What does Strokes Gained actually mean?
Nowadays, you’ll hear plenty of talk about Strokes Gained in television golf broadcasts, but what is this relatively new term and how is it calculated?
How did things work in the past?
Until 2011, the PGA Tour used statistical categories like ‘Putts per Round’ and ‘Greens in Regulation’. This data is still available, but can sometimes be misleading. Those who hit a lot of greens in regulation, for example, may take more putts per round by virtue of their impressive ball-striking. But it doesn’t always mean they’re bad putters, as those who hit a lot of greens but average 30ft from the hole will likely take more putts than those who miss a lot of greens but chip it close.
Where did Strokes Gained come from?
Mark Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, recognised the shortcomings of the data and set about making his own formula. Shotlink – which provides real-time information on every shot – arrived on the PGA Tour in 2007 and that data helped inform Broadie’s research.
How does it work?
In simple terms, Strokes Gained is a method of analysing each facet of a player’s game in comparison to the rest of the players in the field or at the same level. The main categories are Off the Tee, Approach, Tee to Green, Around the Green and Putting. There is also a useful Strokes Gained: Total measure to give an overall indicator based on a player’s full game.
Can you give an example?
The average PGA Tour pro makes 50% of putts from eight feet, so the average expected number of putts from that range is 1.5. If a player only takes one putt, they gain 0.5 of a stroke on the field; if they take two, they lose 0.5. It lets you evaluate how many shots are gained or lost against various benchmarks.
Do players employ statisticians?
Increasingly, players have turned to stats experts to help digest their data and identify areas for improvement. Edoardo
Molinari, for example, has established himself as a stats guru and works with several PGA and DP World Tour pros.
Who led the way in 2023?
Scottie Scheffler is currently putting up Strokes Gained numbers only Tiger Woods has beaten. His tee-to-green game is as good as we’ve seen since Tiger’s heyday. Here’s who led the main categories last season: Strokes Gained: Total – Scheffler (2.31); SG: Off-the-tee – Scheffler (1.02); SG: Tee-togreen – Scheffler (2.61); SG: Around-the-green – Jonathan Byrd (0.53); SG: Putting – Maverick Mcnealy (0.96).
Can amateurs benefit from Strokes Gained?
Absolutely. There are numerous shot- and stat-tracking services available, such as Arccos. With Arccos, your shots are recorded during the round and presented to you via various visual aids on the app or online. If you’re a 10-handicapper, for example, you can see how many strokes you gain or lose in different parts of the game compared with fellow 10-handicappers, 20-handicappers, tour pros and everything in between. It’s now a huge part of the game at professional and amateur level.