Alrighty, with golf’s top spot changing hands for the first time in 281 weeks I think it’s time to get geeky with some stats, facts and ponderings. But first, a huge congratulations to Lee Westwood. He has finally made it to the top spot, ending Tiger’s stranglehold on the rankings. I don’t believe for a second Woods will be out of the picture for long and with such a strong top 10, these are exciting times!
Anyway, I’ve been checking out the stats on the main two tours and am sharing my discoveries. Hope you enjoy.
- Lee Westwood is now officially the best golfer in the world according to the official world rankings. So he has probably earned the most money this year! Right? Nope, He is 3rd in the European money list with €1,878,307, a full €1,289,140 behind leader Martin Kaymer. Convert the world number 1’s earnings into USD and he sits 23rd with $2,651,480! Overall leading money earner in 2010 so far, Matt Kuchar, is ranked 10th (but rising) in the world as of 3rd November.
- Euro money leader Martin Kaymer doesn’t appear in any top 5’s such as driving distance, accuracy, GIR, putting. He appears 2nd in scrambles behind Luke Donald and tied 1st in scoring average. He ranks highly where it counts.
- Luke Donald tops no less than 5 out of 9 statistical categories on the European tour. Sand saves, scrambles, average putts per round, putts per GIR and average one putts per round. Yet he is currently 13th on average score.
- Joe Durant tops the PGA tour’s driving accuracy, and he converts his 76% of fairways hit to top the greens in regulation at 72%. He is currently tied 25th in average scores (climbing up though). Must be the 166th on the average putts per round that stops him down at 298 in the world rankings. I’d like to offer my services as putting coach for a small percentage. 🙂
- Matt Kuchar and Martin Kaymer lead the PGA and European tours respectively. They also lead their tours’ average score rankings. So good scores equal lots of money. The statistics work! The key point is these guys score great on their good days and good on their bad days. That’s why they also both have their tours’ most top 10 finishes. Consistency pays!
- BUT WAIT! Ernie Els leads the PGA tours total money list for official and unofficial earnings. I have no idea what makes earnings official or unofficial. Perhaps the “Big Easy” made a few extra dollars raiding the equipment van and selling things on eBay? Whatever you’re doing Ernie, keep it up!
They say you can make statistics prove anything. This week I’ll be working on how I can “statistically” top the money list. So next week’s blog will feature a picture of me celebrating my number 1 spot on my brand new tropical island.
Aloha!
Photo Credit: Photo by Anand Jadhav at Flickr Creative Commons.
New Friend From Thailand.
Found you at BlogFrog.
Look forward to reading your blog.
Have a nice day.
Nan
http://beonefineday.blogspot.com
http://theblogfrog.com/1233755
Stopping from Mom Loop! I wish you much luck in your quest for number one.