bill Haas, Billy Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Danny Lee, Justin Rose, Patrick Rodgers, Adam Scott, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker.
The Winning Stat
Last year while winning in a playoff, Hahn was second in strokes gained-tee to green gaining more than 12 shots on the field in department (he gained 14 on the field for the week, so you can see how much came from the tee-to-green game). Per Mark Broadie, the inventor of the strokes gained stats, he gained 1.5 strokes per round with his short game, which ranked sixth for the week. Many think of tee to green as drives and approach shots, but it also includes short game, which he terms as "off green shots from inside of 100 yards."
The additional strokes gained stats -- drive, approach shots and short game -- will become official PGA Tour stats at some point in 2016 but are not yet. So with that in mind, here's the strokes gained-tee to green leaders in the field this week (minimum five measured rounds):
Hideki Matsuyama - gained 2.216 strokes on the field
Jordan Spieth - 1.836
Patrick Rodgers - 1.777
Gary Woodland - 1.756
Bubba Watson - 1.699
We've spoken about most of these guys lately but haven't touched on Matsuyama, who beat Rickie Fowler in the epic playoff in Phoenix a couple weeks ago. Besides being a strokes gained-tee to green leader, he's 18th in greens in regulation and sixth in scoring average, along with being 19th in final-round scoring average.
Riviera is an old-style golf course with small, firm greens. Being able to hit your greens consistently will be a big stat this week.
The Weather
After some rain that could soften a very firm and dry golf course Wednesday (though unknown exactly how much), the weather is going to be gorgeous, with sunny skies, highs in the low 70s and fairly light winds. If that forecast holds and not much rain falls, watch out, as this course will be really firm and really fast.
