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Bay Hill Club & Lodge was an absolute bully at last year's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Facing fierce winds on the weekend, the field averaged more than 2.1 strokes over par for the tournament, making it the most difficult course on the PGA TOUR for the 2019-2020 season. It was the first time Bay Hill had yielded a scoring average over 74 since 1983, and the highest winning score in relation to par (-4, Tyrrell Hatton) at the event since '83, as well. Approach play was especially perilous, with the field recording an average proximity to the hole of 54'4", the largest number all season on TOUR. They hit only 50.5% of greens in regulation for the week, the lowest number in any non-major since the 2005 RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club (49.8%). While last year's conditions made for a tougher test than players normally face in Orlando, there is one statistic about Bay Hill that reveals itself every year, regardless of the weather. Bay Hill annually ranks among the courses with the most approach shots by the field from outside 200 yards. Last season, there were more than 1,800 approaches from that range - most of any course all season. Since 2016, there have been 9,926 approach shots hit from 200 yards out or farther - nearly 3,000 more than the next-closest course in that span (TPC River Highlands at 7,007). Part of the source of this are the long par 3s at Arnie's place: the quartet of holes have an average length of 216.5 yards on the scorecard. That was the longest average length for par 3s on TOUR last season, and ranked second-longest each of the previous two years - the par-3 holes at Corales Golf Club, host of the Corales Puntacana Championship, averaged 230.5 yards on the card in 2018 and 2019. So how have recent winners at Bay Hill fared on these long approaches? Since 2012, they are a combined 44 under par when hitting approach shots (on all holes, regardless of par) from outside 200 yards. In that span, the winner at Bay Hill has a proximity to the hole 4'9" better than the field average that particular week. Three tournament winners in that span beat the field average by 6 feet or more - Tiger Woods in 2013 (6'1"), Matt Every in 2015 (9'9"), and Rory McIlroy in 2018 (16'9"). McIlroy's performance on these particular shots was especially remarkable. In his 2018 win at Bay Hill, McIlroy led the field in approach shot proximity from outside 200 yards. When McIlroy is at his best, this is a pervasive theme. Only eight times in the ShotLink era (a collection of more than 600 tournaments) has a winner averaged less than 35 feet away on approach shots outside 200 yards (minimum 15 attempts). McIlroy has four of those wins. So which of the players in this week's field show promise in this particular statistic? There are more than 180 with 100 or more approach shots from outside 200 yards on TOUR the last 2 seasons. Of that group, you don't have to look far to find a familiar name: this week's defending champion, Tyrrell Hatton, ranks second in average proximity to the hole (44'2") when facing that length of an approach shot. Bryson DeChambeau, who has finished in the top five twice in the last three years at this event, ranks third (44'10"). The leader in this statistic is Will Gordon (43'2"), who makes his Bay Hill debut this week. How about scoring from that distance? Gordon ranks fourth in score to par per attempt (-0.29), best in the field in Orlando. Talor Gooch is another under-the-radar name who performs well in these situations: his score to par per attempt (-0.27) ranks eighth since the start of the 2019-20 season. Sungjae Im is a remarkable 106 under par when faced with these approach shots the last two seasons, 12 shots better than any other player. In a statistical testament to how often he plays, though, he's also had 38 more attempts than anyone else in that span (Im ranks 24th of 185 players in score to par per attempt, at -0.25). Almost every course in professional golf has its own defining characteristics, whether visually, architecturally, or when diving into the numbers. Longer approach shots into greens are a trend to keep an eye on this week at Bay Hill.
Talor Gooch won The RSM Classic by three shots for his first PGA TOUR title. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy and native Oklahoman had no trouble with the Sea Island win, carding four straight rounds in the 60s and circling 20 birdies and two eagles along the way. Check out the clubs he used this week to get it done. RELATED: Final leaderboard Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond LS (9 degrees @8.3) Shaft: Fujikura Atmos Blue 7 X 3-wood: Callaway Rogue (15 degrees @14) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX Hybrid: Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 (20 degrees @17.5) Shaft: Aldila Tour Blue Hy 105 TX Irons: Callaway X-Forged ’21 (4-6), Callaway Apex MB ’21 (7-9) Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 125 X Wedges: Callaway Jaws MD5 Raw (46-10S, 52-10S @51.5, [email protected], 60-08C) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Putter: Odyssey Tri Hot 2 Prototype Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Ball: Titleist Pro v1
