Searching for a Specialist: The Open Championship

Heading overseas, we have some unique links golf in store for us this week.

The course on hand is Carnoustie Golf Links which last hosted in 2007 when Paddy Harrington took care of Sergio Garcia.

Recapping last week, our specialists had a great week. HV3 and Wagner were both in the hunt all week and HV3 finished it off with a stellar T6. Let’s build on that momentum as we prep for the season’s third major.

This week we will look at performance on Bentgrass Greens, performance on Less-than-Driver Courses, performance against Strong Fields, performance on Links, and finish up with performance in Cold Weather.

Here we go …

Bentgrass Greens

Carnoustie Golf Links features greens that are a mixture of bentgrass, meadow grass, and fescue.

This is the most common grass when it comes to these cool-season regions like the UK as well as the northern states in America.

The 10 Bentgrass Specialists:

Padraig Harrington (1.019 sg:bentgrass vs. 0.306 sg:total)
Peter Uihlein (2.088 sg:bentgrass vs. 1.398 sg:total)
Thorbjorn Olesen (1.226 sg:bentgrass vs. 0.619 sg:total)
Darren Clarke (-0.55 sg:bentgrass vs. -1.095 sg:total)
Abraham Ancer (1.216 sg:bentgrass vs. 0.676 sg:total)
Hao Tong Li (0.624 sg:bentgrass vs. 0.137 sg:total)
Martin Kaymer (1.673 sg:bentgrass vs. 1.215 sg:total)
Ryan Armour (1.392 sg:bentgrass vs. 0.948 sg:total)
Brooks Koepka (2.625 sg:bentgrass vs. 2.21 sg:total)
Ernie Els (0.683 sg:bentgrass vs. 0.287 sg:total)

Quantity: The golfers that have the most strokes gained on bentgrass since 2014 are Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, and Patrick Reed.

Peter Uihlein is an interesting name here. On the Euro Tour he always crushed it in Asia, which is mostly bermuda. He also calls Florida home, which means practice on bermuda. For that reason, I’d be a little skeptical of this smaller sample right now, but maybe there actually is something to it. Something to watch.

No. 11 on the list would have been Rickie Fowler who has long been one of the best on bentgrass.

Less-than-Driver Courses

Carnoustie looks pretty long on paper, but when you factor in the conditions, this will play much shorter (as long as you avoid the bunkers).

Pre-tournament reports show medium-length hitters like Paddy and Sneds hitting 400+ yard drives due to the extreme roll on the firm and fast fairways.

That has led guys like Phil and Tiger to suggest they will hit mostly irons off the tee this week.

Let’s see who likes that challenge…

The Top 10 Less-than-Driver Specialists:

Tiger Woods (2.738 sg:less-than-driver vs. 1.729 sg:total)
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (1.648 sg:less-than-driver vs. 1.165 sg:total)
Alex Noren (2.248 sg:less-than-driver vs. 1.806 sg:total)
Tommy Fleetwood (2.664 sg:less-than-driver vs. 2.265 sg:total)
Byeong Hun An (1.815 sg:less-than-driver vs. 1.468 sg:total)
Kelly Kraft (0.789 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.459 sg:total)
Emiliano Grillo (2.053 sg:less-than-driver vs. 1.731 sg:total)
Kyle Stanley (1.623 sg:less-than-driver vs. 1.326 sg:total)
Jason Dufner (1.796 sg:less-than-driver vs. 1.511 sg:total)
Ryan Armour (1.213 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.948 sg:total)

Quantity: Golfers with the most weighted strokes gained on less-than-driver courses since 2014 are Jordan Spieth, Charles Howell III, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, and Kevin Na.

This is where you really start to see some of the Euro Tour talent rise. Guys like Noren, Tommy, and An have elite performance numbers if you look at their Euro track records over the past three years. I think they pop here due to course design and setup. The typical course on the Euro Tour is either firm and fast like this or extremely tree-lined, forcing golfers to club down as well.

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Tiger is #1 in this column. His recent top-heavy finishes have all come at courses that let him put the driver in the bag and let him excel in the approach department.

Strong Field

Sometimes the superstars enter events and just go through the motions if they stutter out of the gate.

