This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
PGA Tour Stats entering this week's Canadian Open
NOTICE: The results grid was reduced for easier reading, starting with the Masters. However, the AVERAGE statistics at the bottom of the grid will continue to reflect the data from completed 2011 tournaments. For results from earlier events, go here.
| EVENT | WINNER | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | GIR | GIR | PUTTS | PUTTS | EAGLE/ | BOGEY/ | ||
| %of56 | RNK | DIS | DIS RNK | %of72 | RNK | Per GIR | RNK | RND | RNK | BIRDIE | DBL | ||
| Masters | C.Schwartzel, -14 | 66.1 | 31 | 278.4 | 44 | 68.0 | 18 | 26.7 | 2 | 2/17 | 7/0 | ||
| Texas Open | B. Steele, -8 | 64.3 | 7 | 303.0 | 10 | 58.3 | 40 | 1.69 | 13 | 26.0 | 2 | 0/17 | 7/1 |
| The Heritage | B. Snedeker, -12 | 80.4 | 3 | 271.0 | 59 | 61.1 | 30 | 1.59 | 2 | 25.8 | 4 | 0/21 | 9/0 |
| Zurich Classic | B. Watson, -15 | 71.4 | 13 | 331.4 | 1 | 80.6 | 1 | 1.74 | 41 | 29.3 | 57 | 3/16 | 5/0 |
| Wells Fargo Champ. | L. Glover, -15 | 46.4 | 49 | 303.0 | 25 | 70.8 | 26 | 1.59 | 1 | 29.5 | 3 | 1/22 | 9/0 |
| THE PLAYERS | K. Choi, -13 | 71.4 | 10 | 280.8 | 43 | 69.4 | 21 | 1.64 | 8 | 27.0 | 6 | 1/19 | 6/1 |
| Crowne Plaza | D. Toms, -15 | 67.9 | 4 | 299.1 | 28 | 72.2 | 4 | 1.58 | 1 | 27.3 | 9 | 1/20 | 5/1 |
| ByronNelson Champ. | K. Bradley P1, -3 | 58.9 | 10 | 316.8 | 7 | 65.3 | 6 | 1.85 | 47 | 29.5 | 45 | 0/13 | 10/0 |
| The Memorial | S. Stricker, -16 | 80.4 | 3 | 295.6 | 35 | 65.3 | 30 | 1.60 | 5 | 26.5 | 3 | 3/19 | 9/0 |
| St. Jude | H. Frazar, P1 -13 | 57.1 | 46 | 316.9 | 1 | 69.4 | 8 | 1.64 | 1 | 26.8 | 5 | 0/19 | 4/1 |
| U.S. Open | R. McIlroy, -16 | 64.3 |
PGA Tour Stats entering this week's Canadian Open
NOTICE: The results grid was reduced for easier reading, starting with the Masters. However, the AVERAGE statistics at the bottom of the grid will continue to reflect the data from completed 2011 tournaments. For results from earlier events, go here.
