champions tour driving statistics

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You won't believe how much farther PGA Tour Champions players are hitting the ball now than in their primes

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Dustin Johnson's prodigious playoff drive at last week's Northern Trust was the latest reminder that today's PGA Tour pros hit the ball a lot farther than their predecessors. The combination of better technology in golf clubs and golf balls, and a more fit golfer in Johnson, allowed him to take a line off the tee on the 18th hole at Glen Oaks Club that even the game's longest hitters 20 years ago couldn't have imagined.

It's not just today's players, however, who are hitting it farther. Yesterday's players—the guys playing the PGA Tour Champions—are hitting it farther than ever, too. And we don't just mean farther than previous generations of senior tour players, but farther than they ever hit it in their primes.

To find out how much farther, we went down the list of driving-distance leaders on the PGA Tour Champions this season and then looked up what some of those bigger-name players averaged off the tee during the PGA Tour season in which they turned 30. (We picked 30 because it's a nice, round number, but it also happens to be the average age of Johnson and Rory McIlroy, the PGA Tour's two longest hitters this year.) The results were eye-popping, even for the 60-year-olds on the 50-and-older circuit.

Let's start at the top with John Daly, who at 51, leads the PGA Tour Champions with an average of 299 yards off the tee. At age 30 in 1996 Daly only averaged 288.8 yards, which was part of eight consecutive seasons in which he led the PGA Tour in driving distance. To be fair, Daly had seasons with much higher figures, topped by a 314.3 average in 2003. Daly has always been freakishly long, so he's not the best guy to look at. Let's move on.

Kenny Perry ranks fourth on the PGA Tour Champions in 2017 at 295 yards per poke. In 1990, he had a driving-distance average of just 270.8 yards. That's not bad considering Tom Purtzer led the PGA Tour that season at 279.6 yards (for comparison, Rory McIlroy's 316.4 yards leads this season) but that equates to nearly a 9-percent increase in driving distance from the time Perry was 30 to his current average as a 57-year-old.

The increase is even bigger for Fred Couples, if we use his driving-distance average (a whopping 300.4 yards) from 2015, the last time he played enough rounds on the PGA Tour Champions to have official stats. In 1990, two years before Freddie won the Masters and ascended to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he averaged a measly 272.6 yards on his tee shots. Of the players we looked at, Couples' 10.2-percent increase led the way. (It should be noted that the Callaway Big Bertha was launched in 1991 , ushering in a new era where driver heads grew to the size of small microwaves, giving a boost to driving distance stats.)

What about the senior tour's dominant force, Bernhard Langer? At 60, the German checks in at 25th in distance at 280.4 yards. But that's up 7.72 percent from his 260.3 average in 1987, two years removed from the first of his two Masters titles. That's right, Langer is significantly longer now than he was 30 years ago . We know the guy is a physical marvel, but no matter how much time he spends in the gym, those numbers are crazy.

Anyway, these examples go on and on, so we decided to make a list ordered from biggest distance increase (by percentage) to smallest:

Earlier this year, the USGA asserted there's only a "slow creep" when it comes to distance increases across all tours in the past 13 years. But if this trend continues, it makes you wonder just how far someone like Dustin Johnson will be able to hit it when he's on the senior tour.

MORE STATS: Who are the best major championship performers of the past decade?

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What Drives the Senior Tour Pros? Most Popular Driver on Champions Tour (2024)

Written by Graeme Hay | Last Updated: 28/04/2024

We have looked in the past at the clubs and drivers the top PGA Tour players use but given the distances they hit the ball are on a different planet to regular amateurs we wanted to see whether more can be learned from the most popular drivers used by Champions Tour pros.

Although the average driver swing speeds on the senior tour are still over 106mph – and therefore well above the average male amateur’s at 93.4mph – it is still closer than the 115mph average on the main PGA Tour.

So taking a in-depth look at the details of the drivers used by the best Champions Tour pros this is what we found.

PING’s G430 LST and TaylorMade’s Stealth Plus are the most popular drivers on the Champions Tour according to data available. Miguel Angel Jiménez and John Daly are G430 LST users while Fred Couples chooses the Stealth Plus. Titliest’s TSR3 and Callaway’s Rogue ST and Paradym Triple Diamond are the next most used models.

Basic makes and models of driver only tell us so much however so we didn’t just stop there and did a detailed analysis of the lofts the best pros on the senior tour are playing together with the specs of the driver shafts they use.

And finally we took a look at who was sponsored by which manufacturer to get an idea of how that factor potentially influences the driver choices among the top Champions Tour pros.