That’s not the case at these major championships. They try to schedule their season to properly peak for these big events. They also keep their mind on the matter for longer if they do have a rocky start.

Another part of that is pride and ego. These guys want to be known as the best golfer in the world and the only way to do that is to win these strong-field events. Some golfers really rise to the occasion…

The Top 10 Strong Field Specialists:

Chesson Hadley (1.547 sg:strong vs. 1.026 sg:total)
Xander Schauffele (1.952 sg:strong vs. 1.505 sg:total)
Padraig Harrington (0.718 sg:strong vs. 0.309 sg:total)
Bryson DeChambeau (1.969 sg:strong vs. 1.573 sg:total)
Matt Jones (1.231 sg:strong vs. 0.89 sg:total)
Thorbjorn Olesen (0.976 sg:strong vs. 0.619 sg:total)
Peter Uihlein (1.745 sg:strong vs. 1.395 sg:total)
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (1.493 sg:strong vs. 1.165 sg:total)
Kyle Stanley (1.632 sg:strong vs. 1.29 sg:total)
Beau Hossler (1.649 sg:strong vs. 1.398 sg:total)

Quantity: Most weighted strokes gained against strong fields since 2014 are Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, and Rory McIlroy.

Xander is a great example of someone who tore through the big events during his rookie season. He really popped at Erin Hills last year and he played his way to East Lake where he eventually won there. He is not afraid of the spotlight or afraid of being in contention with big names nipping on his heels.

Aphibarnrat is someone who has made huge strides in this department. It seems like just a few years ago he was the guy that’d show up to WGCs and majors and be completely out of his element. Now he brings his best stuff to the table and his confidence is surely still growing.

Links Golf

The sample size of links performance is pretty small but it’s still a key angle to look at this week.

We trim a lot of fat here because of those smaller samples but anyone that comes out on top is exactly the type of golfer we want to target when it comes to finding a specialist.

The Top 10 Links Specialists:

Brooks Koepka (4.023 sg:links vs. 2.207 sg:total)
Brandt Snedeker (2.511 sg:links vs. 1.747 sg:total)
Matt Jones (1.624 sg:links vs. 0.89 sg:total)
Branden Grace (2.546 sg:links vs. 1.8 sg:total)
Zach Johnson (2.522 sg:links vs. 1.828 sg:total)
Henrik Stenson (3.406 sg:links vs. 2.806 sg:total)
Marc Leishman (2.526 sg:links vs. 1.949 sg:total)
Patrick Reed (2.496 sg:links vs. 1.984 sg:total)
Phil Mickelson (2.567 sg:links vs. 2.161 sg:total)
Jordan Spieth (3.145 sg:links vs. 2.787 sg:total)

Quantity: Most weighted strokes gained on links since 2014 are Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, and Brandt Snedeker.

If we add European Tour results into the mix, guys like Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Andy Sullivan, Chris Wood, and Rafa Cabrera Bello also pop off the page a bit.

Adam Scott is near the bottom here, but this is a case where you should dive in deeper. He has five career top 10s here at The Open. Not someone I’d be worried about on links. He’s just gone through a little cold patch when it comes to his recent performance on the links.

Cold Weather

The early-week forecast calls for temps in the upper 50s and low 60s throughout the week. Typical Scotland weather.

There are definitely certain golfers that like this type of weather and some that don’t.

For this angle, I look at any rounds played in temperatures under 70 degrees.

The Top 10 Cold Weather Specialists:

Patton Kizzire (1.475 sg:cold weather vs. 0.774 sg:total)
Marc Leishman (2.529 sg:cold weather vs. 1.949 sg:total)
Thomas Pieters (1.828 sg:cold weather vs. 1.341 sg:total)
Kelly Kraft (0.858 sg:cold weather vs. 0.453 sg:total)
Rickie Fowler (2.869 sg:cold weather vs. 2.483 sg:total)
Bubba Watson (2.263 sg:cold weather vs. 1.894 sg:total)
Jason Kokrak (1.608 sg:cold weather vs. 1.247 sg:total)
Cameron Smith (1.432 sg:cold weather vs. 1.081 sg:total)
Russell Knox (1.789 sg:cold weather vs. 1.447 sg:total)
Ernie Els (0.618 sg:cold weather vs. 0.289 sg:total)

Quantity: Most weighted strokes gained in Cold Temps since 2014 are Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Justin Rose.

