Quail Hollow 2009 Top 10 Putting Report
Overall comment: Not a great putting display. Anyone posting a top-10 in BOTH GIRs and Putts per GIRs is guaranteed a top-5 finish but no player did that this event. The winner had field-average putting and T3 ballstriking. No player posted top-10 performances in BOTH Putts per GIR and GIRs, so effectively the tournament was "unwon" by some player who could have beaten the score of O'Hair. Of the top-10 finishers, only Jonathan Byrd posted a top-10 performance in Putts per GIR (8th). Only three top-10 finishers posted top-10 performances in GIRs (O'Hair T3, Watson T1, and Dufner T5). Tiger had a bad GIR day in Round 2 and overall was below the field average for GIRs.
Watson and O'Hair both had bad putting on the days when their ballstriking was best (O'Hair Round 2: 83% GIRs but 34 putts; Watson Round 1: 89% GIRs but 33 putts). In contrast, Tiger Woods on his best GIR day had fabulous putting (Round 1, 72% GIRs, 26 putts), as did Lucas Golver (Round 1, 72% GIRs, 27 putts), and Joanthan Byrd (Round 4, 83% GIRs, 27 putts). If Watson had matched the field average for putting, he would have won by one stroke over O'Hair. Lucas Glover putted well but his GIRs held him back; he would have won if his ballstriking had been field average. Tiger Woods would have won with either his usual GIRs or improved putting in Rounds 2 and 4.
Final comment: Tiger had an off week for ballstriking and O'Hair was fortunate that no one in the field got hot in BOTH putting and GIRs.
Here is a
BIG CHART showing the "top left corner" where top 10 in Putts per GIR combines with top 10 in GIRs. This corner is empty at the Quail Hollow event and it usually is NOT empty. No one is saying Sean O'Hair did not play very well, but nonetheless he was "LUCKY" that no one else in the field played better than he did, as someone usually plays better than occurred at Quail Hollow.
Sean O'Hair 1 -11 69 72 67 69 277
PUTTS PER ROUND 29 34 26 30 29.8 (119) T47
PUTTS PER GIR 1.750 2.000 1.462 1.857 1.778 31
GREENS IN REG 67 83 72 78 75.0 T3
YTD Putts per GIR Rank 34 1.746 GIR Rank 5
This event vs YTD: Very uneven putting (only field average), great GIRs (T3).
Bubba Watson T2 -10 71 65 72 70 278
PUTTS PER ROUND 33 27 31 30 30.3 (121) T58
PUTTS PER GIR 1.875 1.462 1.917 1.643 1.727 15
GREENS IN REG 89 72 67 78 76.4 T1
YTD Putts per GIR Rank 49 1.755 GIR Rank 80
This event vs YTD: Very uneven putting (below field average), top GIRs in field.
Lucas Glover T2 -10 68 71 68 71 278
PUTTS PER ROUND 27 28 24 28 26.8 (107) T1
PUTTS PER GIR 1.692 1.800 1.667 1.727 1.721 14
GREENS IN REG 72 56 50 61 59.7 T60
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T31 1.742 GIR Rank 87
This event vs YTD: Fewest total putts in event, not great GIRs (below field average).
Tiger Woods 4 -9 65 72 70 72 279
PUTTS PER ROUND 26 27 29 31 28.3 (113) T11
PUTTS PER GIR 1.571 2.000 1.750 1.917 1.783 34
GREENS IN REG 78 44 67 67 63.9 T45
YTD Not Available
This event vs YTD: Uneven putting, bad Round 2 in GIRs (overall below field average).
Jonathan Byrd T5 -8 72 72 70 66 280
PUTTS PER ROUND 30 30 28 27 28.8 (115) T22
PUTTS PER GIR 1.818 1.667 1.833 1.533 1.700 8
GREENS IN REG 61 67 67 83 69.4 T20
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T74 1.772 GIR Rank 33
This event vs YTD: Putting better than usual (only top-10 in Putts/GIR), good GIRs.
Phil Mickelson T5 -8 67 71 75 67 280
PUTTS PER ROUND 26 30 29 30 28.8 (115) T22
PUTTS PER GIR 1.667 1.846 1.778 1.688 1.740 T19
GREENS IN REG 67 72 50 89 69.4 T20
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T14 1.730 GIR Rank 49
This event vs YTD: Usual good putting, better GIRs but not great.