Most Used Drivers On the Senior Tour? Callaway Lead the Way

Driver data for the PGA Champions Tour is not as readily available as on the main PGA Tour.

So when we looked at the details of the drivers being used by the top 100 pros on the senior Tour to find which were the most used we were only able to find complete driver data for just over half – 51 to be exact – of this elite group.

In total we found 30 different driver models of driver being used among the 51 Champions Tour pros we found driver information for among the top 100 and when it came to the different brands being chosen this is what our detailed analysis found.

Callaway drivers are the most used on the Champions Tour with 33% of the senior pros analysed using them, including Steve Stricker. PING models are the next most popular picked by 27%. TaylorMade and Titleist drivers are each chosen by 13% with Tour Edge used by close to 10%. Japanese brand XXiO is used only by Ernie Els.

Callaway and PING therefore clearly dominate this group accounting for 31 of the 51 drivers we found in play with TaylorMade, Titleist and Tour Edge models making up the vast majority of the rest.

What was interesting to note though was that while Titleist are the dominant force among the drivers used on the PGA Tour their models are a much less popular choice among the top pros on the Champions Tour.

A key question of course when it comes to driver choices by all the pros however is of course how much it is influenced by sponsorship deals.

Once again the data available on Champions Tour pros is not nearly as abundant as on the PGA Tour but our analysis found 45% of the 51 senior pros we researched playing the same driver model as one of their sponsors.

In all likelihood this number is potentially higher however there were clear examples, including the great Bernhard Langer – who carries six different brands of club in his bag – that sponsorship is not always the overriding factor when it comes to the driver choices the senior pros make.

Further while the dominant driver makes and models among the best senior pros may be a bit different to those found on the main Tour what is clear though, when you look in detail at the drivers the Champions Tour pros use, is that they go into just as much detail when it comes to the exactness of their driver set up.

Just as on the PGA Tour each driver is clearly custom-fitted to a precise extent for each player and even though we found 5 PING G430 LST drivers being used you can be sure there will be a unique set-up for each pro.

Not only that certain players carry more than one driver around the Champions Tour with them switching between the two, or even three, depending on the conditions of the course they are playing that week or simply due to them having more confidence in one than the other at a particular time.

Dickie Pride for example carries a PING G410 Plus around with him in addition to the Callaway Rogue ST he typically puts in play while Brian Gay also has a Cobra LRDx LS in his bag together with a TaylorMade Stealth Plus.

“Nobody has ever noticed it and I’ve been doing this for three years. Every other club I use a single overlap grip. On my driver, I use a double overlap.” Padraig Harrington, 2022 US Senior Open Champion and ranked 1 in driving distance on 2023 PGA Champions Tour

Steve Flesch by comparison carries not two but 3 different models of the Callaway Rogue ST driver family allowing him to alternate between the standard Rogue ST Max and the draw-biased Max D and LS (‘low spin’) options.

It is also noticeable that not all the Champions Tour pros we found data for are immediately moving to the latest model of their preferred brand of driver and continue to play with older driver models.

Doug Barron continues for example to use his old trusty TaylorMade Stealth driver because he says he “hits it 15 yards longer than anything else I tried.”

And that search for distance also caused us to notice another couple of quirks among the top senior pros.

Padraig Harrington topped the driving distance charts on the Champions Tour in 2023 with an average total distance of 302.4mph.

Incredibly to do this Harrington has increased his driver swing speed to measurements of 120mph and above on the Champions Tour up from the 116 mph speeds he was recording when he was winning both the 2008 British Open and USPGA at the peak of his golfer powers.

But not only that he also employs a ‘baseball’ style grip only when using his driver – he uses a standard overlap grip for all his other clubs – in an effort to release a little extra energy into the driver clubhead for more overall power.

You can see him doing this in the video below and given his driving distance numbers as he enters his 50s it is clearly working!

What Driver Loft Do Senior Pros Use? It Typically Starts with 9 or 10.

When we looked at the degree of driver the top pros on the PGA Tour use we were immediately struck by the variance and precision in driver lofts they chose to put in play.

And when it comes to the best pros on the PGA Champions Tour it appears they are equally as exacting in their approach.

9 degrees is the most used driver loft among the Champions Tour pros for which data is available with 24% setting up with it, including Padraig Harrington. 10.5º is the next most popular loft with 1/5 choosing it. 2023 Tour winner Steve Stricker chooses an 8º driver while 6º is the lowest driver loft used by Brian Gay.

It is common of course for top pros on all the major tours to change the loft of their driver on occasion depending on the course set-up they are playing on any particular week and this is again noticeable on the Champions Tour.