There are all sorts of play styles that rise to the top of this angle. That tells me it’s more about personal preference when it comes to playing in the cold.

Baseline Performance

We now have a list of two golfers that are positive in all of the angles above.

However, Paddy Harrington is just too far out of form to trust. On the bright side, he pops here in course fit and he’s the defending champ here at Carnoustie (2007) so that tells us we might be onto something.

The Specialist

Justin Rose

The specialist this week is Justin Rose!

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The Englishman doesn’t really leap off the page in one category (bentgrass being his best), but he does have a positive number in all five angles.

That’s exactly what we’re looking for when we try to hone in on a specialist.

He’s showing a bit of confidence in his pre-tourney prep as well, as he said this: “Playing the Scottish Open last week I think was very valuable as well because I had a scorecard in my hand for four days playing the kind of golf we’re going to face this week. It was as dry at Gullane as it is here. So it was great preparation last week in terms of this style of golf.”

He would then add, “I’ve always come to Carnoustie thinking it’s a golf course I enjoy playing and can do well at.”

Quotes don’t always mean that much, but it’s nice to know a golfer is feeling comfortable, to match with the stats. Carnoustie is also the site of his T12 finish in 2007. That is his second-best Open finish since turning pro.

Another thing I like to look at is golfers with a specialist rating > 0.25 which would equal a one-shot improvement over their baseline over the course of the week.

This week Brooks Koepka and Marc Leishman both fit that bill. Something to consider there, as well.

Anti-Specialists

We’ve identified the golfers that grade out positive in all of the course-fit angles, but who does the opposite?

Webb Simpson
Jason Day
Gary Woodland

Jason Day is someone that sometimes struggles to loosen up his back in the morning if the temps are too low. He’s always capable of taking it low if he catches fire with the putter but this looks like a week to swerve the Aussie if you’re on the fence.

Simpson has a -.266 in the strong field department. That is shortly after his romping at THE PLAYERS too which tells you how bad he was in big events before that (major win excluded).

Super Simple Specialist Ratings

The goal of this article is to isolate course fit, to see who should outperform their baseline.

However, anyone with common sense knows that baseline talent (and current form) can’t be ignored when handicapping golf.

Combining Baseline Strokes Gained with Current Form and Specialist Rating, we get a Top 20 ranking that looks like this:

Brooks Koepka
Justin Rose
Rickie Fowler
Henrik Stenson
Patrick Cantlay
Zach Johnson
Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Emiliano Grillo
Branden Grace
Marc Leishman
Brandt Snedeker
Patrick Reed
Rory Mcilroy
Francesco Molinari
Phil Mickelson
Russell Henley
Paul Casey
Tiger Woods
Russell Knox

Brooks has won back-to-back U.S. Open Championships, both on links-style tracks. He’s posted top 10s in each of his last two trips to The Open.

We have a Tiger Woods sighting at #19. That might even be low because some of his long-term stats are still developing. I think this is a great course for Tiger to get back into the mix in a major.

Best of luck everyone!

Below is a table with the full specialist data. Any fields with a 0 in them mean the sample size is not large enough. There is a minimum of 30 rounds to qualify for each angle.

The SG:TOTAL column is a baseline performance measure (since 2014). It is time-weighted so more recent results count for more than finishes from years ago.

HISTORY column is a weighted performance metric based on course history. I’ve made small adjustments for sample sizes but be sure to check on number of course rounds before blindly following this number.

FORM looks at the total strokes gained, adjusted to field strength, over the last 8 weeks (PGA TOUR and European Tour).

SIMPLE RATING looks at SGTotal, FORM, and SPECIALIST RATING to create a simple rating that includes course fit but doesn’t overweight it.

