[David Kelly]

In today's Wall Street Journal, John Paul Newport has some interesting quotes regarding courses in the UK.  "American golf is not necessarily monotonous, but it usually doesn't require as much creativity or thought processes as links golf does," said Mark O'Meara..."

"When you play golf in America, the challenges tend to be defined.  I hit my seven iron from 155 yards to 165 yards, and in this country when I am that distance away from the hole, that's usually the club I use.  But on a links course there's no telling what club I'll need from that distance,"...

'In a practice round...he pitched into the wind with his seven iron from 96 yards.  Three holes later, with the wind behind him, he used the same club to find the green from 213 yards."

"It is a feel game, a judgment game over there, rather than something mechanical," he said.  "It's all about controlling the trajectories of your shots and playing the contours of the land."

This is the week every year when all of the PGA pros come out of the woodwork to praise links golf only to completely forget about it a week later and go back to issuing statements like, "I love this course because everything is right there in front of you." and sign course design consultant deals that put their name on gca that is the antithesis of what they are playing now.

Like O'Meara who says stuff like that and then puts his name on an abomination like TPC Valencia.

[Chris Kane]

To say that the effect of putting is neutralized under difficult conditions - on any kind of greens - just doesn't make any sense.

I've long believed that difficult conditions make putting more important, not less.  A big part of winning the US Open, for example, is holing 6-10ft par putts consistently. 

[David_Tepper]

David Lott -

I would consider someone like Corey Pavin to be a shot maker rather than a ball striker, for the very reasons you describe! Obviously, being able to hit a variety of shots does require good ball striking ability and good contact. But it also requires a certain amount of imagination and flair. To me, Seve is the ultimate shot maker.

When I think of ball strikers, someone like Curtis Strange comes to my mind. I consider ball striking the ability to hit the same solid shot over and over again.

Matt & Tim Pitner -

The final round of the US Open at Pebble the year Tom Kite won was played in a brutal wind. Early rounds of the US Open at Shinnecock (the year Floyd won) and Bethpage (the year Tiger won) were played in VERY nasty rain & wind.

DT     

[David Botimer]

Harrington, last year's winner, ranked 184 on tour in 2007 in ball striking.  He hit 57.52% of fairways, and just 60.3% of greens. 

Tiger won in 2005 and 2006.

Hamilton won in 2004.  That year on tour he ranked 184 in ball striking too.  He hit 58.7% of fairways and 62.7% of greens. 

2003 saw Curtis win.  He ranked 114 in ball striking.  Hit 67.33% of fairways and 64.46% of greens.

2002 winner was Els.  He ranked 154 in ball striking.  64% of fairways, 64.4% of greens.

2001 winner, Duval, ranked 32nd in ball striking.  65.3% fairways, 69.1% greens.

Tiger won in 2000.

1999 winner Paul Lawrie.  Stats not completely clear, but looks like he was middle of the pack that year on the Euro Tour in ball striking. 

1998 winner O'Meara ranked 150th in ball striking.

1997 winner Leonard ranked 140th in ball striking.  I stopped looking after this. 

For the last eleven years, I would say that overall ball striking ability has not been that important.  Most of the winners were in the bottom half of the stats.  Some near the very bottom. 

Maybe they turned that around during the Open Championship, and had great ball-striking weeks.  I don't have the stats for the actual tournaments.  My guess, though, is that the Open Championship does NOT require great ball striking.  As we see, plenty of poor to mediocre ball strikers win there.   

Jim, reading your analysis leads me to one question....have you EVER played links golf?

You can toss all those stats the PGA tour creates out the window when you play firm fast conditions with 30-40 mph winds.  Can you keep it below the wind?  Do you know how to play the ground game, the bump and run?  Do you know how to contact the ball on soil that feels like concrete, not taking a divot the size of a pelt?  Does your ball have a high or low spin rate?

