PGA – MY 2013 FRANKENGOLFER

Over the last year, I haven’t played as much golf as I would have liked.

Not that I haven’t been thinking about it… a lot.

I envision myself on the course quite a bit even when I’m not there.

I guess I should  stop daydreaming and just do it.

Meanwhile, like the column I wrote last year “My 2012 Frankengolfer”, I’ll think about the following question I posed back then:  If you could be any current PGA golfer, who would you be and why?

Well, once again, I can’t choose just one player.  So, I’ve taken it upon myself to build another Frankengolfer, this time based on the 2013 stats.

The only difference this year, is that I’ve modified some of my categories and added a new one “Intangibles”.

Thus, without further ado, my 2013 Frankengolfer is as follows:

• Driving  – Graham DeLaet
• The Approach – Henrik Stenson
• Short Game – Steve Stricker
• Intangibles – Jordan Spieth

Driving  –

Accuracy is important to me.  And, that’s the kind of player I envision myself being off the tee.  I’ll even sacrifice some yardage for it.

Sounds practical, but not all of us amateurs think alike.  I know of some golfers who just want to get that ball down to the hole as far as possible, even if it means they’ll be in the rough to pitch out for the next shot.

That’s just not me.  I want to be in the fairway every time.

So, like last year, I zeroed in on a PGA player to be my driving portion of the Frankengolfer who hits the ball less than 300 yards on average, but is accurate at least 65% of the time.  I figure that should give me the best chance to get the ball on the green and bring down my scoring average.

No, I don’t have a bias either way for those guys who hit 300+ yards, but they’re not necessarily the most accurate. Not even close. 

For instance, the longest hitter on tour last year, Luke List, 28 yr old rookie from Seattle, led the tour in average yards (306.3 yards), but also came in last in driving accuracy.  He only hit the fairway 45.58% of the time, made only 9 cuts in 24 starts on Tour, and came in 2^nd to last in “Scoring Average” (72.59).

(Luckily, List seems to have learned his lesson.  According to Adam Schupak’s Golf Week article dated December 13, 2013, List was quoted as saying, “I’d rather lead total driving, a combination of accuracy and distance… That’s a goal for me for next year and years to come.”)”

Further, in looking at those players who hit 300+ yards on average last year, only Keegan Bradley (300.586) got into the 60%+ accuracy bracket (62.82%).

Last year, I settled on Hunter Mahan whose average length in 2012 was 293.1 yards with a driving accuracy of 67.7%. That’s extremely good, considering that no one player in 2013 had that kind of accuracy and distance combination.

It certainly wasn’t Hunter again (Both of his numbers dropped in those areas (289.96 yards; 66.61%, #25^th).

But, I did discover another player this year with excellent accuracy and an average of 5 yards longer length off the tee than Mahan in 2012.

That player was Graham DeLaet (298.567 yards on average and 65.8%). He was the only player in the top 50 longest hitters with those kinds of stats:

2013 – Top 50 Longest Hitters on PGA Tour
Distance Rank	Player	Driving Distance	Accuracy
19	Graham DeLaet	298.567	65.80%
42	Billy Horschel	293.781	64.17%
27	Justin Rose	296.647	63.57%
47	D.J. Trahan	293.391	63.54%
11	Keegan Bradley	300.586	62.82%
17	Jim Herman	299.209	62.71%
49	Tiger Woods	293.225	62.50%
23	Adam Scott	297.775	61.84%
43	Lucas Glover	293.715	61.62%
46	Martin Laird	293.404	60.78%
44	Josh Teater	293.738	60.77%
38	Steve LeBrun	294.121	60.16%
36	Henrik Norlander	294.956	60.13%
29	Charl Schwartzel	296.110	59.87%
32	Charlie Beljan	295.403	59.86%
51	Rory Sabbatini	293.073	59.72%
24	Robert Streb	297.676	59.57%
41	Charley Hoffman	294.012	59.57%
22	Kyle Stanley	298.113	59.54%
45	Cameron Piercey	293.568	59.28%
5	Bubba Watson	303.655	58.73%
35	Harris English	295.221	58.65%
48	James Hahn	293.291	58.58%
31	John Rollins	295.562	58.56%
30	Scott Stallings	295.696	58.37%
26	Brad Fritsch	297.032	58.06%
16	Jason Day	299.302	58.03%
8	Rory McIlroy	302.182	57.92%
33	Morgan Hoffman	295.367	57.72%
10	Ryan Palmer	301.459	57.69%
4	Gary Woodland	303.777	57.60%
9	Eric Meierdierks	301.880	57.50%
50	Andres Romero	293.119	57.35%
34	Peter Hanson	295.282	56.31%
40	Angel Cabrera	293.986	56.19%
14	Sean O’Hair	299.652	55.66%
39	Troy Matteson	294.076	55.39%
7	Robert Garrigus	302.423	55.37%
25	Shawn Stefani	297.238	54.97%
3	Nicolas Colsaerts	305.702	53.80%
12	Martin Flores	300.446	53.67%
21	Scott Piercey	298.188	53.57%
15	Tag Ridings (4 Events)	299.569	53.38%
2	Dustin Johnson	305.779	53.36%
6	Jason Kokrak	303.192	53.17%
37	Charles Howell III	294.759	53.11%
13	Steven Bowditch	300.223	53.04%
20	Jimmy Walker	298.494	52.18%
28	Bobby Gates	296.156	51.59%
18	Seung-yul Noh	298.843	51.50%
1	Luke List	306.270	45.58%

Finally, the 31 yr old Canadian DeLaet hit the 4^th longest shot last year (420 yards) and came in tied for 1^st in the category of “Ball Striking”.

