Capelle On Golf

PGA Championship Coverage

Nick Faldo made 18 straight pars to win the 1987 British Open by a shot over Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger and Roger Davis.

At the 2008 PGA, Padraig Harrington’s approach couldn’t have been much different. Over the four rounds he made 9, 8, 8, and 10 pars daily. In between these regulation figures he sprinkled his card with a tournament leading 20 birdies on the super tough Oakland Hills. This was four better than the 16 posted by the next best birdie-maker, Ben Curtis, who tied for second. Harrington also bogeyed 17 holes (almost one in every four), which was eight more than co-runner-up Sergio Garcia.

In short, Harrington took his fans on a roller coaster ride of birdies and bogeys that flies in the face of the “par is a great score” concept of winning majors. Still, he left town with the Wannamaker Trophy, a nice addition on his mantle with the Claret Jug.

One of the reasons Harrington doubled the field’s average birdie production was that he tied for seventh in hitting fairways off the tee. This put him in position to shoot at more flags. Another was his putting – he was second with only 27 putts per round. The bottom line was 11 birdies on the 48 ultra tough par 4s, which tied him for first with Curtis in this department.

Harrington’s GIR figures barely exceeded the field’s average, but this is a bit misleading. Though his 31 missed greens were responsible for those 17 bogeys (he never 3-putted), his pin seeking iron shots (such as the one on the 71st hole that set up a birdie) and his solid putting more than made up for his misses with his onslaught of birdies.

The table shows Harrington’s average versus those who made the cut. It also shows his rank and, for several categories, the PGA Tour average through the PGA.

P.H. – The Field (who made the cut)
69.25—72.88 average (1)—(71.22)
5.00—2.58 Birdies per round (1)
10.25—9.81 GIR per round (27t)—(11.16)
42.25—42.73 Shots to Hit the Greens per round
8.75—7.27 Fairways Hit per round (7t)—(8.72)
27.00—30.15 Putts per round (2)—(29.27)

The field averaged nearly a putt per round more than the tour average even though they hit fewer greens, which would normally lead to fewer putts per hole. This showed the difficulty the players had saving pars at Oakland Hills. Even Harrington’s short game suffered as his scrambling average of 45.16% was well below his season average of 59.60.

And now for the stat that matters most – the score! Harrington’s average was 3.63 shots better than those who made the cut, or nearly two shots a side.