I think that if you're a fair golfer or better (eg, shooting in the 80s or better), the five footer is the most important shot in golf. This assumes that you can get off the tee and get your approach shots on or near the green. It's pretty hard to consider it a bad round if you make all your 5 footers, and conversely, a good ball-striking day is ruined by missing all your 5 footers.

If you disagree, what is the most important shot in golf?

If you do agree, what strategies do you employ to make more 5 footers? For example, are you aggressive like the Young Tom Watson or more artistic like Ben Crenshaw? Does your strategy change if the greens are really fast or really slow? Downhill...uphill...sidehill? What is a good target percentage of made 5 footers for a round? 50%? 2/3? 3/4? Recommended drills/games?

Briefly thinking about it, if not too general, I am leaning toward the scramble shot being the most important. I mean the shot after you miss the green, whether it be a bunker shot or chip shot and consistently getting it to that 3' radius around the cup to save par. If you are missing 6 or 7 greens per round you can save quite a few shots having a good scramble game. Mentally it helps stay in the round and those saved pars can 'feel' like birdies sometimes.

The most important shot is the approach to any green, because it is the one that has the biggest impact on your score for the hole. If you are 145 out and hit a good second shot, youre looking at a 3, 4, or worst case 5. But suppose the shot leaks into a bunker. Now you're looking at a 4 if you do perfectly from there out. You put it in the water and you can't do any better than 5.

I get what you're saying about the 5 footer, and my strategy is a quick, confident, don't think too much rap. But Im not sure about it being the mooost important. I think it's because I putt well and my irons are awful

My buddy always says the most important shot in golf is the second (approach) one. His claim has merit but it’s fun to remind him getting off the tee is equally important when he pulls one OB.

I don’t think any single aspect of the game is more important for us amateurs. On the pro level SG in one category will have a positive impact on rankings, but for us being I think able to avoid blow up holes is the biggest factor. That and being able to scramble and get out of trouble.

I have no idea which shot in golf is the most important, but I can say with confidence that burying the five footers will save you a ton of strokes in the long run.

True for some, and I’d love to make more of them. After a long lag putt, I‘m often left with these.

After thinking about it a little more.....and reading the posts so far.....

I think the most important shot is to improve the area you personally lose the most strokes. Keep track of your shots for a few rounds and see where you are losing shots and look for the trend.

Practice that...a lot.

A few years ago for me it was scrambling which is why I gave my quick, "biased" answer earlier.

I think the 5-footer really is one of those "make or break" shots in golf.

I know that like many on this board, my putting is the weakest element in my game. For me, how I do putting between 2-to-5 feet is really key. I'm usually not good enough to lag putts to within 6" so I'm regularly faced with testy 2- and 3-footers to finish up a hole. And even as a really good chipper of the ball I'll be the first to tell you, sometimes chipping to 4- or 5-ft is about as good as you can hope for in certain situations (especially on certain courses).

So if you're someone who struggles with putting, that range between 2-ft and 5-ft can really make or break your day. The same can be said of really good players between 5-ft and 15-ft where all the birdie opportunities lie. If you're going to shoot under par you had better be draining those 10- and 15-ft putts!

The one nice thing about short putts is that they can easily be practiced and that's often not really the case with other types of critical shots. It's difficult to really practice from side-hill lies or from the rough. And you can't really intimidate yourself in practice the way a troublesome driving hole does on the course. But when it comes to making more short putts, your practice will directly translate over to the golf course.

I understand why one might think this. But as any mathematician would say, they are all worth 1 so all worth the same.

It's important for your confidence to make a 5 footer, so that has value

But truthfully, there are some entire rounds where i don't even attempt a 5 footer. For example rounds where i hit a lot of greens and lag putts close, and happen to drain a few long ones., and chip it close on my missed greens. You end up with no 5 footers in a round. So it can't be "most" important

If you play at a course with a lot of OB, tee balls are probably most important, because they can cost you 2 shots essentially.

Hard to say, end of the day they are all worth 1

I'm a 6.8 thanks to the .2 decrease overnight in January courtesy of WHS! I'm still celebrating because (1) we aren't posting yet, and (2) I can't play because of my elbow. The winter plus being on the shelf since surgery has me reflecting on my game a lot in the off season, so I've actually thought about this.

I got better over time by improving a little bit at everything, but putting gets the least attention and has over the years and I'm generally okay with my putting and just kind of ignore it.

FOR ME vs. other things I still need to improve to see my scoring go down on average, I believe that I can be better at 4-8 foot length putts and if I could improve on those in a significant way they would lead to pretty significant gains right away, so I'd say for me - yes.

Still, I need to put in the time and see if I really can improve -- just don't think with those length putts I'm already butting up against my ceiling, so to speak.

Actually, you’re not far off, at least on the green, as my teacher and his younger Bro, Sam, considered 4’ putts to be THE most critical distance in putting, and from the age of 16yo on, all of my putting drills and practice on the greens started with and finished with 100 “around the clock” 4’ putts.

