Which has more impact on your score: fairways hit or three putts?

[Javs]

This article shows that three putting has more impact on your score than fairways hit. Do you agree? I do.

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/is-it-better-to-hit-75-of-fairways-or-three-putt-only-once-per-round-new-data-reveals-all?utm_term=CFEB69DA-8695-406A-822D-71925C4B6E39&lrh=afabd56f8788996dec1eed39e53e29756a4fe34c1aff9fa4fdfa9f254cbb042a&utm_campaign=075440B8-601C-4440-A9B1-8A7444061AA8&utm_medium=email&utm_content=352839CC-9A19-4D2C-8E98-3870ED2FEEFC&utm_source=SmartBrief

[Josh Parker]

Absolutely 3 putting has more impact.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

3 putts are a killer on any scoring round. I can, and often do overcome wayward tee shots, but if the putter is cold, it will be a long round.

[Preeway]

Absolutely. Unless you miss the fairway into trouble (OB, trees, water, bunker), or the rough is ridiculously long, missing the fairway isn’t that punitive. 

[Breaking 90]

I agree 100%. They are a killer mentally.

[Hacker60521]

Three putts are the score killer. It’s even one of Tiger’s five rules

1. No 6s on par-5s. Par-5s are prime scoring holes.
2. No doubles. Making a bogey will not kill your round.
3. No 3-putts. Three-putting is a huge unforced error, and they add up quickly on the scorecard.
4. No bogeys with scoring clubs.
5. No double chips.

[Erin B]

@Javs absolutely a 3 putt is way way way worse than missing a fairway. Not to mention the mental damage it does to most players.

[funkyjudge]

I am in full agreement with those who have answered that 3-putt greens have more impact on a golfer’s overall score than fairways hit or missed. The only exception is when the missed fairways result in OB or lost ball penalties.

I am known for making semi-miraculous recoveries from the rough and even from out of the woods, and I also make more than my fair share of up-and-downs for par, or at worst to save a bogey after hitting my tee shot into some ugly place and having to punch out.

3-putts are the bane of my golfing existence, and when I can avoid 3-putting (or worse), I generally score quite well and win my matchplay competitions.

Edited April 27 by funkyjudge

[funkyjudge]

41 minutes ago, Javs said:

This article shows that three putting has more impact on your score than fairways hit. Do you agree? I do.

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/is-it-better-to-hit-75-of-fairways-or-three-putt-only-once-per-round-new-data-reveals-all?utm_term=CFEB69DA-8695-406A-822D-71925C4B6E39&lrh=afabd56f8788996dec1eed39e53e29756a4fe34c1aff9fa4fdfa9f254cbb042a&utm_campaign=075440B8-601C-4440-A9B1-8A7444061AA8&utm_medium=email&utm_content=352839CC-9A19-4D2C-8E98-3870ED2FEEFC&utm_source=SmartBrief

Absolutely! (See my response above)

[Kenny B]

The Arccos data has no relevance to my game; 46% fairways hit for a 10 handicap??… as a 10 I already hit more than 75%.  The impact of missing fairways is directly related to the severity of the miss and distance from the green.  Since I don’t hit the ball as far as I would like, I miss a lot of greens.  So, missing a fairway and assuming not a horrible lie, I’m likely to miss the green anyway so no big deal.

I don’t 3-putt very often, usually less than one per round, but I play the same course almost exclusively so I know the greens pretty well.  Since I don’t get on many GIR, my score depends on getting up and down.  Bad chips or 3-putts are killers for my score, and turning a rare birdie chance into a bogey is absolutely devastating!!

[THE GOLF GUY]

1 hour ago, Preeway said:

Absolutely. Unless you miss the fairway into trouble (OB, trees, water, bunker), or the rough is ridiculously long, missing the fairway isn’t that punitive. 

Totally agree , I believe hitting  fairways or missing marginally and putting are the most important things to a round , at least for me personally. When I have a fairway wood , iron or wedge in hand I’m have total confidence in what I’m doing and that is why driving the ball and putting are essential to me scoring well .

Edited April 27 by THE GOLF GUY

[Northern Monkey]

Without a doubt 3 putts are far more damaging. As has been said unless you’re OB, into a hazard or deep rough then you can usually over come a missed fairway. I’d take a missed fairway over a three putt any day

[Knight017]

3 putts are definitely the killer. I had my best round of the year yesterday 78 off the stick,but 3 putted the last 2 holes. I would have equalled my best score with 2 two putts.

Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk

[William P]

Without a doubt 3 putts are the worst destroy my confidence in the putter stroke quickly leading to worse...

