NIGHT MODE
DAY MODE
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Past Issues
51. On Site at The Players (2024-03-21)
50. Still Top Scheff (2024-03-13)
48. Taylor Triumphs (2024-02-15)
47. DG PIP Rankings (2024-02-07)
46. California Kids (2024-01-23)
45. Yuan Goes Yard (2024-01-17)
44. Brain Drain (2024-01-03)
43. LIV Fever (2023-12-06)
42. Nothing Major (2023-11-15)
41. Driving Machine (2023-11-08)
40. How's Traffic? (2023-10-18)
39. Lucky Luke (2023-10-11)
38. Postmortem (2023-10-04)
37. Ryder Cup (2023-09-27)
36. Letzig Returns (2023-09-20)
35. That's a Wrap (2023-08-29)
34. Pick 6 (2023-08-23)
33. Tale of Two Glovers (2023-08-16)
32. Forecasting the FedEx (2023-08-09)
31. Postseason (2023-08-01)
30. Major Letdown (2023-07-25)
29. Underdogs (2023-07-19)
28. Up and Down (2023-07-11)
27. Validation for Rickie (2023-07-05)
26. The Ams Strike Back (2023-06-27)
25. Wyndham Rewarded (2023-06-20)
24. The Show Rolls On (2023-06-13)
23. Scottie's Scaries (2023-06-08)
22. Grillo, Mi Amigo (2023-05-30)
21. Major Koepka (2023-05-23)
20. Glory's Second Shot (2023-05-16)
19. We Meet Again.. (2023-05-09)
18. Big Tone (2023-05-01)
17. Health Check (2023-04-24)
16. Live From Harbour Town (2023-04-17)
15. Phil Thrills (2023-04-11)
14. Down Magnolia Lane We Go (2023-04-03)
13. Peaking for Augusta (2023-03-27)
12. Fall of The DeChambino (2023-03-21)
11. Top Scheff (2023-03-13)
10. Fore Right! (2023-03-06)
9. CH3.. Wins? (2023-02-28)
8. The Rahm Slam (2023-02-21)
7. Garbage Time (2023-02-14)
6. Little Misery (2023-02-07)
5. Rory Returns (2023-01-30)
4. Rahm Threat (2023-01-23)
3. Rising Maverick (2023-01-16)
2. Morikawa's Meltdown (2023-01-09)
1. Introducing Letzig (2023-01-02)

Rankings Update

Scottie Scheffler's win at the WM Phoenix Open has reinserted him into the "best player in the world" conversation. Since winning 4 times in 6 starts last spring, a cool putter has kept Scheffler out of the winner's circle. His tee-to-green play remains elite so if he continues to putt like he did on Sunday, look out.

Top 10 (see all)
Player DG OWGR
Jon Rahm 1 1 3
Rory McIlroy 2 1 2 1
Scottie Scheffler 3 1 1 1
Xander Schauffele 4 1 6
Tony Finau 5 2 13
Patrick Cantlay 6 5
Sungjae Im 7 2 18
Justin Thomas 8 5 7 2
Max Homa 9 2 12
Will Zalatoris 10 8
Notables
Jason Day 17 7 57 34
Rickie Fowler 49 23 80 20
Shane Lowry 67 17 22 1
Nick Taylor 68 51 73 150
Brooks Koepka 99 24 78 7
Cameron Champ 291 66 172 7
Hudson Swafford 417 59 128 5

Jason Day and Rickie Fowler continued their 2023 resurgences after finishing 5th and T10th respectively last week. Both players are still waiting for a win to punctuate their returns to the top echelon of professional golf, but the underlying strokes-gained numbers are healthy and trending upwards.

It might be time to sound the alarm bells on Shane Lowry. A few months ago Lowry was seemingly a lock to be on the 2023 European Ryder Cup team but after another MC in Phoenix—this time missing the weekend by 9 shots—he finds himself 67th in our rankings, which is just 14th best among Europeans.


