Strokes Gained (True) 1996-2024

[Golfnutgalen]

Scottie Scheffler is playing some insane golf right now. Just how insane? He's the first player to break through Tiger's stranglehold of the top strokes gained numbers since his fall from the top post 2009. This is only covering the Tiger era and beyond, if you go back further Greg Norman for example has quite a few top scores, his best being +3.05 in 1993.

 

Now it's important to point out that SG is simply a player's performance relative to the field average. What Scottie is doing right now in a modern field is crazy I didn't think it was even possible.

 

If you want to check the data yourself you can find it here: Performance Table (datagolf.com)

 

Strokes Gained (True) 1996-2024
Rank	Strokes Gained	Player	Year	rounds
1	4.29	Tiger Woods	2000	84
2	3.92	Tiger Woods	2008	24
3	3.75	Tiger Woods	2007	68
4	3.68	Tiger Woods	2006	60
5	3.46	Tiger Woods	2009	62
6	3.39	Tiger Woods	1999	83
7	3.35	Tiger Woods	2002	72
8	3.32	Scottie Scheffler	2024	59
9	3.04	Tiger Woods	2003	72
10	2.87	Tiger Woods	2001	84
11	2.82	Tiger Woods	2005	82
12	2.80	Steve Stricker	2013	47
13	2.79	Xander Schauffele	2024	59
14	2.77	Vijay Singh	2003	106
15	2.77	Tiger Woods	2004	80
16	2.76	Scottie Scheffler	2023	103
17	2.70	Ernie Els	2003	96
18	2.68	Jim Furyk	2006	88
19	2.68	Tiger Woods	2012	75
20	2.65	Ernie Els	2004	90
21	2.63	Ernie Els	2000	76
22	2.62	Dustin Johnson	2018	82
23	2.60	Jordan Spieth	2015	96
24	2.58	Phil Mickelson	2000	84
25	2.57	Mike Weir	2003	75
26	2.56	Vijay Singh	2004	122
27	2.56	Tiger Woods	2013	66
28	2.56	Rory McIlroy	2022	87
29	2.54	Jason Day	2015	76
30	2.53	Nick Price	1997	58
31	2.52	Tiger Woods	1997	81
32	2.52	David Duval	1999	74
33	2.48	Rory McIlroy	2014	98
34	2.48	Jon Rahm	2020	63
35	2.48	Jon Rahm	2021	92
36	2.46	Rory McIlroy	2012	82
37	2.46	Jason Day	2016	69
38	2.45	Davis Love III	2001	75
39	2.45	Jordan Spieth	2017	86
40	2.44	Jim Furyk	2003	101
41	2.42	Greg Norman	1997	67
42	2.41	Tiger Woods	1998	73
43	2.41	David Duval	1998	87
44	2.40	Vijay Singh	2005	113
45	2.40	Rory McIlroy	2015	62
46	2.39	Adam Scott	2013	76
47	2.38	Rory McIlroy	2019	88
48	2.38	Rory McIlroy	2023	87
49	2.37	Rory McIlroy	2024	59
50	2.36	Luke Donald	2011	94

[Dutch1008]

Tiger is on a different plane of existence but here are a few non-Tiger thoughts...

 

Underrated...

• The quality of Xander's golf in 2024
• Rory's consistency (7 seasons in the top 50, no other player sans Tiger has more than 3)
• Vijay's volume (Each of Vijay's top seasons included over 106 rounds played) 

 

It will be interesting to see if Scottie can keep this level of play going for a few more years. This chart says it's pretty unlikely but Vijay, Ernie, and Rory never reached his peak so who knows. 

[Golfnutgalen]

And just for completionists sake, here are the top scores going back to 1983. Jose Maria sticks out, but he only played 5 events that season with measurable data.

 

Strokes Gained (True) 1983-2024
Rank	Strokes Gained	Player	Year	rounds
1	4.29	Tiger Woods	2000	84
2	3.92	Tiger Woods	2008	24
3	3.75	Tiger Woods	2007	68
4	3.68	Tiger Woods	2006	60
5	3.46	Tiger Woods	2009	62
6	3.39	Tiger Woods	1999	83
7	3.35	Tiger Woods	2002	72
8	3.32	Scottie Scheffler	2024	59
9	3.11	Jose Maria Olazabal	1990	18
10	3.05	Greg Norman	1993	54
11	3.04	Tiger Woods	2003	72
12	2.87	Tiger Woods	2001	84
13	2.87	Greg Norman	1990	52
14	2.82	Tiger Woods	2005	82
15	2.80	Steve Stricker	2013	47
16	2.80	Seve Ballesteros	1983	30
17	2.79	Xander Schauffele	2024	59
18	2.77	Vijay Singh	2003	106
19	2.77	Tiger Woods	2004	80
20	2.77	Greg Norman	1994	63
21	2.76	Scottie Scheffler	2023	103
22	2.75	Bernhard Langer	1993	20
23	2.71	Jack Nicklaus	1984	52
24	2.70	Ernie Els	2003	96
25	2.68	Tiger Woods	2012	75
26	2.68	Jim Furyk	2006	88

 

Datagolf had 196 scores of +2 SG or better. Out of those here are the player who have the most appearances in the list:

 

15 - Tiger Woods 

10 - Greg Norman

        Rory McIlroy 

7 - Jim Furyk 

6 - Vijay Singh

      Phil Mickelson 

      Ernie Els

      Davis Love

      Fred Couples 

5 - Justin Rose

      Dustin Johnson

      Jon Rahm

Edited Wednesday at 04:57 PM by Golfnutgalen

[Golfnutgalen]

48 minutes ago, Dutch1008 said:

Tiger is on a different plane of existence but here are a few non-Tiger thoughts...

 

Underrated...