[DaveP043]

Its really a poor choice of factors to compare.  Instead, compare a single 3-putt with a single tee shot into a Penalty Area, and a single tee shot Lost or OB.  Hitting tee shots in play is critical to scoring, hitting tee shots in the fairway is much less important.

[I like to hit bombs]

Most people aren’t playing courses where missing the fairway is very penalizing (unless they’re adding penalty strokes).

[Javs]

8 hours ago, funkyjudge said:

I am in full agreement with those who have answered that 3-putt greens have more impact on a golfer’s overall score than fairways hit or missed. The only exception is when the missed fairways result in OB or lost ball penalties.

I am known for making semi-miraculous recoveries from the rough and even from out of the woods, and I also make more than my fair share of up-and-downs for par, or at worst to save a bogey after hitting my tee shot into some ugly place and having to punch out.

3-putts are the bane of my golfing existence, and when I can avoid 3-putting (or worse), I generally score quite well and win my matchplay competitions.

I was always taught: turn 5’s into 4’s and never make unforced errors 

[buckpillar]

I agree 100% , 3 Putts have the biggest impact on a round, you can recover from an arrant tee shot but those 3 putts ... UUUUGGGHHHH 

[Rob Person]

3 putts are the score killer, but an ob bad tee shot will definitely be a mental killer for that hole.

Worst part for me is the chunked or skulled recovery/long iron shots. Those are the true score killer for me.

[RickyBobby_PR]

Didn’t need that article to tell anyone. Strokes gained as made that knows for a while.

being in the fairway guarantees nothing and giving up distance to be in the fairway doesn’t improve score and makes the game harder 

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Didn’t need that article to tell anyone. Strokes gained as made that knows for a while.

being in the fairway guarantees nothing and giving up distance to be in the fairway doesn’t improve score and makes the game harder 

Agree completely.  Another thing that SG shows is that 3-putts are often NOT a putting problem, but instead an approach problem.  If you hit a few approach shots to 40 or 50 feet, you ARE going to 3-putt.

2 hours ago, buckpillar said:

I agree 100% , 3 Putts have the biggest impact on a round, you can recover from an arrant tee shot but those 3 putts ... UUUUGGGHHHH 

Yeah, I don't know about this.  Hit a tee shot into the woods where you have to play sideways, hit a Penalty Area, you've lost a complete stroke, just like a 3-putt.  Hit one OB, you've lost TWO strokes with a single swing.  You're not getting those strokes back.  Again, I'm not too worried about hitting fairways, but hitting the tee shot in play is critical.

[KC Golf]

For me it’s fairways hit since if I am losing a ball off the tee or in jail off the fairway, it impacts my score more than a three putt.  

I’m sure it’s not that way overall statistically, but it seems that way for me.

 

[cksurfdude]

22 hours ago, Javs said:

This article shows that three putting has more impact on your score than fairways hit. Do you agree? I do.

Also agree!

A third putt is always +1 full stroke on the card. 

A missed fairway - depending on the severity of the miss - could be as little as -0.1 SG (or maybe even zero sometimes).

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

Agree completely.  Another thing that SG shows is that 3-putts are often NOT a putting problem, but instead an approach problem.  If you hit a few approach shots to 40 or 50 feet, you ARE going to 3-putt.

Yeah, I don't know about this.  Hit a tee shot into the woods where you have to play sideways, hit a Penalty Area, you've lost a complete stroke, just like a 3-putt.  Hit one OB, you've lost TWO strokes with a single swing.  You're not getting those strokes back.  Again, I'm not too worried about hitting fairways, but hitting the tee shot in play is critical.

The bolded part is very true 

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, KC Golf said:

For me it’s fairways hit since if I am losing a ball off the tee or in jail off the fairway, it impacts my score more than a three putt.  

I’m sure it’s not that way overall statistically, but it seems that way for me.

 

If one is getting in trouble off the tee trying to hit the fairway isn’t going to help them. Just reducing dispersion will be better than hitting the fairway.

Pros dispersion is a lot wider than people think. It’s 65 yards wide off the tee. 

The notion of hitting fairways leads to lower scores is outdated. Undertaking dispersion patterns and picking the appropriate target and shot shape is where people should focus.

 

[Javs]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

Agree completely.  Another thing that SG shows is that 3-putts are often NOT a putting problem, but instead an approach problem.  If you hit a few approach shots to 40 or 50 feet, you ARE going to 3-putt.

Yeah, I don't know about this.  Hit a tee shot into the woods where you have to play sideways, hit a Penalty Area, you've lost a complete stroke, just like a 3-putt.  Hit one OB, you've lost TWO strokes with a single swing.  You're not getting those strokes back.  Again, I'm not too worried about hitting fairways, but hitting the tee shot in play is critical.

