Even if you are not a golf stat nerd like myself, you know that each golfer has strengths and weaknesses. Just like you and I, who love to hack it around on the weekend… we have our days with the driver and can’t hit a putt to save our life. Below, we will highlight a few golfers who need to succeed in a specific category in order to find success during this upcoming golf season. Here are three golfers’ keys to success in 2024.
Three Golfers’ Keys to Success in 2024
Patrick Cantlay
A lot was made about Scottie Scheffler’s historic season of ball striking and god-awful season on the greens. This really overlooked what Patrick Cantlay did. This is Patrick Cantlay’s stat line during the 2022-2023 season. He finished third in strokes gained total, third in total driving, 16th on approach, and 79th in total putting.
good morning to you all and patrick cantlay has three putt 3 times already, it’s gonna be a good day
— Matt Gannon (@matt_gannon_) July 13, 2023
Total Putting is computed using 6 putting stats: Putting from 3-5′, Putting from 5-10′, Putting from 10-15′, Putting from 15-20′, Putting from 20-25′, and Three Putt Avoidance from > 25′. Each statistic is given a numerical weighting based on the frequency of putts attempted from each distance.
The player’s rank in each of the statistics used is multiplied by the corresponding weight factor, totaled, and divided by the number of statistics used to produce the Total Putting Value.
It is easy to say a guy who hit the ball well and putt it poorly needs to improve in that category, but this was a statistical anomaly for Patrick Cantlay.
In his PGA Tour Career, he has always been a top-of-the-line putter while being a slightly above-average ball striker. He gave us an entire season of top-of-the-line ball striking and really took a dip with his putter. If he is able to get back to his career, putting the baseline, the wins will come in masses for old Patty Ice.
Patrick Cantlay to win The Masters: +2500
Thomas Detry
Thomas Detry had a very up-and-down first season as a full-time PGA Tour Member. Detry was always a talent that turned eyes. He has a beautiful golf swing and every shot in the bag.
What he has lacked in his career is the ability to close. He has gotten himself into final groups and has had plenty of chances to win late but has sadly choked them away. Now, saying Thomas Detry needs to “not choke” would be a major cop-out and awful blogging. Diving into his stats, there is a glaring weakness he possesses.
Thomas Detry is currently -11 & T7… he’s played 14 par 5’s at -2
— Matt Gannon (@matt_gannon_) October 2, 2022
Being above average in both total driving and driving distance, he really needs to take advantage of par 5s. He ranked 147th in par 5 birdie or better percentage, which is downright not going to cut it. This is the X factor for Detry. I am planting my flag if Thomas Detry can crack the top thirty in par 5 scoring. He will catch a win this PGA Tour Season.
Sam Burns
Sam Burns finished inside the top twenty and rattled off a win last season. He already has five wins in his short PGA Tour Career and has all the talent in the world to double that number. Burns is at his best when he is sticking his irons and is always alive to make every putt. Outside of this, he has a glaring weakness in his game that can take him out of events from time to time.
Sam Burns is a modern golfer who is above average in driving distance but lacking accuracy. Although this is the new style, he needs to find a way to dial in that driver. Burns ranked 138th in driving accuracy, a part of the game that needs improvement.
Here and there, Burns will launch a drive off-line. This completely derails the given hole and can snowball into him losing too much ground in an event. It is okay to be a little off-line, but Burns has to find a way to reel in the 40-yard miss. Once this is fixed, the sky is the limit.
Sam Burns to Win The Masters: +6000