Kirk Triplett, for example, has a 9º and 10.5º PING G425 Max driver in his golf bag but for other senior pros, changes extend to carrying more than one driver of both different lofts and models.

For Dicky Pride this means taking an 8º PING G410 Plus driver around on the Champions Tour with him alongside his more regularly used 9º Callaway Rogue ST driver.

Brian Gay meanwhile, while typically putting the lowest lofted driver on the tour in play with his 6º TaylorMade Stealth Plus also carries a 7.5º Cobra LTDx model in his bag to use on different occasions.

Interestingly however we found no difference in the variance in driver lofts used by different age groups of the top 100 on the Champions Tour and as such their loft choices did not appear to be affected by this factor.

What Driver Shaft is Most Used on the Champions Tour?

When it comes to driver shafts pro golfers are very exacting and our analysis of the shafts the top senior pros put into the biggest club in their bag again found this in evidence.

Among the 51 of the top 100 Champions Tour pros for which we found driver data we discovered 29 different models of driver shaft being used.

Fujikura’s Ventus Red 6X and Black 6X driver shafts are the most popular on the Champions Tour with nearly 1/4 of senior pros using one. The Ventus Blue 6X is the next most popular alongside PING’s Tour 65 S shaft chosen by 6%. Graphite Design’s Tour AD DI and IZ 6X shafts are the third most common with close to 5% picking them.

According to our analysis the driver shaft choices of the top Champions Tour pros map almost identically to those on the main tour with the Fujikura Ventus Black 6X topping the charts among the top 100 on both these tours.

We did find more variety of driver shafts on the PGA Tour compared to the Champions Tour however given the variety of shaft choices we found in this research the senior pros are clearly just as exacting when it comes to making their driver shaft choice.

Kevin Sutherland interestingly for example carries two models of his 10.5º PING G425 LST with two different shafts in them.

One is fitted with an extra stiff flex Ventus Red 6X while the other has a stronger True Temper’s Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX 60 TX flex shaft in it.

And the two versions of the same driver we noted above that Kirk Triplett is using don’t just have different lofts but also slightly different shafts in them.

While his 10.5º PING G425 Max has an Aldila Tour Blue 60 TX shaft the 9º model of the same driver he has in his bag has a slightly heavier Tour Blue 70 TX shaft in it.

Steve Flesch meanwhile takes things even further choosing 3 different shafts from 3 different manufacturers – True Temper, Graphite Design and Fujikura – in the three different models of the Callaway Rogue ST driver family he alternates between.

So just like their colleagues on the main tour the senior pros are tinkering just as much when it comes to driver shafts although it is interesting that although like on the PGA Tour Fujikura was the top driver shaft brand Mitsubishi shafts were fifth most used on the Champions Tour drivers we found data for.

This compares to its position as the second most popular choice of driver shaft brand on the main tour.

On the Champions Tour by comparison behind Fujikura’s position as the dominant driver shaft brand Graphite Design shafts are the second most popular with 16% using them.

True Temper shafts are the 3rd most common with just under 12% choosing them with PING in 4th place with 6% picking their Tour 65 S shaft.

Mitsubishi driver shafts by comparison are the choice of only 2% of this Champions Tour group we analysed compared to their use by 1/4 of the top 100 pros on the PGA Tour.

Breakdown of Drivers Used by PGA Champions Tour Players

And finally just to give the full picture of how many and which pros are using which brand and model of driver here is the complete breakdown of the 51 drivers used by the top 100 Champions Tour pros we found data on in order of popularity.

Before you go …

Knowing what drivers the top Champions Tour players are using is interesting but with the driver swingspeeds of the average senior pro being well over 10mph faster than the average male amateur (106.6mph vs. 93.4mph) there is likely more to learn from the drivers being played by the best female pros.

So have a read of our next article to find out what drivers the best LPGA pros are choosing with their 94mph average driver swing speeds…

What Drivers Do LPGA Players Use?

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• In The Bag: Unpacking The Clubs Champions Tour Players Use
• What Clubs Do Pro Golfers Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Guide
• What Clubs do LPGA players use? Top 50 Player Breakdown

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The Importance of Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy on the PGA and Champions Tours

### Abstract

The question of whether driving distance or driving accuracy is more important to a golfer’s overall level of performance is a question that has long been debated. No conclusive answer has been found despite the efforts of numerous researchers who have investigated the relative importance of these two shot-making measures along with other shot-making measures such as greens-in-regulation and putting average. There are various reasons why this particular question has gone unanswered for so many years and many of these reasons are methodological in nature. However, the results in this paper, using data from the 2006-2009 seasons of the PGA and Champions Tours and a new methodological approach, indicate that the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy depends upon both the type of hole (Par 4 hole versus Par 5 hole) and the age of the golfer. For younger PGA Tour members, driving accuracy was more important than driving distance on Par 4 holes, but the opposite was true on Par 5 holes. For older Champions’ Tour members, driving distance was more important than driving accuracy on both Par 4 and Par 5 holes. Additional analyses revealed that the quality of the drive, in terms of both its distance and accuracy, was relatively more important to a golfer’s performance on the Champions Tour than it was on the PGA Tour.