Links golf is unlike anything we play in the States, other than Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and a handful of other courses (most notably on east Long Island), and analyzing the stats is meaningless compared to analyzing who knows how to play links golf.

[David_Tepper]

David Botimer -

To reiterate my prior post, I think the attributes of playing links golf you describe are those of a shot maker rather than a ball striker.

Jim Nugent can speak for himself if he chooses to, but I am pretty sure the PGA "ball striking" stats  he refers to cover things like % of fairways hit and % of greens in regulation.  Those stats highlight the steady, consistent golfer.

I would consider Seve to be a better shot maker than he is a ball striker and Faldo to be a better ball striker than he is a shot maker.  Both have won 3 British Opens, which shows there is more than one way to get the job done.

DT

[George Pazin]

In today's Wall Street Journal, John Paul Newport has some interesting quotes regarding courses in the UK.  "American golf is not necessarily monotonous, but it usually doesn't require as much creativity or thought processes as links golf does," said Mark O'Meara..."

"When you play golf in America, the challenges tend to be defined.  I hit my seven iron from 155 yards to 165 yards, and in this country when I am that distance away from the hole, that's usually the club I use.  But on a links course there's no telling what club I'll need from that distance,"...

'In a practice round...he pitched into the wind with his seven iron from 96 yards.  Three holes later, with the wind behind him, he used the same club to find the green from 213 yards."

"It is a feel game, a judgment game over there, rather than something mechanical," he said.  "It's all about controlling the trajectories of your shots and playing the contours of the land."

This is the week every year when all of the PGA pros come out of the woodwork to praise links golf only to completely forget about it a week later and go back to issuing statements like, "I love this course because everything is right there in front of you." and sign course design consultant deals that put their name on gca that is the antithesis of what they are playing now.

Like O'Meara who says stuff like that and then puts his name on an abomination like TPC Valencia.

Interesting point.

It kind of reminds me of the many golfers who trek overseas and praise the quirkiness and conditions and everything and then return to the US and bitch about the same things over here.

Weird.

[David Lott]

David Lott -

I would consider someone like Corey Pavin to be a shot maker rather than a ball striker, for the very reasons you describe! Obviously, being able to hit a variety of shots does require good ball striking ability and good contact. But it also requires a certain amount of imagination and flair. To me, Seve is the ultimate shot maker.

When I think of ball strikers, someone like Curtis Strange comes to my mind. I consider ball striking the ability to hit the same solid shot over and over again.

DT     

Well, that is why I defined my terms. Much the discussion on this site is windy and pointless because, while thinking they are debating one issue, the commenters are discussing two different things. Mainly because they never trouble themselves to define what they are talking about.

[Jon Wiggett]

Harrington, last year's winner, ranked 184 on tour in 2007 in ball striking.  He hit 57.52% of fairways, and just 60.3% of greens. 

Tiger won in 2005 and 2006.

Hamilton won in 2004.  That year on tour he ranked 184 in ball striking too.  He hit 58.7% of fairways and 62.7% of greens. 

2003 saw Curtis win.  He ranked 114 in ball striking.  Hit 67.33% of fairways and 64.46% of greens.

2002 winner was Els.  He ranked 154 in ball striking.  64% of fairways, 64.4% of greens.

2001 winner, Duval, ranked 32nd in ball striking.  65.3% fairways, 69.1% greens.

Tiger won in 2000.

1999 winner Paul Lawrie.  Stats not completely clear, but looks like he was middle of the pack that year on the Euro Tour in ball striking. 

1998 winner O'Meara ranked 150th in ball striking.

1997 winner Leonard ranked 140th in ball striking.  I stopped looking after this. 

For the last eleven years, I would say that overall ball striking ability has not been that important.  Most of the winners were in the bottom half of the stats.  Some near the very bottom. 

Maybe they turned that around during the Open Championship, and had great ball-striking weeks.  I don't have the stats for the actual tournaments.  My guess, though, is that the Open Championship does NOT require great ball striking.  As we see, plenty of poor to mediocre ball strikers win there.   