Pete and Sam’s views on the importance of the 4’ putt and one’s ability to make them consistently(though the Tour average has been 84-86%+ over the last 50 years, it’s currently at 86%) was not so much predicated on whether one faced many of these length putts in a round, although had Sam made three more 4’ putts(one was actually 46”) in his US Opens, he’d have 2 outright victories and been in one more playoff with a shot at the trophy, and that’s not even counting the 30.5” putt that he yanked on 18 against Worsham(an Oakmont Boy?) in the ‘47 Open., as much as it was on honing one’s directional and to a lesser degree, distance control for putts shorter than that and also at the 5-6’ distance, as you mentioned, so they believed that if one could run 87-90% of their 4’ers under the gun, that confidence and stroke would carry the day from 3’-6’, at least.

Also, and this was the most critical point for either Pete or Sam, and that was the mental lift and confidence that routinely running 92% from 4’ in competitive practice routines and matches against others give a Player when putting under the gun in either Tourneys or money games.

As @MelloYello mentioned(Hey Bro, you’re in my thoughts and I hope all’s well and whenever this breaks, that ya have a great season?), after the 4’er, my most practiced distance was 8’-15’, where I again did “around the clock” from 8’, 12’ & 15’.

However, no doubt, the average golfer being able to consistently run 50-60% of their 5’ers will save them many strokes across a season!

Fairways & Greens 4ever My Friends?
RP

I think the tee shot is the most important shot. At least it is for me. It sets up every shot after that.

It's not an original thought, but you will probably hit at most 14 drivers in an 18 hole round, and probably 30 +/- putts. Most of us, and I am as guilty as the next guy, have a reverse ratio when we allocate time to practice. I can't say if confidence at 5' is more or less important than confidence over any other shot, but I can say that short game practice has done more for my score card than all the driver buckets I have hit.

Phred

I'd agree with others that *in general*, the approach shot is the most important or maybe generally the most likely shot to influence score. For example, you can still make a 4 while hitting your tee shot into the penalty area if your approach is very good... but you can easily make a 5 with a perfect tee shot, and a very bad 2nd shot. Heck, you can spray the ball all over the place if you have Tiger-like iron play.

I'd then argue the next most important shot after your approach is your first putt, regardless of distance of said putt.

I like the no 3 puts. If you can have a round under 30 puts you are having a good day.

For my own stats the missed putts under 6 feet are the most important part of my score. But if you want to improve your overall score gir is the key stat.

I would agree that the approach shot is the biggest deciding factor towards a score on a hole. But I would say that 10 feet and in are what separates good rounds from great rounds.

I was taught very early in my golf journey that 5' putts were like free throws in basketball. Considering the number of games, both golf and BB that are lost by a point or two lends credence (at least to me) to their importance. While I agree the approach is important, what happens if from 120 out and you hit it to 5 ft, and miss the putt?

I dont agree on this one. I think the more important shot is the approach that gets you to the 5 foot putt. Some of my best rounds happened when I was licking my chops just to get my shot inside the 10 foot circle. You have enough chances at a 5 footer through out the round, you will start to make some. So the exciting part is the 5 footer but the approach is more important.

Not all 30 putts are created equal though. I have had many rounds where 10-15 of those putts are no-stress tap-ins. I think for many golfers at least 1/3rd of their putts in every round will be cakewalk gimmes

So when you factor that in, the ratio of shots is a bit more distributed

Yes a 5 footer is a very important shot, but a 2 inch kick-in is probably the LEAST important shot in golf. So it averages out

Someone could have a great ball striking day, have only two five-foot putt attempts, miss them both, and still have a great day.

Someone else could have a bad ball striking day, and even a bad short game day where many short game shots end up well outside 5-feet. Have a couple putts in the 5-foot range, make them both, and still have a bad day...having made 16 tap-ins.

I'm not convinced on your premise.

The most important shot in golf . .

Is the next one.....

Has to be a bif of context to the putt. No matter the length. Match play they're all important unless you got two or three putts to win.

Stroke play it seems like par savers are the biggest rallying putts.

Yes. 4 - 5-footers are super crucial in golf. One of the main reasons is that if you are rock solid on those, it "extends" your short game ability. You don't have to knock it stiff all the time, you just have to be a master of putting it in a 4 - 5 foot circle. Amazing what that does to you confidence and, of course, your scoring. P-)

The most important shot is the one you hit after you find yourself in trouble.

Facts, the 4-6 footers make a huge difference to SG putting and short game confidence!

Day in and day out the most important shot in golf is the tee ball, all other things being equal. Long and straight is huge in dropping handicap (and winning money on tour). Not to say that you can't be a short hitter and an excellent player, but it makes it a heck of a lot harder.

The shot that will have the MOST impact on your score is whatever shot is your worst weak spot. Could be the tee ball, could be 5 footers. Mine would be inconsistency in getting pitches/chips to 3’.

How many approaches do you hit five feet and in? In 2019, the top ten best PGA pros averaged about 16 feet from 125-100 yards. The five foot putt is about saving par or taking your medicine and making bogey.

The 5-ft putt also seems to be the shot that always gets someone kicked off The Big Break.

Seriously though, tried to find a way to back this claim with data. If you look at the PGA Tour stats website (https://www.pgatour.com/stats.html), the most strokes gained are in the approach to the green category. In other words, it appears that the most strokes to be gained are in the approach category rather than driving or putting.