**Key Words:** Golf, Driving Distance, Driving Accuracy, importance, performance

### Introduction

Which is more important to a golfer’s success – how far they drive the ball or how accurate they are with their drive? Past attempts to answer this age-old question have been unsuccessful for a variety of reasons, including the utilization of flawed methodological procedures as well as the failure of researchers to consider that the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy might actually depend upon the combination of a number of different factors. The literature contains numerous studies that look at the extent to which driving distance and driving accuracy, along with other shot-making skills measures such as greens-in-regulation, putting average, and sand saves, were correlated to a golfer’s overall level of performance. Consistently, in these analyses, greens-in-regulation and putting average were found to be more highly correlated with scoring average and total earnings than either driving distance or driving accuracy (3,5,10). Further, in many instances, neither driving distance nor driving accuracy was statistically significant. These past analyses were typically based upon the performance of PGA Tour members, although the performances of members of other professional golf tours and amateur golfers have also been analyzed (2,6,7,8,11).

There are a number of methodological issues that need to be examined when attempting to evaluate the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy, especially when these two measures are considered in conjunction with other predictor measures. Failure to do so can result in faulty conclusions being made. In this paper, the distance versus accuracy question is examined by conducting separate analyses for members of the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.

### Methods

#### Populations

The populations of interest in the study are members of the PGA Tour and the Champions’ Tour for the last four tour seasons, 2006-2009. The latter tour is for golfers who are at least 50 years of age. Data used for both tours in this analysis came from the PGA Tour website (www.pgatour.com).

#### Dependent Variables

scoring average has frequently been used as an overall performance measure in analyses that examined the effects of various shot-making skills. However, in the present study, which compares the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy, scoring average should not be used as the dependent variable measure. The reason for this is that scoring average is based on all 18 holes in a round, and golfers will typically use a driver only on Par 4 and Par 5 holes and not on Par 3 holes. The fact that there may be as many as five or six Par 3 holes in a round makes scoring average an inappropriate performance measure for the purpose of this study.

The total earnings of a professional golfer on a particular tour are another measure that has been used for the dependent variable. Like scoring average, total earnings have problems associated with its use in the present study. The first problem is that tournaments on the various professional golf tours do not offer the same amount of prize money. As a result, total earnings is more heavily weighted to how well a golfer performs in tournaments that have the largest purses than to how well a golfer performs in all of the tournaments in which they play. A second problem is that total earnings do not take into account the number of tournaments played in a season. Accordingly, low total earnings may be due either to poor performances or to a small number of tournaments having been played.

Due to the problems associated with both scoring average and total earnings, it was decided to use two different dependent variable measures for determining the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy. These two measures are (i) scoring average obtained only on Par 4 holes and (ii) scoring average obtained only on Par 5 holes. By having these two distinct measures, it is possible to determine whether the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy varies by type of hole. Further, the use of these two measures also eliminates the previously discussed problems associated with both scoring average based on 18 holes and with total earnings.

#### Independent Variables

Besides driving distance and driving accuracy, there are other variables or shot-making skills that have been commonly used in analyses that sought to determine the key factors that are related to a golfer’s overall performance. Three of the most frequently used measures will be used in this study. They are:

– **Greens-in-regulation:** The percentage of times that a golfer is able to land his or her ball on the green in two strokes on a Par 4 hole and in three or fewer strokes on a Par 5 hole.

– **Putting average:** The average number of putts per greens-in-regulation.

– **Sand saves:** The percentage of times a golfer takes two or fewer shots to put their ball in the hole from a greenside sand bunker.

Analysis Descriptive statistics will be obtained and regression analyses were conducted in order to determine the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy. However, it should be noted that a potential problem exists when using highly correlated predictor variables in a regression analysis. This is the problem of multicollinearity and this problem is one that is often present in studies that seek to determine the relative importance of various shot-making skills. For example, Heiny (5) did not explicitly consider the effects of multicollinearity when he concluded, using data from the 1992-2003 PGA Tour seasons, that the two driving measures were of far less importance to a golfer’s overall level of performance than either greens-in-regulation or putting average. The problem of multicollinearity arose since driving distance and driving accuracy were both highly correlated with greens-in-regulation and because these three measures were all used in the regression model. Due to multicollinearity, the relative importance of the two driving measures could not be accurately determined. Since the focus of this study is on driving distance and driving accuracy, primary attention will be placed on these two measures.

