Determinants of PGA Tour Success: An Examination of Relationships among Performance, Scoring, and Earnings

Abstract

Professional Golf Association (PGA) statistics for the 2002 season were analyzed to estimate the relationships between performance variables, scoring, and earnings. Two newly considered variables, Scrambling and Bounce Back percentages, showed meaningful correlation to Simple Scoring Average (rs = -.69 and -.40, respectively), and each made a significant contribution to a regression model. While the full model of performance variables explained most of the variance in Simple Scoring Average (R2 = .94), an adjusted scoring figure, accounting for the performance of the full field of players in each round, better correlated with Earnings over a PGA Tour season (r = .77).

Peculiarities of Pre-Competitive Psychological Factors, Sport Performance Indicators and Physiological Demands in Youth Golf

“…In our case, the subjects' GIR percentage was found as the most important for a better score (strokes per round) (r = -.716; p < .05). The researchers found that scrambling (r = -.67; p < .05) (Finley & Halsey, 2004) and putts per GIR (r = .63; p < .05) (Quinn, 2006) had the strongest correlations with the scoring average in elite golf, but GIR also was an indicator strongly related to the low scoring average (Finley & Halsey, 2004;Quinn, 2006).…”

Tournament Validity: Testing Golfer Competence

“…Belkin, Gansneder, Pickens, Rotella, & Striegel (1994); Dorsel & Rotunda (1993); and Finley & Halsey (2004) examined how various skills (reaching the green in regulation, sand saves, driving accuracy, putting) are related to PGA scoring average. The authors collected scoring data and then ran regression analyses where scoring average was treated as the dependent variable, and a variety of performance statistics (mean driving yardage, putting, birdies/round, greens in regulation) were used as predictor variables.…”

Anchored putter ban: An examination of whether anchored putting impacts career success and putting performance

“…The most commonly used measure of putting stroke accuracy is the distance the ball finishes from the hole (Eddy & Gerstner, 2014). Additional measures of putting performance include putts per round (Finley & Halsey, 2004), total putting per season (Vine, Moore, & Wilson, 2011), one-putt and three-putt total (James, 2007), and strokes gained (Broadie, 2012).…”

“…Putting ability‐related statistics (e.g., one‐putt percentage, three‐putt percentage, use of anchored putter, total putting, putts per round, one‐putt total, three‐putt total, and stroke gained) are utilized to address the focal issue more comprehensively, thereby enhancing the analysis of production relationships in golf and providing information on human capital measurement in golf. Further, though previous economics studies addressing marginal productivity of professional golfers (e.g., Alexander & Kern, ; Finley & Halsey, ; Shmanske, ) have taken into account the external effects of player performance, confounding variables, such as physical characteristics, PGA career years, number of events played in per year, and handedness, are not fully controlled in the models.…”