Golfer DK FD FDRFT SG: Total History Form Bent LT Driver Links Strong Field Cold Specialist Rating Simple Rating
Brooks Koepka $9,200 $12,100 $16,000 2.21 1.772 64.399 0.415 -0.083 1.814 0.006 -0.051 0.42 44
Padraig Harrington $7,100 $7,100 $12,200 0.306 1.2 -42.643 0.713 0.007 0.338 0.412 0.12 0.318 615
Marc Leishman $8,000 $9,800 $14,900 1.951 2.088 22.4 0.189 0.027 0.574 -0.055 0.577 0.263 165
Branden Grace $7,900 $10,000 $15,000 1.802 1.29 32.066 0.047 0.109 0.742 -0.098 0.308 0.222 163
Martin Kaymer $7,400 $7,900 $12,200 1.215 1.48 -26.536 0.458 0.216 0.294 0.21 -0.165 0.202 503
Peter Uihlein $7,000 $8,900 $12,500 1.398 0.655 11.971 0.69 -0.052 0 0.347 0 0.197 329
Thorbjorn Olesen $7,200 $7,800 $13,100 0.619 0.229 11.651 0.607 0 0 0.357 0 0.193 431
Matt Jones $6,500 $7,100 $10,800 0.862 1.247 22.369 -0.157 0.041 0.76 0.369 -0.063 0.19 358
Darren Clarke $6,300 $7,300 $10,100 -1.095 1.27 -45.639 0.545 0 0 0.175 0 0.144 732
Kyle Stanley $6,900 $8,700 $12,000 1.326 0.274 29.873 0.282 0.297 0 0.306 -0.193 0.138 291
Brandt Snedeker $7,300 $9,200 $12,800 1.749 1.283 37.695 0.264 -0.119 0.761 -0.168 -0.063 0.135 165
Kiradech Aphibarnrat $7,300 $9,100 $12,200 1.165 -0.553 18.376 -0.15 0.483 0 0.328 0 0.132 342
Abraham Ancer $6,500 $7,300 $10,400 0.676 0 34.117 0.54 0.114 0 0 0 0.131 351
Hao Tong Li $7,300 $8,300 $12,600 0.137 2.355 -2.817 0.487 0 0 0.153 0 0.128 583
Thomas Pieters $7,600 $8,800 $13,500 1.341 1.473 -7.073 0.244 0 0 -0.098 0.487 0.127 464
Rickie Fowler $9,700 $11,400 $16,800 2.485 1.869 53.563 0.394 -0.078 -0.208 0.119 0.384 0.122 54
Russell Knox $7,700 $9,000 $14,200 1.449 0.948 52.073 0.026 0.068 0.298 -0.131 0.34 0.12 218
Kelly Kraft $6,600 $7,200 $10,400 0.459 0 28.255 0.311 0.33 0 -0.49 0.399 0.11 408
Jordan Spieth $10,600 $11,100 $16,200 2.789 2.951 14.034 0.198 -0.204 0.355 -0.093 0.287 0.108 151
Anirban Lahiri $6,800 $8,200 $11,700 1.052 0.611 47.29 0.325 0.215 0 -0.177 0.168 0.106 273
Ernie Els $6,500 $7,000 $10,300 0.287 1.008 -50.671 0.396 -0.144 -0.137 0.063 0.33 0.102 643
Rafa Cabrera Bello $7,600 $9,900 $13,100 1.85 1.804 -8.171 -0.19 0.261 0.221 0.002 0.204 0.1 358
Zach Johnson $7,200 $9,700 $14,000 1.829 2.17 40.582 -0.016 -0.099 0.694 -0.029 -0.075 0.095 148
Henrik Stenson $8,200 $11,600 $15,800 2.808 3.018 40.859 0.037 -0.153 0.598 0.06 -0.091 0.09 66
Chesson Hadley $6,900 $8,900 $11,800 1.047 -0.229 33.052 -0.199 0.057 0 0.5 0.063 0.084 322
Beau Hossler $6,900 $8,500 $12,100 1.404 0 41.052 0.101 0.075 0 0.245 0 0.084 250
Justin Rose $10,200 $12,200 $16,900 2.718 1.501 57.441 0.222 0.049 0.081 0.028 0.033 0.083 53
Phil Mickelson $8,100 $10,300 $14,400 2.163 2.398 15.53 -0.172 -0.056 0.403 0.007 0.207 0.078 197
Tiger Woods $8,900 $10,800 $15,900 1.729 0.762 29.888 -0.199 1.009 0 -0.43 0 0.076 209
Ryan Armour $6,600 $7,200 $10,500 0.948 0 54.29 0.444 0.264 0 -0.166 -0.177 0.073 288