### Results

#### Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics for driving distance and driving accuracy for members of each tour during the 2006 to 2009 seasons are given in Table 1. The scoring average on both Par 4 and Par 5 holes for each of the tours remained fairly constant over this period of time. On the shorter Par 4 holes, the average score on both tours was virtually identical and slightly over par. On the Par 5 holes, the average score was under par on both tours, but Champions’ Tour golfers had a slightly higher stroke average compared to their PGA Tour counterparts.

**Table 1** Means and Standard Deviations for Scoring Average, Average Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy Percentage for Golfers on the PGA and Champions Tours: 2006-2009

During the four year period, the average driving distance on the PGA Tour was between 287.6 yards and 289.5 yards. The big jump in terms of average driving distance on the PGA Tour came between 1995 and 2003 when a spring-like effect in drivers was permitted. This development, together with a new a multi-layered ball, allowed golfers to launch balls higher and with less spin, thus creating optimum launch conditions and longer driving distances. This has resulted in the average driving distance leveling off in recent years on the PGA Tour. However, on the Champions’ Tour, the distance of the average drive increased from 270.2 yards in 2006 to 277.0 yards in 2009. This recent increase was due, in part, to a number of older tour members retiring and being replaced by longer-hitting younger golfers. In 2009, the differential between the PGA Tour and the Champions’ Tour in terms of the length of the average drive was just 11.1 yards compared to 19.3 yards in 2006.

The driving accuracy percentages were in a narrower range on the PGA Tour compared to the Champions’ Tour. In addition, the Champions’ Tour accuracy percentages exhibited a steady decline over the four year period and, on each tour, the percentage was at its lowest level in 2009. In terms of the variability of the two scoring averages as measured by the standard deviation, there was considerably more variability in the average scores on both the Par 4 and Par 5 holes for members of the Champions’ Tour than for members of the PGA Tour. The variability was also greater on the Champions’ Tour with respect to both driving distance and driving accuracy, but the variability differentials were not as large as they were for the two scoring average measures.

A moderately strong negative correlation existed between Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy for golfers on both tours during the 2006-2009 seasons. These correlations, which were all significant at the .01 level, are given in Table 2. The nature of the relationship found in this study was similar to that obtained by Wiseman et al (12) for members of the PGA Tour during the 1990-2004 seasons. The results also indicate that during the last two years, there was a weakening of the relationship for members of the Champions’ Tour.

**Table 2** Correlation between Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy on the PGA and Champions Tours: 2006-2009

∗ Correlation is significantly different from zero (p < .01) in that year.

For each tour, a golfer’s average driving distance and driving accuracy percentages were correlated with their scoring average on Par 4 and Par 5 holes. The obtained correlations are presented in Table 3. Most signs are negative, as expected, since long drives and a high driving accuracy percentage are associated with good performance and low scores. However, there were distinct differences in the correlations depending upon the tour and the type of hole.

**Table 3** Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy Correlations with Scoring Average on Par 4 and Par 5 Holes for the PGA and Champions Tours: 2006-2009

∗ Correlation was significantly different from zero for that year (p < .01). ∗∗ Correlation was significantly different from zero for that year (p < .05).

On Par 4 holes, the correlation between driving distance and scoring average for golfers on the Champions’ Tour was much stronger than for golfers on the PGA Tour. These correlations were between r = -.38 and r = -.49 for Champions’ Tour members, but only between r = -.00 and r = -.12 for PGA Tour members. These latter correlations indicated that there was virtually no relationship between driving distance and scoring average on Par 4 holes for PGA Tour golfers. The opposite was true for driving accuracy. The correlation between driving accuracy and scoring average on the PGA Tour was stronger than on the Champions’ Tour. Correlations for driving accuracy and scoring average were between r = -.32 and r = -.37 for golfers on the PGA Tour and between r = -.12 and r = -.30 for golfers on the Champions’ Tour. In the last two years, the relationship between driving accuracy and scoring average on the Champions’ Tour has strengthened. The above results suggest that on Par 4 holes, driving distance was far more important than driving accuracy for Champions’ Tour golfers, while driving accuracy was far more important than driving distance for PGA Tour golfers.