Yeah, I’m taking DeLaet to be the Driver portion of my Frankengolfer this year.

The Approach  –

Henrik Stenson rises to the top easily for me in this category. Obviously, the stats and his results show it.

In 2013, Stenson ranked 1^st in Greens in Regulation and 2^nd in Ball Striking. Those stats may be obvious to show he is a master with his iron, but looking deeper, we can see that what he really excelled in was taking advantage of his relatively long driver.

Last year, Stenson hit an average of 290.9 yards off the tee and was accurate about 70% of the time.  This helped to give him a tremendous advantage since he also excelled so well on the greens.  For instance, he had the following G.I.R. stats:

• 200+ yards – 2^nd;
• 175-200 yards 1^st;
• 100+ yards 1^st;
• <100 yards 1^st;
• <75 yards 6^th.

This double whammy of hitting long accurately & playing great around the greens definitely helped get him to the hole and become the tour’s 4^th lowest scorer and win both the FedEx Cup and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.  It certainly wasn’t his poor Save % (46.2, 134^th rank) and average putting (98^th – Strokes Gained Putting Rank).

Gimme Stenson with the irons on The Approach.

Short Game –

There isn’t a statistic that shows me the outright impact of a golfer’s “feel” around the course.  Yet, that is what this category is all about.

How a player uses variety in situations and club selection to get the ball in the hole efficiently is not just about technique, it’s an art form that comes out of the player’s mind-body connection.

It’s what gave Rory McIlroy the advantage in 2012.  You may remember that he ranked 60^th out of 190 players in “Greens in Regulation” and 156^th in Driving Accuracy, yet he still managed to get the lowest average score and tied for most top 10 finishes.  He did it with the help of his incredible feel and short game.

Similar to McIlroy’s disadvantage off the tee yet consistently low scores, I found Steve Stricker to be the stand out player for me in 2013 in this category.

Last year, Stricker only hit the ball 283.596 yards on average (#126 rank).  He was super accurate (70.65%), but his lack of distance meant he had to really work the greens and putt well to become the tours lowest scorer on average (68.95).  His stats support this.

Stricker was 1^st in Par 4 Performance, 1^st in Par 5 Birdies, 1^st in Par Breakers, 1^st in Score Ave before Cut, 2^nd in Birdies per Round, 2^nd in Scrambling, the 6^th best Ball Striker, and oh yeah – 2^nd in Greens in Regulation too.  He also putted amazingly well (2^nd in Strokes Gained Putting).

This short game is what helped Stricker to eight top 10s in 13 starts, including four runner-up finishes.

So, what is it about this semi-retired 46 year old with a herniated disk and who spends the off-season in the Midwest cold that makes him so good?  I guess it comes down to what he told a reporter in 2012, “I just do what I do.”

Yeah, Stricker is the Short Game aspect of my Frankengolfer.

The Intangibles –

I’ve noticed over the years, that winning comes to athletes through a combination of drive, talent, work ethic and also from an unspoken place, hard to pin down in a player’s personality.

In a team sport, it’s chemistry between the players.  It has to be harnessed, or success is hard to come by.  Usually, the coach is there to bring it forth.  But, sometimes, circumstances & adversity can harness chemistry, as it did in Boston for the Red Sox this past year after the terrible marathon bombings the city experienced.  The city and team embraced one another, bringing forth a potent cocktail of confidence through chemistry which helped elevate a team with moderate talent to win the World Series.

In golf, since it is mostly an individual sport, intangible attributes in special players encompasses mental toughness, competitiveness, and attitude.  If a player harnesses any one of those attributes, or a combination, the advantage over others can be daunting.  We’ve seen this work for Tiger Woods very well.

In 2013, Jordan Spieth stood out to me as the player who best used these aforementioned intangible attributes and which will help him long into the future.

Just think about what Spieth accomplished at the age of 20 last year:

• Named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year;
• Finished 10^th on the PGA Tour Money List;
• Ranked 22^nd in the world;
• 9  – Top 10 Finishes;
• Got his 1^st win (John Deere Classic – Making him the youngest player to win on the PGA tour since 1931);
• Almost won at the Wyndham Championship, where he lost in a playoff; and
• Appeared in the 2013 Presidents Cup after being handpicked by Fred Couples.

How he did all of this was to take advantage of the opportunities dealt to him and play well with confidence and poise, even in the big moments.

How else do we explain how Spieth has been able to handle all the pressure and still be clutch?

What an incredible young player.

I’d love to have these attributes when I get out there and play.  It’s harder than it looks.

The Finished Product.

Yeah, yeah.  Now all I have to do is get out there and be all of those guys when I finally play again.

In the meantime, I can daydream, can’t I?

 

 

 

 

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Sources :

PGA Tour Stats: http://www.pgatour.com/stats.html
ESPN PGA Stats: http://espn.go.com/golf/statistics/_/year/2013
CBS PGA Stats: http://www.cbssports.com/golf/stats/stats_leaders

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