Emiliano Grillo $6,800 $8,700 $11,900 1.731 1.118 49.001 0.002 0.322 0 0.081 -0.045 0.072 156
Sung Kang $6,300 $7,100 $10,400 0.78 0.97 -5.782 0.244 -0.173 0 0.054 0.225 0.07 539
Ross Fisher $7,100 $7,900 $12,100 1.129 0.859 -14.808 0.188 0 0 0.139 0 0.065 520
Matthew Fitzpatrick $7,600 $9,100 $14,300 1.434 0.41 7.183 0.212 -0.245 0 0.183 0.116 0.053 367
Jonas Blixt $6,500 $7,000 $10,700 0.498 0.282 -19.84 -0.152 0.076 0 0.136 0.193 0.051 609
Keegan Bradley $7,100 $8,600 $12,200 1.571 1.617 25.757 0.169 0.057 0 -0.019 0.046 0.05 266
Yuta Ikeda $6,700 $7,200 $10,700 0.038 -0.365 0.136 0 0.132 0 0.111 0 0.049 541
Ian Poulter $7,800 $9,400 $14,200 1.545 1.435 26.256 0.192 0.055 0 0.142 -0.2 0.038 275
Patrick Reed $8,400 $11,400 $15,200 1.986 1.338 26.271 0.045 -0.154 0.51 -0.013 -0.23 0.032 181
Kevin Na $7,000 $8,700 $12,200 1.709 1.187 32.069 -0.168 0.166 0.092 -0.016 0.079 0.03 218
Russell Henley $6,900 $9,000 $12,400 1.566 0.711 56.439 0.254 0.03 0.093 -0.142 -0.096 0.028 198
Matt Kuchar $7,700 $10,400 $13,600 2.14 1.807 7.682 0.269 -0.183 -0.139 0.191 -0.005 0.027 238
Bronson Burgoon $6,300 $7,000 $10,600 0.758 0 40.214 0 0.121 0 0 0 0.024 356
Lee Westwood $7,200 $8,700 $13,400 1.302 1.802 -5.925 0.02 -0.131 0 0.207 0 0.019 496
Stewart Cink $6,600 $8,000 $12,000 1.336 0.843 42.477 0.002 0.05 0 0.058 -0.044 0.013 279
Jason Dufner $6,900 $8,600 $12,100 1.511 1.595 4.087 -0.269 0.285 0.156 -0.117 0.001 0.011 370
Patrick Cantlay $7,500 $9,500 $12,900 2.198 0 35.808 -0.26 0.2 0 0.088 0 0.006 146
Jhonattan Vegas $6,700 $7,600 $10,900 0.983 -0.788 17.26 -0.157 -0.048 0 0.22 0.008 0.005 403
Luke List $7,500 $8,300 $12,600 1.583 0 13.964 -0.103 0.02 0 0.056 0.028 0 309
Matthew Southgate $6,900 $7,700 $12,700 2.202 2.13 -1.975 0 0 0 0 0 0 326
Ryan Fox $6,900 $7,500 $12,800 1.048 0.636 33.935 0 0 0 0 0 0 342
Jorge Campillo $7,200 $7,200 $11,700 1.587 0 2.427 0 0 0 0 0 0 351
Eddie Pepperell $7,000 $7,400 $12,400 1.901 0.596 -20.348 0 0 0 0 0 0 389
Jordan SMITH $7,100 $7,500 $12,100 1.643 0 -17.03 0 0 0 0 0 0 434
Bernhard Langer $6,400 $7,200 $10,400 0.767 -0.076 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 490
Jazz Janewattananond $6,400 $7,000 $10,300 0.468 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 529
Grant Forrest $6,500 $7,000 $10,300 0 -0.668 4.335 0 0 0 0 0 0 552
Masahiro Kawamura $6,200 $7,000 $10,100 0.018 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 559
Ryuko Tokimatsu $6,600 $7,100 $10,300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Sang-Hyun Park $6,700 $7,000 $10,300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Minchel Choi $6,400 $7,000 $10,300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Danthai Boonma $6,300 $7,000 $10,300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Sean Crocker $6,300 $7,000 $10,300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Brady Schnell $6,200 $7,000 $10,200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Nicolai Hojgaard $6,200 $7,000 $10,200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