With Par 5 holes, driving distance was more highly correlated with scoring average than was driving accuracy on both tours. The correlations were stronger, however, on the Champions’ Tour and were between r = -.46 and r = -.62. On the PGA Tour, the correlations were between r = -.36 and r = -.43. For driving accuracy, the correlations were weak on both tours. These results suggest that on Par 5 holes, driving distance was more important than driving accuracy for players on both the PGA Tour and the Champions’ Tour.

#### Regression Analyses

Regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which driving distance and driving accuracy taken together could explain the variability in scoring average on Par 4 and Par 5 holes. A large R2 value would indicate the drive was a key factor in terms of explaining overall performance, while a small R2 value would indicate the opposite. Results are shown in Table 4.

**Table 4** Estimated Linear Regression Equation Coefficients and R2 Values when Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy were used to Predict Scoring Average

∗ Estimated regression coefficient is significantly different from zero (p < .01). ∗∗ Estimated regression coefficient is significantly different from zero (p < .05).

On the Champions’ Tour, the value of R2 ranged between .38 and .47 during the 2006-2009 seasons for each type of hole, except for Par 5 holes in 2008 when R2 = .26. The regression coefficients for driving distance and driving average were all significant at the .01 level, except in 2006 and 2008 when the coefficient associated with driving accuracy was significant at the .05 level. Results on the PGA Tour differed as far less of the variability in scoring average could be explained by the drive alone. R2 values ranged between .14 and .24 in the four years and on each type of hole, except on Par 4 holes in 2009 when R2 = .30. The regression coefficient for driving distance was significant at the .01 level in each year, except in 2008 where the significance level was .05. The regression coefficient for driving accuracy on Par 4 holes was significant at the .01 level in each year, but on Par 5 holes, there were two years in which the coefficient was not statistically significant.

Additional regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which three other variables (greens-in-regulation, putting average and sand saves) could explain the variability in scoring average that could not be explained by either driving distance or driving accuracy. The R2 values presented in Table 5 indicate that the five measures used together could explain more of the variability in scoring average on the Champions’ Tour than on the PGA Tour. R2 values ranged from .69 to .89 on the Champions’ Tour and from .41 to .75 on the PGA Tour.

**Table 5** R 2 values when Five Skills Measures were used to Predict Scoring Average on Par 4 and Par 5 Holes for the PGA and Champions Tours: 2006-2009*

∗ The five measures were Driving Distance, Driving Accuracy, Greens-in-Regulation, Putting Average, and Sand Saves.

**Table 6** Proportion of Total Explained Variability in Scoring Average Directly Attributable to Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy on Par 4 and Par 5 Holes for the PGA and Champions Tours: 2006-2009

∗ Values obtained by dividing R2 values given in Table 4 by the corresponding R2 values given in Table 5.

The ratios of the corresponding R2 values in Tables 4 and 5 are given in Table 6. These ratios indicate the relative importance of the drive compared to the other three predictor measures. The higher the ratio, the greater the variability in scoring average that could be explained by using the two driving measures compared to the three other predictor measures. As shown in the table, the ratios are higher in each case for the Champions’ Tour than for the PGA Tour. This indicates that the drive, compared to the other three measures that were used, was relatively more important for golfers on the Champions’ Tour than for golfers on the PGA Tour.

### Discussion

This study examined the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy on two professional golf tours from 2006-2009. Based upon independent analyses on Par 4 and Par 5 holes for each tour, the findings indicated that the relative importance of driving distance and driving accuracy varied by both tour and type of hole. Other researchers have recently investigated the physical (1,9) and mental (4) effects of aging on the ability of professional golfers to compete at a high level. These studies described the nature of declines that take place with aging as well as compensating offsets, for example, shorter, but more accurate drives. In the present study, one possible explanation for the changing relative importance of driving distance relates to the physical changes that occur as people age. Individuals lose strength and agility over time, which in golf is frequently demonstrated by both shorter and more accurate drives. However, for Champions’ Tour golfers this improvement in driving accuracy is not enough to offset the loss in driving distance which, in turn, results in higher scoring averages. On long Par 4 holes, a short drive for these players means fewer birdie opportunities because it is more difficult to reach the green in regulation. For PGA Tour golfers, a relatively short drive on a lengthy Par 4 hole is not necessarily an impediment to reaching the green in regulation, even if the tee shot does not come to rest on the fairway. This study also demonstrated that the drive was relatively more important to a golfer’s overall performance than was previously thought based upon a number of similar studies. This increased level of relative importance could be attributed, in part, to the fact that in the present analysis, separate scoring averages on Par 4 and Par 5 holes were used rather than a single scoring average based upon all 18 holes. Additionally, by conducting the analysis in two phases, it was shown that approximately half of the total explained variability in scoring average on both Par 4 and Par 5 holes on the Champions’ Tour, and approximately one-third of the total explained variability in scoring average on the PGA Tour, could be directly attributed to the drive alone. These results highlight the need for careful attention to the performance measures that are used in future studies.