     I often have a 40 footer on par 5’s for Eagle and get it up and down 9 out of 10 times. So, the distance on the green is not the issue as where. If there is a several breaks and severe slope then it becomes more of an issue. We have spoken in other post on proximity to the hole. Sometimes being 8 feet away on the fringe can be the best position. 
     Your point on big misses off the tee which result in lost strokes is very true. However, the article was only speaking on fairways. Probably because too many people put too much emphasis on being in the fairway. Another discussion we had in a post is that distance into a good angle or location is much more beneficial than short in the fairway. 

[Michael.Sandoval33]

I think part of it is skill level. I hit much better shots on the fairway than I do out of the rough, just from lack of experience and technique. In the woods, I have struggled at times getting back into play, even going as far as hitting directly across the fairway and into the other side of the rough trying to muscle out of the thick stuff. 

3-putts I think are the more typical addage to my score, even so far as 4-putting a par 3 last round. 

So I really think it depends on how you are playing that day, if I'm too wayward into bad lies, missing the fairway can be a killer. But if my putting is bad, that is less easily correctable through the round.

[Golf2Much]

In general, I'd say that a three putt can be more devastating to your score and mental portion of your game than missing a fairway.  

[DaveP043]

2 hours ago, Javs said:

I often have a 40 footer on par 5’s for Eagle and get it up and down 9 out of 10 times.

This article (https://golf.com/instruction/putting/fascinating-chart-shows-how-likely-three-putt/) suggests that PGA Tour players 3-putt about 11% of the time from 40'.  If you're at that level, great!  The same article says that doubling the distance, from 24 to 48 feet, 3-putts are 5 times more likely (3% to 15%).  For amateurs, and even more for higher-handicappers, 3-putts will be even more common.  The single best way to decrease 3-putts is to hit it closer to the hole.

2 hours ago, Javs said:

So, the distance on the green is not the issue as where. If there is a several breaks and severe slope then it becomes more of an issue.

In my experience, the more distance my putt has to travel, the more likely it is that my putt will experience multiple breaks or severe slopes.  All of that is distance related.

The one thing that I've learned from the Strokes Gained analysis is that none of this happens in a vacuum, everything depends on what you've done previously on a hole.  a 3-putt may be caused by a poor approach.  That poor approach might be caused by a mis-hit drive, leaving a longer-then-normal approach.  

2 hours ago, Javs said:

However, the article was only speaking on fairways.

The article selected two "traditional" statistics to compare, statistics which have been proven to be less than fully indicative in light of more recent methods of analysis.

[Javs]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

This article (https://golf.com/instruction/putting/fascinating-chart-shows-how-likely-three-putt/) suggests that PGA Tour players 3-putt about 11% of the time from 40'.  If you're at that level, great!  The same article says that doubling the distance, from 24 to 48 feet, 3-putts are 5 times more likely (3% to 15%).  For amateurs, and even more for higher-handicappers, 3-putts will be even more common.  The single best way to decrease 3-putts is to hit it closer to the hole.

In my experience, the more distance my putt has to travel, the more likely it is that my putt will experience multiple breaks or severe slopes.  All of that is distance related.

The one thing that I've learned from the Strokes Gained analysis is that none of this happens in a vacuum, everything depends on what you've done previously on a hole.  a 3-putt may be caused by a poor approach.  That poor approach might be caused by a mis-hit drive, leaving a longer-then-normal approach.  

The article selected two "traditional" statistics to compare, statistics which have been proven to be less than fully indicative in light of more recent methods of analysis.

I don’t disagree with your point. The slope of the green and length of putt are two separate issues. Not every green on every course has a severe slope. If you are facing multiple breaks and a long putt, then yes obviously it is a harder putt to get close. Not every three putt is based upon a poor approach or length of putt. I have seen plenty of guys stick one close, but be above the hole or just be too aggressive on a flat birdie putt that was flat. The birdie putt slides past and the same putt or longer coming back is missed. I also think a lot is mental approach. I tend to putt much better from 40 feet plus when I have just hit a par 5 in two. Hitting a poor approach on a par 4 and leaving yourself 40 plus feet is more devastating mentally to me. Golf is a mental game and how you approach the shot and subsequent putt matters. Everyone’s game is different and I rarely three putt. Three putting pisses me off because it is an unforced error. I don’t care if I miss a fairway, but still have a decent angle to the green/hole. However, I am a firm believer if you want to cut strokes fast then pitch, chip and putt better. 

Edited April 28 by Javs