James Robinson NA $7,000 $10,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Jovan Rebula $6,200 $7,000 $10,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Thomas Curtis $6,100 $7,000 $10,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Ashton Turner $6,100 $7,000 $10,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Sam Locke $6,100 $7,000 $10,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Haraldur Magnus $6,100 $7,000 $10,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 562
Julian Suri $7,000 $8,200 $11,700 0.829 0.323 -11.688 0 0 0 0 0 0 566
Cameron Davis $6,500 $7,500 $10,800 0.572 0 -0.772 0 0 0 0 0 0 575
Dylan Frittelli $6,800 $8,100 $12,000 0.65 -0.121 -4.208 0 0 0 0 0 0 576
Shubhankar Sharma $6,800 $7,800 $11,200 0.869 0 -29.159 0 0 0 0 0 0 583
Paul Dunne $7,400 $7,500 $12,600 0.666 -0.277 -18.338 0 0 0 0 0 0 601
Alexander Bjork $6,800 $7,300 $12,200 -0.275 -0.121 6.159 0 0 0 0 0 0 609
Shaun Norris $6,300 $7,100 $10,500 -0.116 0.509 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 619
Fabrizio Zanotti $6,400 $7,300 $10,400 0.502 0.101 -22.147 0 0 0 0 0 0 625
Tom Lehman $6,200 $7,000 $10,100 -0.264 0.487 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 628
Rhys Enoch $6,200 $7,000 $10,100 -0.337 -0.063 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 634
Marcus Kinhult $6,800 $7,100 $10,900 0 0 -6.085 0 0 0 0 0 0 636
Mike Hendry $6,400 $7,000 $10,300 -0.355 -0.566 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 637
Erik van Rooyen $6,700 $7,000 $11,600 0 0 -6.191 0 0 0 0 0 0 638
Mark Calcavecchia $6,100 $7,000 $10,100 -1.01 -0.191 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 643
Marcus Armitage $6,200 NA $10,100 0 0 -8.648 0 0 0 0 0 0 646
Oliver Wilson $6,200 $7,000 $10,100 -1.032 0.412 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 646
Nicolas Colsaerts $6,800 $7,400 $11,300 0.138 1.074 -23.449 0 0 0 0 0 0 654
Masanori Kobayashi $6,100 NA $10,100 -1.337 -0.229 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 655
Kodai Ichihara $6,600 $7,000 $10,200 -1.424 -0.956 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 661
Jack Senior $6,400 $7,000 $10,200 -2.182 -0.825 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 667
Todd Hamilton $6,100 $7,000 $10,000 -2.557 -1.386 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 673
Sandy Lyle $6,100 $7,000 $10,100 -2.667 -2.541 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 676
Jens Dantorp $6,700 $7,000 $10,900 0 0 -29.397 0 0 0 0 0 0 678
Zander Lombard $6,600 $7,000 $10,400 0.325 0.169 -75.552 0 0 0 0 0 0 678
Tom Lewis $6,300 $7,000 $10,400 -0.147 0.464 -1.89 0 0 0 0 0 0 687
Yuxin Lin $6,400 $7,000 $10,100 -4.261 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 688