### Conclusion

This paper investigated whether driving distance or driving accuracy was more important to a golfer’s performance. The results indicated that the answer to the question depended not only on the type of hole (Par 4 or Par 5), but also on the age of the golfer. For the 50 years of age and over golfer playing on the Champions’ Tour, driving distance was clearly a more important factor regardless of the type of hole. However, for the under 50 years of age golfer on the PGA Tour, driving accuracy was more important on Par 4 holes, while driving distance was more important on Par 5 holes. In addition, the investigation revealed that the quality of the drive in terms of the combined effects of both driving distance and driving accuracy was more important to a golfer’s success on the Champions’ Tour than it was on the PGA Tour.

### Applications in Sport

This study is relevant to all golf teaching professionals because instructors debate the amount of time golfers should spend in practicing their driving techniques. Traditionally, golfers have been told to spend less time on driving and more on other facets of the game. This study has shown that except for young professional golfers, the drive is very important in trying to achieve lower scores.

### References

1. Baker, J., Deakin, J., Horton, S. and Pearce, W. (2007). Maintenance of Skilled Performance with Age: A Descriptive Examination of Professional Golfers. Journal of Aging and Physical Ability, 15, 299-316.

2. Callan, S. & Thomas, J. (2006). Performance in Amateur Golf: An Examination of NCAA Division I Golfers. The Sport Journal, 9, 3. Available online at: <http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/gender-skill-and-performance-amateur-golf-examination-ncaa-division-i-golfers/>.

3. Engelhardt, G.M. (1995). It’s not how you drive, it’s how you arrive: the myth. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 80, 1135-1138.

4. Fried, Harold O. & Loren W. Tauer. (2009). The impact of age on the ability to perform under pressure: golfers on the PGA tour. Journal of Productivity Analysis. Available online at: <http://www.springerlink.com/content/337g8rv212w45423/?p=7d7abc1e32d744f3906e83014cf31f51&pi=4>.

5. Heiny, E. (2008). Today’s PGA Tour Pro: Long but Not so Straight. Chance, 21, 1, 10-21.

6. Moy, R.L. & Liaw, T. (1998). Determinants of golf tournament earnings. The American Economist, 42, 65-70.

7. Rishe, P. (2001). Differing Rates of Return to Performance. Journal of Sports Economics, 2, 285-296.

8. Shmanske, S. (2000). Gender, Skill and Earnings in Professional Golf. Journal of Sports Economics, 1, 385-200.

9. Tirunch, G. (2010). Age and Winning Professional Golf Tournaments. Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 6, 1. Available online at: <http://www.bepress.com/jqas/vol6/iss1/5/>.

10. Wiseman, F. & Chatterjee, S. (2006). Comprehensive Analysis of Golf Performance on the PGA Tour: 1990-2004. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 102, 109-117.

11. Wiseman, F., Chatterjee, S., Wiseman, D., & Chatterjee, N. (1994). An Analysis of 1992 Performance Statistics for Players on the US PGA Tour, Senior PGA and LPGA Tours, in A. Cochran & M.R. Farrally (Eds.) Science and Golf II. Proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf. London: E & FN Spon. Pp. 199-204.

12. Wiseman, F., Habibullah, M., & Yilmaz, M. (2007). A New Method for Ranking Total Driving Performance on the PGA Tour. The Sport Journal, 10, 1. Available online at: <http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/new-method-ranking-total-driving-performance-pga-tour>.

### Corresponding Author

**Frederick Wiseman, Ph.D** 202 Hayden Hall College of Business Administration Northeastern University Boston, MA 02115 <[email protected]> (617) 373-4562

### Author Bios

#### Frederick Wiseman Frederick Wiseman is Professor of Statistics at the Northeastern University College of Business Administration

#### Mohamed Habibullah Mohamed Habibullah is a Lecturer in Statistics at the Northeastern University College of Business Administration

#### John Friar John Friar is Executive Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Northeastern University College of Business Administration

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Field Finalized for 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup

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American superstar Nelly Korda, aiming for her record sixth consecutive LPGA Tour victory, headlines the field  

CLIFTON, N.J. (May 1, 2024) – The field is set for the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup, to be held May 9-12 at Upper Montclair Country Club. A who’s-who of the world’s best golfers will head to Clifton, N.J., next week to tee it up in the 11th event of the 2024 LPGA Tour season. The five days at Upper Montclair will present fans with many opportunities to watch these world-class athletes up close and personal, while also enjoying one of the most family-friendly experiences in professional sports.

