Stats Analysis - WGC Cadillac Championship

Day 2



Thought I'd try to graph the key statistics of some of the low scorers for day 2 and compare with Tiger to see what stands out.

Very interesting to compare Tiger's 67 to Bubba's 62. Both are long off the tee, but Bubba's 321.5 yards is 24.5 yards longer than Tiger, but he hits the fairways only 50% compared to Tiger's 64.29%.

Both of them find the green about the same amount, GIR, Bubba 77.8 while Tiger is 77.78. But despite Tiger's approach being closer, 24' 3" to Bubba's 35' 5" (Tiger is almost 11' closer to the pin), Tiger required 1.714 putts per GIR while Bubba's only took 1.286 putts per GIR.

In terms of accuracy of approach, in this sample, Tiger was the 2nd most accurate, losing out only to Bo Van Pelt who was 1 inch closer on average.

In terms of the all-important strokes gained-putting statistic, the difference is even more pronounced.

Tiger actually LOST strokes, -0.944, while Bubba gained a blistering 3.338 strokes. Only Bo Van Pelt did higher, gaining 4.041 strokes, but he lost some strokes in the sand, sand saves of 66.7% compared to Tiger and Bubba both at 100% sand saves.

So, for day 2, Bubba was much longer than Tiger, but not as accurate. Still, he managed the hit slightly more number of greens than Tiger, albeit placing the ball further away from the pin, almost 11 feet further. But Bubba's putter was on fire and that more than made up for the inaccuracy of his irons.

Notes

The scale is normalised for ease of depiction.

Sand saves for Peter Hanson should be Not Applicable, not zero, but Excel only understands zero.

Explanation of Stroke Gained - Putting statistic

Comment: Stroke Gained - Putting looks at distance compared to last season, but does not factor in location, uphill, downhill, etc.

In comparison, Rory averaged 25' 9" to the pin with GIR 72.22%, which looked quite good. Until you look at his Strokes Gained - Putting stat of -3.894. Wow, and I thought Tiger's putting was weak.

That means compared to the average putts made from those distances in this course last season, Rory lost almost 4 strokes. So if he just matched the average putting performance of the field last season, he would have shot 64 instead of the 69 he actually did.

V insightful lee... Well carved analysis.. looking forward to our game this Fri...

And I noticed that bubba tho he is longer, he's not getting closer to pin even at distances of 20 yards nearer to green than his nearest competitor. Either he is always in trouble off the tee or just needing adjustments with his irons.. but his putting stats are solid

Begbie wrote:

V insightful lee... Well carved analysis.. looking forward to our game this Fri...

And I noticed that bubba tho he is longer, he's not getting closer to pin even at distances of 20 yards nearer to green than his nearest competitor. Either he is always in trouble off the tee or just needing adjustments with his irons.. but his putting stats are solid

Indeed, as am I. It will be interesting I'm sure.

Bubba will find it hard to get much closer to the pin because half the time he is hitting it from the rough. Still, it shows there are various ways to get the job done.

Begbie wrote:

V insightful lee... Well carved analysis.. looking forward to our game this Fri...

Bro Begbie .. Wow, going to play in KL ? going with Romy too ?

Slicer51 wrote:

Begbie wrote:

V insightful lee... Well carved analysis.. looking forward to our game this Fri...

Bro Begbie .. Wow, going to play in KL ? going with Romy too ?

Romy can't go due to family commitments.. I'm going with panji.... In celebration of his 22 year old birthday...

Hey,

I am not sure if you will noticed but most of the Long Bombers would find their ball left & right off the Tee.

If you watch Gary Woodland, Dustin Johnson & Bubba Watson... their ball usually end up in rough or OB.

Even Michelle Wie was experiencing that. Her ball was going left or right.

Bubba Watson would have played better if he played cautiously.
I think he was worried that R-Mac or TW would make a run and outduel him.

Justin Rose

Driving Distance 288.0
Driving Accuracy 42.86%
GIR 72.22%
Strokes Gained - Putting -0.150
Putts Per GIR 1.769
Average Distance to Pin 30' 5"
Sand Save Percentage 50.00%

Bubba Watson

Driving Distance 316.5
Driving Accuracy 28.57%
GIR 55.56%
Strokes Gained - Putting -0.560
Putts Per GIR 1.800
Average Distance to Pin 36' 8"
Sand Save Percentage --

So basically JR hit more fairways and more GIR than Bubba and putted better.

Bubba lost just half a stroke to JR in strokes gained - putting, but he missed more greens because he missed more fairways.

It was close, but JR just edged Bubba because of accuracy. If Bubba's putter had remained hot, the story would be reversed.