Matt Wallace $7,100 $7,600 $11,900 -0.128 0 -45.667 0 0 0 0 0 0 748
Shota Akiyoshi $6,300 $7,000 $10,300 -3.972 0 -8.93 0 0 0 0 0 0 771
Yusaku Miyazato $6,600 $7,000 $10,500 -0.807 -1.005 -66.097 0 0 0 0 0 0 776
Brandon Stone $6,900 $7,600 $11,700 -1.367 -0.03 -52.692 0 0 0 0 0 0 788
Lucas Herbert $6,400 $7,000 $10,300 -2.972 0 -24.99 0 0 0 0 0 0 790
Gavin Green $6,400 $7,000 $10,300 -1.279 0 -67.692 0 0 0 0 0 0 790
Brett Rumford $6,200 $7,000 $10,200 -1.843 -0.093 -76.589 0 0 0 0 0 0 806
Scott Jamieson $6,500 $7,000 $10,400 -2.837 -0.939 -55.943 0 0 0 0 0 0 811
Adam Hadwin $7,000 $8,500 $11,600 1.366 -1.232 10.563 -0.296 0.182 0 0.019 0.091 -0.001 438
Alexander Levy $6,800 $7,900 $11,500 0.169 0.341 -64.017 0 0 0 -0.033 0 -0.007 738
Alex Noren $8,300 $9,800 $15,600 1.806 1.481 46.764 -0.318 0.442 0 -0.171 0 -0.009 222
Patton Kizzire $6,700 $7,400 $10,400 0.756 0.033 5.269 -0.46 0.096 0 -0.436 0.719 -0.016 539
Kevin Chappell $7,100 $9,000 $11,700 1.464 0.451 -24.561 0.007 -0.041 -0.03 0.109 -0.154 -0.022 566
Bryson DeChambeau $7,600 $10,200 $13,200 1.576 -1.232 52.202 -0.083 0.148 0 0.392 -0.584 -0.025 268
Jason Kokrak $6,500 $7,200 $10,900 1.249 0 5.573 -0.379 -0.196 0 0.06 0.359 -0.031 475
Hideki Matsuyama $8,500 $10,500 $14,900 2.384 1.592 11.4 0.158 -0.426 0.207 -0.097 -0.007 -0.033 275
Andy Sullivan $7,200 $8,000 $12,900 1.166 1.384 5.31 -0.111 0 0 -0.095 0 -0.041 485
Andrew Landry NA $7,400 $11,000 0.821 0 6.492 0 -0.206 0 0 0 -0.041 522
Hideto Tanihara $6,800 $7,300 $10,900 0.639 -1.14 -37.602 0 0 0 -0.208 0 -0.042 697
Rory Mcilroy $11,000 $11,500 $16,700 2.777 2.536 37.797 0.203 -0.058 -0.38 0.142 -0.121 -0.043 182
Pat Perez $7,000 $8,500 $11,400 1.602 -0.323 19.26 -0.153 -0.277 0.082 -0.003 0.103 -0.05 353
Sergio Garcia $9,000 $10,100 $15,700 2.181 2.258 9.976 0.017 0.102 -0.223 0.022 -0.177 -0.052 303
Bubba Watson $7,800 $10,700 $13,900 1.896 1.257 38.257 -0.103 -0.228 -0.493 0.189 0.368 -0.053 238
Chris Wood $7,300 $7,700 $12,900 1.036 1.785 3.81 -0.365 0 0 0.096 0 -0.054 525
Tyrrell Hatton $7,900 $8,900 $15,100 1.792 0.322 19.604 -0.45 0.075 0 0.068 0 -0.061 323
Jon Rahm $9,800 $11,300 $16,300 2.569 0.92 28.431 0.054 -0.286 0 -0.082 0 -0.063 220
Brian Harman $7,100 $9,200 $12,200 1.471 0.325 38.743 0.143 -0.066 0 0.027 -0.432 -0.066 342
Daniel Berger $7,300 $9,600 $12,400 1.798 0.897 20.793 0.128 0.13 0 -0.012 -0.578 -0.067 321
George Coetzee $6,700 $7,200 $11,600 0.789 0.735 -33.047 -0.046 0 0 -0.288 0 -0.067 678
Tony Finau $7,200 $10,200 $13,300 1.888 1.841 43.973 0.067 -0.314 0 0.052 -0.153 -0.07 231
Tommy Fleetwood $9,400 $10,900 $16,100 2.265 0.762 13.673 -0.616 0.399 0 -0.142 0 -0.072 288
Satoshi Kodaira $6,600 $7,400 $10,700 -0.08 -1.456 -12.908 0 -0.248 0 -0.111 0 -0.072 785
Charley Hoffman $7,000 $8,900 $12,200 1.649 0.477 24.727 0.128 -0.126 -0.384 0.17 -0.163 -0.075 337