Tim Petrovic T5 -8 71 70 71 68 280
PUTTS PER ROUND 29 28 30 30 29.3 (117) T30
PUTTS PER GIR 1.667 1.769 1.769 1.846 1.765 27
GREENS IN REG 67 72 72 72 70.8 T16
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T67 1.766 GIR Rank 143
This event vs YTD: Better putting but about field average, much better GIRs than usual.
Ted Purdy T5 -8 70 69 72 69 280
PUTTS PER ROUND 30 26 31 30 29.3 (117) T30
PUTTS PER GIR 1.714 1.818 2.000 1.846 1.837 T62
GREENS IN REG 78 61 61 72 68.1 T28
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T113 1.793 GIR Rank 66
This event vs YTD: Much better putting than usual, standard GIRs.
Ian Poulter T5 -8 71 70 70 69 280
PUTTS PER ROUND 32 29 28 28 29.3 (117) T30
PUTTS PER GIR 1.800 1.750 1.750 1.667 1.745 22
GREENS IN REG 83 67 67 67 70.8 T16
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T82 1.777 GIR Rank T140
This event vs YTD: Better putting but about field average, much better GIRs than usual.
Jason Dufner T5 -8 67 71 71 71 280
PUTTS PER ROUND 28 31 29 29 29.3 (117) T30
PUTTS PER GIR 1.571 1.857 1.615 1.833 1.717 13
GREENS IN REG 78 78 72 67 73.6 T5
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T42 1.752 GIR Rank T22
This event vs YTD: Uneven putting about field average, excellent GIRs.
Other Notable Players
Jim Furyk T11 -7 71 66 73 71 281
PUTTS PER ROUND 31 22 31 30 28.5 (114) T18
PUTTS PER GIR 1.786 1.364 2.000 1.786 1.740 T19
GREENS IN REG 78 61 61 78 69.4 T20
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T20 1.735 GIR Rank T124
This event vs YTD: Great putting in Round 2 and solid ballstriking.
Zach Johnson T11 -7 70 67 68 76 281
PUTTS PER ROUND 29 28 25 31 28.3 (113) T11
PUTTS PER GIR 1.769 1.533 1.500 1.900 1.660 4
GREENS IN REG 72 83 67 56 69.4 T20
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T51 1.758 GIR Rank T12
This event vs YTD: Very good putting except for 4th round, very good GIRs - could have tied O'Hair with a par Round 4 (worst putting day).
David Toms T18 -6 71 71 67 73 282
PUTTS PER ROUND 31 27 27 29 28.5 (114) T18
PUTTS PER GIR 1.786 1.889 1.600 1.900 1.771 T28
GREENS IN REG 78 50 83 56 66.7 T33
YTD Putts per GIR Rank 8 1.722 GIR Rank 48
This event vs YTD: Pretty solid putting, better GIRs but about field average.
Camilo Villegas T22 -5 71 67 74 71 283
PUTTS PER ROUND 32 29 30 30 30.3 (121) T58
PUTTS PER GIR 1.846 1.667 2.000 1.846 1.824 58
GREENS IN REG 72 83 56 72 70.8 T16
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T120 1.795 GIR Rank 1
This event vs YTD: Improved putting still not very good, top 20 GIRs but off (T16).
Geoff Ogilvy T32 -3 71 73 68 73 285
PUTTS PER ROUND 30 29 29 31 29.8 (119) T47
PUTTS PER GIR 1.769 1.727 1.733 2.000 1.804 T45
GREENS IN REG 72 61 83 67 70.8 T16
YTD Putts per GIR Rank 2 1.698 GIR Rank 20
This event vs YTD: Putting off his usual, ballstriking top 20 (T16).
Chad Campbell T62 3 72 70 73 76 291
PUTTS PER ROUND 29 29 31 28 29.3 (117) T30
PUTTS PER GIR 1.727 1.833 1.923 2.000 1.860 69
GREENS IN REG 61 67 72 39 59.7 T60
YTD Putts per GIR Rank T74 1.772 GIR Rank 25
This event vs YTD: About his average putting, bad GIR in round 4.
GIR Field Average 64.61% (11.6/round)
Putts Per Round Field Average 29.75 (119).
Cheers!
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