Rex Kuramoto couldn’t sit still. So he did the only thing he could think to do in order to help calm his nerves. He grabbed his putter and a began to pace. “I was just so excited,” said the longtime golf commentator and former European Tour player. “I could not sit in a chair and watch the TV. I just walked around my living room for no reason, holding my putter and doing nothing but praying.” Praying, of course, for history. History decades in the making for Kuramoto and his fellow Japanese golf brethren, who for years dreamed that one of their own would someday hoist a major men’s championship. So as Hideki Matsuyama closed in on the first Masters victory by an Asian player on a Sunday afternoon at Augusta National, Kuramoto and his peers stood by with baited breath. “I was trying not to blink, just pinching my cheeks and trying to enjoy every moment,” added Naoyuki Komatsu, who calls golf broadcasts alongside Kuramoto for GOLFTV Powered by the PGA TOUR in Japan. “I’m old enough to think of all those old players who came through Augusta over the years,” he continued. “It felt like all of their challenges in past years, all of their efforts, were all just sitting there, piled up in layers. It really felt like Hideki’s victory was an accumulation of all that.” It may take years to accurately gauge just what type of impact Matsuyama’s achievement will have on Japan, both from an economic and participation standpoint. But if the immediate reaction back home is any indication, the sport’s brightest days still lie ahead. Japanese broadcasters sent messages to TVs throughout the country alerting citizens to the victory. Morning shows continued to discuss the triumph days later. And according to Kuramoto, his friends in the Japan offices of Srixon—Matsuyama’s primary equipment provider—came in early to watch the final round, while Matsuyama’s local high school excused students from the classroom to watch the tournament together. “The Prime Minister, the former Prime Minister, movie stars, athletes, everybody is exulting,” Komatsu said. “They’re telling him, ‘Thank you.’ I guess that’s a Japanese mentality. We’re very grateful of him winning because we hope, we cheer on, we pray. And we know that puts a tremendous amount of pressure on him. “General sports fans are happy, because we have Naomi Osaka winning Grand Slams in tennis, Shohei Otani pitching and hitting home runs, and now Hideki. We hope he can become the next Ichiro Suzuki, who had such longevity in professional baseball.” It should be noted that is not be the first boon for Japanese golf, nor is it likely to be the last. The country’s first big introduction to the sport came in 1957, when a scrawny, 5-foot-2 golfer named Torakichi Nakamura shocked the world by defeating the legendary Sam Snead before going on to win the Canada Cup (known today as the World Cup) at Kasumigaseki Country Club, now the site of the golf competition for the 2021 Olympic Games. Nakamura would become the first Japanese player to compete in the Masters the following year, in turn helping pave the way for a generation of future stars, including PGA TOUR winners such as Shigeki Maruyama, Isao Aoki and World Golf Hall of Famer Jumbo Ozaki. “There are so many more players who had potential, but unfortunately, they hesitated because Japan is so Far East,” Komatsu said. “The Pacific Ocean is so vast. They couldn’t just come to the United States, live here and try it out throughout the year. But now as golf grows globally, the top players have been increasing in Japan.” Consider it the male version of the “Ai Miyazato Effect,” as Kuramoto likes to call it. Many of the female Japanese stars of today credit Miyazato’s rapid ascension to World No. 1—as well as her first professional win while still in high school—for their own path into professional golf. And now? The Japanese youth have even more golf idols to admire. Hinako Shibuno became the second Japanese player to win a women’s major championship in 2019 at the AIG Women’s British Open, and earlier this month 17-year-old Tsubasa Kajitani won on the very same course as Matsuyama, capturing the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in a playoff over Emilia Migliaccio. What comes next from this golf-mad country is anyone’s guess. (Though Komatsu thinks Japan may see an influx of young boys named Hideki, not unlike the Taega name that popped up following Tiger Woods’ 1997 Masters victory.) “The PGA of Japan has been working very hard to introduce this game to youngsters, and they’ve started their own version of the First Tee system,” Kuramoto said. “As Matsuyama said in Butler Cabin: I hope young kids watching him now will grow up and compete against him one day. “We need to tell our young stars how Matsuyama became who he is. It did not happen overnight, but through a lot of dedication.” To be clear, Matsuyama isn’t one to one to dive into such significant detail on his personal struggles. Or any other aspect of his life, for that matter. He undergoes great pains to avoid the media attention he constantly receives, regardless of the cadre of Japanese reporters who follow him from one tournament stop to the next. But no words were necessary at the Masters Tournament, where Dustin Johnson slipped the Green Jacket over Matsuyama’s shoulders. Years of reservation melted away in mere seconds, as the 29-year-old raised his hands to the sky in elation. That moment, above all else, said it all. “He’s always hid his emotions so well before,” Kuramoto said. “I loved seeing him smiling like a baby in front of everybody on the golf course.” It was one of two moments that stood out to the GOLFTV Powered by the PGA TOUR commentators, the other being the viral moment of caddie Shouta Hayafuji bowing in respect at the 18th green. Not only did it capture their own hearts, but those of American golf fans, too. And it came at a critical juncture for the United States, where hate crimes against Asians have been on the rise. “We’re so glad that people not just in America, but all over the world think it’s cool what we care for, what we cherish and what we value,” Komatsu said. “The Masters is the most ‘American’ tournament of them all. It’s symbolic of America, but we Japanese love the Masters.” Hayafuji’s bow “reminded us what and how we should be,” Kuramoto added. “I hope the performance by Hideki and his caddie will help lower the wall between different races.” Consider it just one more achievement for Matsuyama, and for the people of Japan. “An entire nation has realized how sports can impact our life and our spirits,” Kuramoto said. “This will have nothing but a positive effect on Japanese golf.” Watch every moment of Hideki Matsuyama in Japan on GOLFTV Powered by the PGA TOUR.