Jim,

how do they measure ball striking

[Matt_Cohn]

This year's stats for Harrington, courtesy of espn.com:

• Driving distance: 292.1 yards (T-45)
• Driving accuracy: 51.8 percent (Rank: T-35)
• Greens in regulation: 52.8 percent (Rank: T-30)
• Putts per green: 1.61 (Rank: T-7)

[Will MacEwen]

Harrington, last year's winner, ranked 184 on tour in 2007 in ball striking.  He hit 57.52% of fairways, and just 60.3% of greens. 

Tiger won in 2005 and 2006.

Hamilton won in 2004.  That year on tour he ranked 184 in ball striking too.  He hit 58.7% of fairways and 62.7% of greens. 

2003 saw Curtis win.  He ranked 114 in ball striking.  Hit 67.33% of fairways and 64.46% of greens.

2002 winner was Els.  He ranked 154 in ball striking.  64% of fairways, 64.4% of greens.

2001 winner, Duval, ranked 32nd in ball striking.  65.3% fairways, 69.1% greens.

Tiger won in 2000.

1999 winner Paul Lawrie.  Stats not completely clear, but looks like he was middle of the pack that year on the Euro Tour in ball striking. 

1998 winner O'Meara ranked 150th in ball striking.

1997 winner Leonard ranked 140th in ball striking.  I stopped looking after this. 

For the last eleven years, I would say that overall ball striking ability has not been that important.  Most of the winners were in the bottom half of the stats.  Some near the very bottom. 

Maybe they turned that around during the Open Championship, and had great ball-striking weeks.  I don't have the stats for the actual tournaments.  My guess, though, is that the Open Championship does NOT require great ball striking.  As we see, plenty of poor to mediocre ball strikers win there.   

Jim,

how do they measure ball striking

I think ball striking is combined fairway % and GIR.

[Tim Pitner]

Matt and Chris,

Putting obviously remains important at the Open, but I think it becomes relatively less important than at many tournaments because other facets of one's game (shot-making in the wind, imaginative chipping around the greens, etc.) are tested more than at other events. 

[Jim Nugent]

You can toss all those stats the PGA tour creates out the window when you play firm fast conditions with 30-40 mph winds.  Can you keep it below the wind?  Do you know how to play the ground game, the bump and run?  Do you know how to contact the ball on soil that feels like concrete, not taking a divot the size of a pelt?  Does your ball have a high or low spin rate?

Links golf is unlike anything we play in the States, other than Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and a handful of other courses (most notably on east Long Island), and analyzing the stats is meaningless compared to analyzing who knows how to play links golf.

For you and Patrick to be right, guys who are average or worse at hitting fairways and greens in the U.S., must hit greens under much more trying conditions at the Open Championship.  Goes against my instincts, but maybe you are right. 

I think you need to supply some actual facts to back up your idea though.  Would love to see if guys who hit the most greens and fairways win a lot there.  George Pazin showed that Harrington this year was maybe average at hitting greens and fairways.  He putted beautifully though.  And Rocco shot 69 the first day, while hitting 3 greens.  It's hard for me to see how this is an example of a course that especially rewards ball striking, and downplays putting.     

I played just one round on a real links course: Portmarnock, in Ireland. 

Ball striking on the PGA tour is a combination of driving distance, fairways hit, and GIR.  Add the players ranking in each category.  Then compare that total with everyone else's.  You get ball striking.  It shows how many greens and fairways the player hits (with driving distance added in), compared to other players on tour. 

[Mark Chaplin]

It is impossible to compare stats when looking at links golf, with far more slope balls are more inclined to roll off greens and fairways especially with the pins being tucked on the sides of greens.

IMO the closest event to the Open is the US Open but there the punishment for missing greens and fairways is usually too severe and results in one dimensional recovery shots i.e. big hack from thick gunk.

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