Ricky Fowler putting at the Honda

[cnosil]

Anyone who watched heard how Ricky was 57 for 57 putting inside of 7 feet. Found an interesting article that breaks down the actual putts and shows how these statistics can be really meaningless. Not that it wasn't decent putting but not really as great as the announcers made it seem

 

http://ow.ly/OZlM309qfuM

[hckymeyer]

Interesting article and interesting take on the accomplishment.  Just like saying a pro only hit 50% of FIR (which Ricky did) it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

That said I don't find it bothers me in the slightest to herald going 57 for 57 inside 7' even if most were much closer. I'd take that kind of putting every round and twice on Wednesdays 

[cnosil]

Just shows that you have to be careful when analyzing your own game and truly understand what you are looking at

[Kor.A.Door]

I'll take 57 of 57 from 3 feet every day let alone 7 feet, and 3 times on Sunday. Meaningless stat. Not sure about that. It is a stat that meant something to the outcome of the week. If he was 54 of 57, it could have meant something.

[Kenny B]

Jimmy Walker would have liked to have had that statistic.  He missed several inside 3 feet.

[cnosil]

I'll take 57 of 57 from 3 feet every day let alone 7 feet, and 3 times on Sunday. Meaningless stat. Not sure about that. It is a stat that meant something to the outcome of the week. If he was 54 of 57, it could have meant something.

How about misleading instead of meaningless. Poor word choice. I am not saying it wasn't good putting but the putts were more toward the 4' range and not the 7 foot range

[Undershooter]

Misleading.. Yes probably so, but he was second in the field in strokes gained putting with +7.401 which is a much better stat to measure his putting vs everyone else's.

[Kenny B]

Something has changed in Rickie's putting this year.  He was 64th last year in Strokes Gained, and 3rd now.  If he can keep it up, he can contend in majors.

[cnosil]

Misleading.. Yes probably so, but he was second in the field in strokes gained putting with +7.401 which is a much better stat to measure his putting vs everyone else's.

Not saying he didn't put well. Just saying the 57 for 57 is misleading and doesn't provide an accurate picture since only a handful were over 4 feet. 3 out of his 4 rounds he had a strokes gained in the mid 1 range. Which is great and will win quite a few tournaments .

 

I agree strokes gained is a better measure and not just putts made. The bigger point is you have to understand the underlying data when looking at any statistic.

 

For example let's say you have 38 putts for a round. Would you say you had a bad putting day? How about if you looked at the data. And saw you had missed 18 greens and chipped no closer than 10 feet and 2 putted from there. I'd say work on chipping instead of putting.

[Undershooter]

Not saying he didn't put well. Just saying the 57 for 57 is misleading and doesn't provide an accurate picture since only a handful were over 4 feet. 3 out of his 4 rounds he had a strokes gained in the mid 1 range. Which is great and will win quite a few tournaments .

 

I agree strokes gained is a better measure and not just putts made. The bigger point is you have to understand the underlying data when looking at any statistic.

 

For example let's say you have 38 putts for a round. Would you say you had a bad putting day? How about if you looked at the data. And saw you had missed 18 greens and chipped no closer than 10 feet and 2 putted from there. I'd say work on chipping instead of putting.

No doubt you can tweak any data to make it look however you want to.

 

I was just saying that yes the stat showing that 57 for 57 inside 7 feet was misleading. BUT, it did go along with the overall narrative that Ricky putted his ass off this weekend. In fact he putted better than all but 1 other person. 

[Kor.A.Door]

There is no doubt that putting wins these tournaments, I can think of 3 guys off the top of my head that putting keeps them from winning almost every week. Gary Woodland, Ryan Palmer, and Adam Scott. If these guys could putt they would be winning many tournaments. Especially Scott with his ball striking.

[HighFade]

99% of stats are made up. Including this one.

But geez, man. 57 for 57 is amazing if it was from inside 2 feet.

 

I'll be the first one in Ricky's corner this year. I even have a signed hat! Thanks MBP!

[hckymeyer]

99% of stats are made up. Including this one.

But geez, man. 57 for 57 is amazing if it was from inside 2 feet.

 

I'll be the first one in Ricky's corner this year. I even have a signed hat! Thanks MBP!

   

[Undershooter]

There is no doubt that putting wins these tournaments, I can think of 3 guys off the top of my head that putting keeps them from winning almost every week. Gary Woodland, Ryan Palmer, and Adam Scott. If these guys could putt they would be winning many tournaments. Especially Scott with his ball striking.

Not saying they arent already good bc they are all incredible players. But imagine if Scott, Rory and Matsuyama were all top 20-30 putters. It would be a 3 man tourney every week unless someone else was on fire!

[Big money]

Off topic. But glad to change the trend of threads to putting vs hitting the ball.If one wants to truly drop the scores then putting is the way to go.And changing putting stroke and technique is a heck of a lot easier than changing a golf swing.I will spend most of my time on putting green vs range whenever I can

[Undershooter]

Off topic. But glad to change the trend of threads to putting vs hitting the ball.If one wants to truly drop the scores then putting is the way to go.And changing putting stroke and technique is a heck of a lot easier than changing a golf swing.I will spend most of my time on putting green vs range whenever I can

 

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. Ball striking is going to be more important for scoring than putting. I agree that short game should be worked on more for low handicappers than the full swing (in most cases), but if I had to pick, I'd rather be a good ball striker. 

[Kor.A.Door]

Not saying they arent already good bc they are all incredible players. But imagine if Scott, Rory and Matsuyama were all top 20-30 putters. It would be a 3 man tourney every week unless someone else was on fire!

Exactly, there are probably 10-12 guys that would be elite players right now if they could putt. You right though those 3 guys you mentioned would win every week. Their ball striking is extremely good. We all know you win with the flatstick.

[Dgolfer]

Great stuff here. Practice is the key to success..

 

Sent from my SM-N920T using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[Undershooter]

Exactly, there are probably 10-12 guys that would be elite players right now if they could putt. You right though those 3 guys you mentioned would win every week. Their ball striking is extremely good. We all know you win with the flatstick.

Agree for the most part that the winner most weeks has a hot flat stick. But overall, the best players in the world are ball strikers, not putters. Some can do both but they usually hit it very well. Look at DJ this week for example, he was mediocre at best on the greens but lead the field in ball striking and took home the hardware!