Garbage Time

We often hear that every shot matters in professional golf. There are times, however, late on a Friday—or sometimes even Thursday—when a player’s probability of making the cut goes to zero, and shots become meaningless. This is what we call garbage time.

Using our live model archives, we've identified the 10 PGA Tour players who have spent the most time in garbage time since the start of the 2019 season:

1. Martin Trainer: 104.5 hours (9.6% of time on course)
2. Kevin Stadler: 89.1 (22.9%)
3. Nick Watney: 67.0 (5.6%)
4. Michael Kim: 64.8 (8.9%)
5. Matt Every: 64.3 (10.7%)
6. Ted Potter Jr: 61.0 (7.6%)
7. Bo Van Pelt: 56.6 (8.8%)
8. Sung Kang: 54.2 (4.1%)
9. Hunter Mahan: 53.7 (9.3%)
10. Richy Werenski: 50.5 (3.9%)

At the other end of the spectrum, Tommy Fleetwood has the lowest fraction of time spent in garbage time at just 0.03% (15 minutes of garbage time out of 723 hours spent on course)! Remember that we are only counting time spent with a cut probability of exactly 0%—being two strokes outside the cutline with 1 hole to play would (most likely) not count as garbage time.


He's Back

Tiger is back this week, playing for the first time since missing the cut at last year’s Open Championship. Based on the data—and ignoring the fact that we are talking about Tiger Woods—our model gives him a skill of -0.8 strokes per round.

In recent years it has been Tiger’s short game that has let him down more than anything else, which is not what you would expect given his age and injuries. Since his last win at the ZOZO Championship in October 2019, Tiger’s averages by SG category have been:

Off-the-tee: -0.11 strokes/round
Approach: +0.42
Around-the-green: -0.24
Putting: -0.48


Player Feature


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Past Issues
51. On Site at The Players (2024-03-21)
50. Still Top Scheff (2024-03-13)
48. Taylor Triumphs (2024-02-15)
47. DG PIP Rankings (2024-02-07)
46. California Kids (2024-01-23)
45. Yuan Goes Yard (2024-01-17)
44. Brain Drain (2024-01-03)
43. LIV Fever (2023-12-06)
42. Nothing Major (2023-11-15)
41. Driving Machine (2023-11-08)
40. How's Traffic? (2023-10-18)
39. Lucky Luke (2023-10-11)
38. Postmortem (2023-10-04)
37. Ryder Cup (2023-09-27)
36. Letzig Returns (2023-09-20)
35. That's a Wrap (2023-08-29)
34. Pick 6 (2023-08-23)
33. Tale of Two Glovers (2023-08-16)
32. Forecasting the FedEx (2023-08-09)
31. Postseason (2023-08-01)
30. Major Letdown (2023-07-25)
29. Underdogs (2023-07-19)
28. Up and Down (2023-07-11)
27. Validation for Rickie (2023-07-05)
26. The Ams Strike Back (2023-06-27)
25. Wyndham Rewarded (2023-06-20)
24. The Show Rolls On (2023-06-13)
23. Scottie's Scaries (2023-06-08)
22. Grillo, Mi Amigo (2023-05-30)
21. Major Koepka (2023-05-23)
20. Glory's Second Shot (2023-05-16)
19. We Meet Again.. (2023-05-09)
18. Big Tone (2023-05-01)
17. Health Check (2023-04-24)
16. Live From Harbour Town (2023-04-17)
15. Phil Thrills (2023-04-11)
14. Down Magnolia Lane We Go (2023-04-03)
13. Peaking for Augusta (2023-03-27)
12. Fall of The DeChambino (2023-03-21)
11. Top Scheff (2023-03-13)
10. Fore Right! (2023-03-06)
9. CH3.. Wins? (2023-02-28)
8. The Rahm Slam (2023-02-21)
7. Garbage Time (2023-02-14)
6. Little Misery (2023-02-07)
5. Rory Returns (2023-01-30)
4. Rahm Threat (2023-01-23)
3. Rising Maverick (2023-01-16)
2. Morikawa's Meltdown (2023-01-09)
1. Introducing Letzig (2023-01-02)