In the latest episode of Golf Digest’s Game Plan, we explore all things Tiger Woods. What made him so good? And how did he do it?
You can’t answer that question without understanding what Tiger did off the tee. His tee shots accounted for more than 20% of his total Strokes Gained over his peers, which was more than any other area of his game.
But it’s how Tiger did this that was so interesting.
The Tiger Tee Shot Formula
The funny thing about peak Tiger was that he was actually quite wayward off the tee:
He ranked 148th in driving accuracy, 173rd in left rough tendency, and 123rd in right rough tendency, respectively.
Tiger did this despite dropping back to hit more stinger 2-irons and 3-woods.
So how did he make this work?
Well, because even though he was wayward when it came to hitting fairways, he wasn’t wayward when it came to keeping the ball in play. His tee shot penalty percentage was just 1.1%, often well under tour average.
[Photo: Chris Condon]
And while Tiger needed to drop back to hit shorter clubs in order to do it, he didn’t drop back so much that he became a short or even average-length hitter.
The Takeaway
Tiger wasn’t trading distance for fairways; he was trading distance for fewer penalties. He balanced the scales so he was below average in penalties and above average in distance.
That’s the sweet spot.
Tiger’s Tee Shot Priorities
Remember these…
Priority #1: Avoid penalties
Priority #2: Maximise distance
In a nutshell, bomb and gouge as much as you can unless your penalty percentage gets out of control, dial back if it does — but don’t dial back just to hit more fairways. It’s not worth it.
The Chart
Data provided here is by Arccos, the official stat tracker of the PGA Tour (you can get even more granular data from Arccos right here).
Basically, you want to be above average in the left column and below average in the right column.
And to help you guesstimate your tee shot penalty percentage, here’s how it all breaks down…
One penalty every…
4 holes (25% penalty percentage)
9 holes (11.11%)
18 holes (5.56%)
27 holes (3.70%)
36 holes (2.78%)
45 holes (2.22%)
54 holes (1.85%)
63 holes (1.59%)
72 holes (1.39%)
81 holes (1.23%)
90 holes (1.11%)