Tiger's Iron Play Improves And Aren't We Glad ShotLink Proves It

In his return to PGA National, Tiger Woods opened with an even par 70 in breezy conditions with greens under criticism from players for a lack of grass (Randall Mell reports).

Bob Harig's story for ESPN.com covers what was again, mostly positive, with one rough hole mixed in along with a less-than-pretty day statistically.

In Tiger's previous two starts, he noted and observers like myself confirmed that his iron play was needing work. While the sample size is small, GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner noted this from the round one ShotLink data:

The more telling stat was this: His proximity to the hole (28 feet) was more than an 11-foot improvement over his first two starts this year. And also this: He was 11th among the early starters in strokes gained-tee to green, which measures a player’s all-around ball-striking. Last week, at Riviera, he ranked 121st

While a mysterious sport like golf can't always be summed up in stats, this kind of nugget is not only practical to Tiger, but to media and fans wanting to quantify progress. It's all a reminder that the PGA Tour's investment in ShotLink has often been underestimated in its magnitude, as is the tireless effort of the ShotLink crew and their volunteers each week.

Comments

[D. maculata]

Stats can't tell the whole story. Not on this course in breezy conditions, where a miss more often than not found Bermuda that wasn't lacking, a bunker or water. Tiger escaping in level par was as good as 2-3 under anywhere else in FL except TPC Sawgrass. Maybe he should consider taking on Harrington as his full-time psychologist ;-)

[Center Cut]

Genuinely thrilled for all concerned. Especially media hacks who now can use another source of utterly useless information to keep the Tiger bandwagon rolling until the mule collapses of an unfused spine.

[Sari]

Center Cut:

I wouldn’t call proximity to the hole an “utterly useless” stat, whether it’s used for Tiger or anyone else. In fact, it’s probably more useful than GIR. If you’re 60 feet away and on a green, you probably have less of a chance than if you’re 15 feet away but on the fringe. I like the PGA Tour’s investment in new stats. Strokes gained driving is another one.

[Center Cut]

Sari - it's utterly useless when the stat is derived from one round, or as quoted 'the sample size is small'. Which made me laugh. Lots.

[Don]

CC,
What has your gears turning at the Honda so far. Or what would you look into if you had the time and resources.

[FC]

Center Cut, a heads up. Regarding lumbar fusion comebacks for pro athletes, 3.3 years remain for the TW Bandwagon.

[Geoff]

Center Cut,
Just a reminder, you don't have to keep coming back and reading this free site or other free sites putting out useless information. You've made the point repeatedly and it has been heard. Please move along.