This is the 13th edition of the Cognizant Founders Cup and the third held at Upper Montclair Country Club. The event celebrates the 13 Founding Members of the LPGA Tour, who created the Association in 1950. The list of past Cognizant Founders Cup champions is a who’s-who of the best talent on the LPGA Tour – winners represent 30 major victories and 142 LPGA Tour victories, and every Cognizant Founders Cup winner is a major champion.    Who to watch… The 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup field is headlined by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda. The American superstar will take to Upper Montclair on a streak of five consecutive LPGA Tour victories. With her victory two weeks ago at The Chevron Championship, the 25-year-old became just the third player since 1978 to win five straight tournaments on the LPGA Tour, joining Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam, and the first player since herself in 2021 to win a major championship and the event before.

Korda will be joined in the Cognizant Founders Cup field by the other four winners this season: Hannah Green, who took wins at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and at last week’s JM Eagle LA Championship; Lydia Ko, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions winner who will earn induction in the LPGA Hall of Fame with her next victory; Bailey Tardy, who became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the Blue Bay LPGA; and Patty Tavatanakit, who won the Honda LPGA Thailand for her first victory since 2021. The field also includes defending and three-time Founders champion Jin Young Ko, as well as past champions Sei Young Kim, Minjee Lee, Stacy Lewis and Anna Nordqvist.

The field includes 29 major-championship winners, representing 41 major titles. There are also 39 Olympians in the field, including all three medalists from the Tokyo Games – Nelly Korda (gold), Mone Inami (silver) and Lydia Ko (bronze).

Three spots remain in the Cognizant Founders Cup field, with two filled by the top two finishers at Monday’s Local Qualifying Round . Finally, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup , an 18-hole stroke play competition for Black women golfers, will be held concurrently with the Local Qualifying Round. The winner of the event will be awarded a sponsor exemption into the Cognizant Founders Cup, marking a continuation of Cognizant’s commitment to supporting equal opportunity and diversity in the game of golf and beyond.  

What to do…   The Fan Zone, located by the putting green and main clubhouse, will host several fun activities for the whole family.

Fans can put their golf skills to the test at the Long Putt Challenge presented by Rhone, taking a shot at a hole-in-one at the 65-foot putting experience surrounded by trees and other obstacles. Go long to earn bragging rights, and a chance to win some awesome prizes, including a $500 LPGA Pro Shop gift card. After that, fans can head over to the Pro Shop to pick up the latest LPGA gear, including hats, polos, mid-layers, accessories and more. Fans can also browse the full selection of LPGA merchandise by visiting LPGAProShop.com .

By the 16th green, fans can commemorate their visit to the Cognizant Founders Cup with a photo at the Fan Photo Booth. Snap a pic with friends and family, then tag the LPGA’s social channels and use the hashtag #FoundersCup for the chance to appear on the official tournament feeds ( @LPGA , Facebook and X; @lpga_tour , Instagram and TikTok).

The driving range will host several LPGA*USGA Girls Golf activations throughout the week. Starting Wednesday, the Girls Golf booth will provide juniors with opportunities to learn about the game of golf through the  Five E’s  of Girls Golf. The Girls Golf team will also offer clinics on Saturday (9 a.m. to Noon; 2-4:30 p.m.) and Sunday (2-3 p.m.), providing juniors with a hands-on teaching experience.

Fans of all ages can sharpen their game at the LPGA Lesson Zone, a unique fan activation that offers free 10-minute lessons from LPGA Teaching Professionals. Located on the driving range, lessons are available to fans of all ages and skill levels. 

How to visit… Tickets are available for purchase at SeatGeek.com . Daily general admission tickets are $55, while weekly general admission passes are $150. Pioneer Pavilion hospitality tickets are $190 for daily admission and $570 for weekly access. The Pioneer Pavilion, a fully covered viewing area on the 17th green, includes breakfast and lunch, afternoon snacks, soft drinks, beer, wine, select spirits and off-site parking.

To honor those who serve our country in the United States Armed Forces, the LPGA is pleased to offer both current and former members of the U.S. Military and certain guests complimentary grounds tickets regardless of sell-out. Click here for information on military tickets. Additionally, juniors aged 17 and under will receive complimentary admission with the purchase of an adult ticket. Click here for information on junior tickets.

All spectators will receive complimentary grounds tickets to Wednesday’s practice round, courtesy of the New Jersey Golf Foundation. These tickets are available at SeatGeek.com , with fans encouraged to experience one of the most exciting and family-friendly events in professional sports.

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