• The quality of Xander's golf in 2024
• Rory's consistency (7 seasons in the top 50, no other player sans Tiger has more than 3)
• Vijay's volume (Each of Vijay's top seasons included over 106 rounds played) 

 

It will be interesting to see if Scottie can keep this level of play going for a few more years. This chart says it's pretty unlikely but Vijay, Ernie, and Rory never reached his peak so who knows. 

 

• Xander has been ridiculously consistent. Easy to miss because he's not winning as much as you would expect. Of course that PGA did help his cause.
• I agree, I thought DJ would be right alongside him but nope. It helps that he played extremely well from an early age and has continued to do so.
• Vijay was crazy from age 35-45. It's almost like he wanted to make up for lost time in his 20s.

As for Scottie? I have no idea. Even Tiger and Jack had off years so you would think Scottie couldn't possibly sustain this level of golf for more than a few years. We'lll see. 

[Dutch1008]

16 minutes ago, Golfnutgalen said:

As for Scottie? I have no idea. Even Tiger and Jack had off years so you would think Scottie couldn't possibly sustain this level of golf for more than a few years. We'lll see. 

 

Outside of putting, Scottie has no weakness. He's long, straight, the best ball striker in the game, and has a filthy short game to boot. His game should age well. The visual characteristics give me pause. The shuffling feet, the excessive weight shift. Seems like a lot of pieces that need to stay in sync. That said, he's been > +2 SG for nearly 3 straight years so perhaps his quirks are far more stable than they look?   

[jimecherry]

56 minutes ago, Dutch1008 said:

 

Outside of putting, Scottie has no weakness. He's long, straight, the best ball striker in the game, and has a filthy short game to boot. His game should age well. The visual characteristics give me pause. The shuffling feet, the excessive weight shift. Seems like a lot of pieces that need to stay in sync. That said, he's been > +2 SG for nearly 3 straight years so perhaps his quirks are far more stable than they look?   

he had those quirks when he was winless for 2 years on the pga tour if he falls off they wont be the cause. unless he twists an ankle ;}

[Chunkitgood]

Do you mean to say the guy who wins all the tournaments gains “strokes” over his competition?

 

Can they be redeemed for valuable prizes?

[Dutch1008]

52 minutes ago, jimecherry said:

he had those quirks when he was winless for 2 years on the pga tour if he falls off they wont be the cause. unless he twists an ankle ;}

 

Probably, he certainly makes it work. It just seems like the type of swing that would run hot and cold. Compare Scottie's swing to a similarly tall player like Ludvig. Which swing do you think requires the practitioner to coordinate more balance and timing? 

 

That's not meant to be a dig at Scottie. If anything it's gushing awe at his body control and hand eye coordination. In its own way It is olympic gymnast level stuff. 

[Chunked]

It will be interesting to watch and see if the next wave of golfers can raise their games to meet Scottie’s level, while simultaneously he begins to battle the inevitability of life distractions and the desire to stay at the top of the mountain. 

[cdnglf]

Peak Mike Weir > Peak Rory McIlroy

[Golfnutgalen]

2 hours ago, cdnglf said:

Peak Mike Weir > Peak Rory McIlroy

 

Bizarre right? Relative to the field he was indeed playing fractionally better. Of course Mike never got close to that peak again with his next best being +1.36 in 2006.

 

2003 is an interesting year, Vijay, Ernie, Mike, and Furyk played exceptional golf and seemed to be closing in on Tiger's dominance. Phil had a bad year, but then he rebounded in 2004 playing incredible golf in the majors. 

 

Another year that stands out is Steve Stricker in 2013, he had a significantly lower average than Tiger (2.80 vs 2.56) but didn't have any wins to show for it. Tiger on the other end won 5 while playing rather inconsistent golf (7 finishes outside the top 30) for his lofty standards. 

Edited Wednesday at 04:37 PM by Golfnutgalen

[Golfnutgalen]

Here's Tiger by himself. What surprises me is 2010 and 2011 really weren't that bad in retrospect. He had 21 years of extremely solid golf. Sure the rounds played is a bit low in some years but when he showed up he was ready to compete. 

 

The rank column shows his placement within the available scores going back to 1983. That's 15 scores in the top 63. His next best 2018 is just a hair outside the top 200 or so scores. 

 

Tiger Woods Strokes Gained
Rank	Strokes Gained	Player	Year	rounds
1	4.29	Tiger Woods	2000	84
2	3.92	Tiger Woods	2008	24
3	3.75	Tiger Woods	2007	68
4	3.68	Tiger Woods	2006	60
5	3.46	Tiger Woods	2009	62
6	3.39	Tiger Woods	1999	83
7	3.35	Tiger Woods	2002	72
11	3.04	Tiger Woods	2003	72
13	2.87	Tiger Woods	2001	84
14	2.82	Tiger Woods	2005	82
18	2.77	Tiger Woods	2004	80
25	2.68	Tiger Woods	2012	75
35	2.56	Tiger Woods	2013	66
41	2.52	Tiger Woods	1997	81
63	2.41	Tiger Woods	1998	73
	1.98	Tiger Woods	2018	72
	1.60	Tiger Woods	2010	53
	1.57	Tiger Woods	1996	43
	1.54	Tiger Woods	2011	38
	1.32	Tiger Woods	2020	32
	1.28	Tiger Woods	2019	41
	0.54	Tiger Woods	2014	29
	0.00	Tiger Woods	2016	0
	-0.27	Tiger Woods	2023	10
	-0.62	Tiger Woods	2021	10
	-0.69	Tiger Woods	2015	36
	-1.08	Tiger Woods	2017	7
	-1.65	Tiger Woods	2024	9
	-1.83	Tiger Woods	2022	9

Edited Wednesday at 04:59 PM by Golfnutgalen