| EVENT | WINNER | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | GIR | GIR | PUTTS | PUTTS | EAGLE/ | BOGEY/ | ||
| %of56 | RNK | DIS | DIS RNK | %of72 | RNK | Per GIR | RNK | RND | RNK | BIRDIE | DBL | ||
| Masters | C.Schwartzel, -14 | 66.1 | 31 | 278.4 | 44 | 68.0 | 18 | 26.7 | 2 | 2/17 | 7/0 | ||
| Texas Open | B. Steele, -8 | 64.3 | 7 | 303.0 | 10 | 58.3 | 40 | 1.69 | 13 | 26.0 | 2 | 0/17 | 7/1 |
| The Heritage | B. Snedeker, -12 | 80.4 | 3 | 271.0 | 59 | 61.1 | 30 | 1.59 | 2 | 25.8 | 4 | 0/21 | 9/0 |
| Zurich Classic | B. Watson, -15 | 71.4 | 13 | 331.4 | 1 | 80.6 | 1 | 1.74 | 41 | 29.3 | 57 | 3/16 | 5/0 |
| Wells Fargo Champ. | L. Glover, -15 | 46.4 | 49 | 303.0 | 25 | 70.8 | 26 | 1.59 | 1 | 29.5 | 3 | 1/22 | 9/0 |
| THE PLAYERS | K. Choi, -13 | 71.4 | 10 | 280.8 | 43 | 69.4 | 21 | 1.64 | 8 | 27.0 | 6 | 1/19 | 6/1 |
| Crowne Plaza | D. Toms, -15 | 67.9 | 4 | 299.1 | 28 | 72.2 | 4 | 1.58 | 1 | 27.3 | 9 | 1/20 | 5/1 |
| ByronNelson Champ. | K. Bradley P1, -3 | 58.9 | 10 | 316.8 | 7 | 65.3 | 6 | 1.85 | 47 | 29.5 | 45 | 0/13 | 10/0 |
| The Memorial | S. Stricker, -16 | 80.4 | 3 | 295.6 | 35 | 65.3 | 30 | 1.60 | 5 | 26.5 | 3 | 3/19 | 9/0 |
| St. Jude | H. Frazar, P1 -13 | 57.1 | 46 | 316.9 | 1 | 69.4 | 8 | 1.64 | 1 | 26.8 | 5 | 0/19 | 4/1 |
| U.S. Open | R. McIlroy, -16 | 64.3 | 26 | 310.0 | 7 | 86.1 | 1 | 1.65 | 29.7 | 29 | 1/19 | 3/1 | |
| Travelers Champ. | F. Jacobson, -20 | 85.7 | 9 | 274.6 | 46 | 72.2 | 34 | 1.67 | 11 | 26.5 | 3 | 0/21 | 1/0 |
| AT&T National | N. Watney -13 | 69.6 | 10 | 320.8 | 4 | 70.8 | 27 | 1.67 | 3 | 27.8 | 2 | 1/20 | 9/0 |
| John Deere Classic | S. Stricker -22 | 64.3 | 58 | 318.0 | 12 | 73.6 | 33 | 1.55 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 1/25 | 3/1 |
| Viking Classic | C. Kirk -22 | 64.3 | 43 | 292.0 | 12 | 79.2 | 12 | 1.63 | 10 | 27.3 | 12 | 1/24 | 4/0 |
| British Open | D. Clarke -5 | 41.0 | 311.7 | 70.8 | 29.7 | 2/14 | 11/1 | ||||||
| AVERAGE | 66.1 | 25.1 | 297.5 | 23.6 | 73.0 | 15.5 | 1.66 | 12.9 | 27.8 | 14.3 |
The British Open
Wet and windy made their annual appearance at the British Open.
This time it was the venue, Royal St. Georges Golf Club with a 42-year-old silver thatched veteran plying his mastery over links play. His relentless effective ball striking on a quirky, undulating course in driving winds mixed with recurring showers, and some driving rain to boot, made for a classical win for Darren Clarke in his 20th Open start.
Uncontrollable inequities between the morning wave of players vs. the afternoon players, especially prominent in the third round where the differential between early starters and afternoon starters was 3.3 shots: 76.4 average scoring for morning, 73.1 for the afternoon players.
Clarke's spread between birdies and bogeys was the largest of the year to date. Most British Opens call for pars and a few birdies while dodging bogeys – there were more than a few bogeys this week. He clocked 34 putts in his closing two-under 68!
Four things to remember when making future British Open picks:
1. Select players who avoid bogeys, or worse
2. Pick ball strikers whether long or short hitters
3. Check for links play experience
4. Good lag putter
Opposite Field Viking Classic
Winner Chris Kirk, with less than stellar putting stats, had a fine week on the greens. Two bogey-free rounds and sensational putts-per-GIR were showcased
on the week. Putts-per-GIR for the rounds: 1.667-1.600-1.563-1.727=1.632.
This is his first PGA Tour win so we don't expect this 26-year old rookie to become a dominating figure.
Canadian Open
In the past this Open has been played in the central/eastern provinces where past competition statistics are available. Not so with this week's venue in Vancouver, B.C., thus no past winner stats this week.
The field features a number of prominent players coming off the the British Open, so strong players are available. Hopefully, they have recovered from the carnage caused by the weather at St. Georges.
