Davis: ‘Arms race’ for fast greens is bad for golf

Welcome to this week’s edition of Numbers to Know, where we’ll take a closer look at Bryson DeChambeau’s victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. DeChambeau’s radical transformation of his game, and body, finally led to a victory after several weeks in contention. Let’s take a closer look at how he did it. 1. DIGGING THE LONG BALL: You may have heard that DeChambeau is hitting it farther. Just how far? He led the field with an average of 350.6 yards per measured drive. That was 9.6 yards farther than the second-place finisher in that statistic, Cameron Champ. DeChambeau hit 16 drives over 350 yards at Detroit Golf Club, an average of four per round. That was more than twice as many as the next two players on the list, Matthew Wolff (7) and Cameron Champ (6). Those are two players who aren’t exactly known for being short hitters. 2. LONG AND SHORT OF IT: DeChambeau is the first player in the ShotLink era to win an event while leading the field in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Putting. He’s been outstanding with the clubs he hits the farthest and shortest. He’s gaining +1.113 strokes off the tee per round, trailing TOUR leader Cameron Champ by just 0.003. DeChambeau is 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting (+0.69). Just nine players have averaged +1.0 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee per round over an entire season. DeChambeau is on pace to become the first player to gain at least 1 stroke off the tee and 0.5 strokes on the greens in the same season. Players who have gained at least 1 stroke off the tee have averaged just +0.06 strokes gained on the greens in the same season. DeChambeau is on pace to gain the most strokes per round from the driver and putter in a season since ShotLink began in 2004. Every player who gained at least 1.4 strokes per round with their driving and putting won multiple times in that season. 3. GAINING ON THEM: The Rocket Mortgage was the best Strokes Gained: Putting performance of DeChambeau’s career. It wasn’t the top Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee performance of his career – it was his third-best – but it continued a recent trend. The top four Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee performances of his career have all come in his last six starts. 4. WHAT A TURKEY: DeChambeau and Wolff were separated by just a stroke after DeChambeau’s bogey on the par-5 14th and Wolff’s birdie on the par-3 15th. DeChambeau sprinted away from his closest pursuer with birdies on the last three holes to win by three shots. It was a measure of revenge for DeChambeau, who watched Wolff eagle the 72nd hole to beat him by one on the previous Fourth of July weekend. DeChambeau is the first player since 2016 to birdie the final three holes to win a stroke-play event by three or fewer strokes. 5. BREAKING BAD: Wolff started the final round with a three-shot lead, but shot 38 on the front nine to fall off the pace. He put some pressure on DeChambeau, though, with four birdies in the final seven holes. Wolff led the field with 31 par-breakers (30 birdies, 1 eagle) but was undone by 12 bogeys. It was the most par-breakers in a 72-hole event by a player who didn’t win since Ryan Palmer at the 2014 AMERICAN EXPRESS. It was the first time since 2008 that a player made that many par-breakers at an event other than THE AMERICAN EXPRESS and didn’t win. In the last decade, only two players have made more birdies and eagles in a 72-hole event than Wolff’s 31. Justin Thomas (2015 CIMB) and Patrick Reed (2014 AMERICAN EXPRESS) both made 32 in their victories.

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PGA TOUR Rookie Scottie Scheffler has produced just the 12th sub 60 round in PGA TOUR history, scorching TPC Boston with a 12-under 59 during the second round of THE NORTHERN TRUST. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Get to know Scottie Scheffler The 24-year-old carded a bogey-free masterpiece with 12 birdies, six on each side of the course, to become the second youngest player to shoot 59 or better behind Justin Thomas. Scheffler had a chance to join Jim Furyk as the only player to shoot 58 if he could play the final two holes in 2 under, however a 22-foot birdie try on the par-4 17th motored past the hole and thoughts of eagle on the par-5 18th were damaged when his second shot came up just short of the green some 82-feet from the hole. Scheffler was able to get up and down with a couple of clutch putts, the first from just off the green stopped four-feet, six-inches from the cup before he calmly converted the second to join Furyk (twice, 58 - 2016 Travelers Championship, 59 - 2013 BMW Championship), Thomas (2017 Sony Open in Hawaii), Kevin Chappell (2020 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier), Brandt Snedeker (2018 Wyndham Championship), Adam Hadwin (2017 The American Express), Stuart Appleby (2010 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier), Paul Goydos (2010 John Deere Classic), David Duval (1999 The American Express), Chip Beck (1991 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) and Al Geiberger (1977 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic) in the exclusive club. The Texan hit seven of 14 fairways, and 16 of 18 greens during the round that needed just 23 putts.

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