Francesco Molinari $8,600 $10,400 $15,700 1.959 1.323 88.96 0.095 0.2 -0.174 -0.013 -0.496 -0.078 196
Paul Casey $8,700 $11,000 $15,200 2.482 1.079 38.124 0.158 -0.217 -0.312 0.107 -0.136 -0.08 207
Gary Woodland $7,000 $8,900 $12,100 1.604 1.319 24.088 -0.21 -0.052 -0.001 -0.146 -0.013 -0.084 351
Michael Kim $6,800 $7,100 $10,900 0.51 0 27.358 0.121 -0.089 0 -0.373 -0.085 -0.085 514
Austin Cook $6,600 $7,600 $11,400 1.525 0 32.532 0 0.074 0 -0.504 0 -0.086 353
Jimmy Walker $6,900 $9,100 $12,000 1.512 0.689 8.939 -0.196 -0.146 0.185 -0.136 -0.144 -0.087 433
Adam Scott $7,800 $9,400 $13,400 2.132 2.123 13.248 -0.206 0.078 -0.449 0.127 0.007 -0.088 320
David Duval $6,100 $7,000 $10,100 -2.435 -1.209 0 0 -0.454 0 0 0 -0.091 758
Xander Schauffele $7,400 $9,300 $12,900 1.506 1.586 25.636 0.049 -0.102 0 0.446 -0.88 -0.098 392
Retief Goosen $6,500 $7,400 $10,900 0.725 1.225 4.705 -0.401 -0.181 0 -0.087 0.153 -0.103 575
Dustin Johnson $11,300 $12,500 $17,300 3.079 1.822 59.859 -0.314 -0.06 0.056 0.013 -0.251 -0.111 150
Cameron Smith $6,900 $7,900 $11,700 1.082 -0.344 -25.121 -0.368 -0.245 0 -0.295 0.35 -0.111 650
Charles Howell III $6,700 $9,200 $11,700 1.595 -0.036 43.218 -0.17 0.041 0 -0.369 -0.061 -0.112 303
Byeong Hun An $7,100 $8,500 $12,200 1.468 0.315 30.457 0.128 0.347 0 -0.151 -0.883 -0.112 391
Louis Oosthuizen $7,700 $9,900 $13,700 1.895 0.697 40.948 -0.247 -0.169 0.102 0.097 -0.351 -0.114 254
Si Woo Kim $6,500 $8,400 $11,300 0.847 0.323 22.548 -0.069 0.096 0 -0.068 -0.608 -0.13 495
Danny Willett $7,200 $7,100 $12,500 0.389 0.989 -1.503 0.058 -0.662 -0.104 0.036 0 -0.134 692
Justin Thomas $10,000 $11,700 $16,000 2.298 0.585 38.92 -0.254 -0.033 0 0.07 -0.497 -0.143 223
Charl Schwartzel $7,000 $8,600 $12,200 1.551 1.497 -7.309 0.132 -0.246 0.006 0.014 -0.644 -0.147 549
Ryan Moore $6,700 $8,600 $12,100 1.727 0.746 30.52 -0.36 0.006 0 -0.174 -0.297 -0.165 329
Jason Day $8,800 $11,700 $15,600 2.797 1.855 19.519 -0.127 -0.033 -0.143 -0.064 -0.575 -0.188 264
Shane Lowry $7,500 $8,100 $12,600 1.436 0.378 16.137 -0.256 0.034 -0.225 -0.179 -0.473 -0.22 454
Webb Simpson $7,200 $10,600 $12,700 1.879 1.342 17.408 -0.191 -0.023 -0.027 -0.266 -0.629 -0.227 344
Chez Reavie $6,700 $7,700 $11,300 1.503 -0.389 16.595 -0.171 -0.237 0 -0.117 -0.662 -0.238 436
Brendan Steele $6,800 $8,800 $11,200 1.62 -1.236 4.583 -0.503 -0.35 0 -0.211 -0.136 -0.24 436
Kevin Kisner $6,900 $8,200 $11,500 1.479 0.42 8.925 -0.134 0.252 -0.755 -0.152 -0.506 -0.259 467

About the Author

futureoffantasy
Josh Culp (futureoffantasy)

Josh didn’t own a set of golf clubs until after college but his love for the game now grows exponentially. He uses in-depth statistical analysis while trying to avoid the landmines that come with using traditional, outdated PGA stats. He can be found elsewhere writing for Rotoworld and Future of Fantasy. He can be found on twitter @futureoffantasy.