Open stat attack

By Matt Cooper Last updated: 17th July 2009

Why did Tiger Woods miss the cut? And why is Steve Marino tied for the lead? Let the numbers tell the story.

The big question at the end of day two is "Why did Tiger Woods miss the cut?"

A look at the stats might give us a clue.

Tiger's putting was up to scratch - he averaged 1.61 putts per hole compared to the field average of 1.72.

But his ball-striking just wasn't good enough.

Only 21 of 36 greens were reached in regulation - less than 60% when the field average was 62% and the contenders were mostly hitting 7 in 10.

And he was missing greens because he was missing fairways - he found only 15 of them in 28 attempts.

All of that said, perhaps Tiger's problem was that his putter wasn't hot enough - after all Steve Marino sits on top of the leader board alongside Tom Watson whilst having exactly the same ball-striking stats as Tiger.

The difference is that Marino has putted his socks off (a mere 1.42 putts per hole) and holed out from the fairway and bunkers: playing partner Sandy Lyle even inspected his ball on one occasion and asked what sort it was (with a smile on his face though - no controversy this time).

Watson meanwhile has been metronomic from tee to green: hitting 75% of fairways and 78% of greens.

We also know that he has holed the odd putt - well, one long one on the 18th at the very least.

And if you think ball-striking will continue to be important - and that Open class is paramount - don't forget the Calc.

Mark Calcavecchia was in the first group out on Thursday morning and if he continues to hit 83% of the green in regulation he might make the final group on Sunday.

Turnberry Round Two Stats:

Three easiest greens to hit:
17th (94.2%), 4th (76.3%), 16th (74.2%)

Three most difficult green to hit in regulation:
9th (19.9%), 5th (22.4%), 10th (39.1%)

Three holes where the rough bears the highest cost to par:
10th (0.701), 1st (0.617), 12th (0.612)

Three easiest fairways to hit:
1st (81.4%), 5th (64.7%), 7th (61.5%)

Three most difficult fairways to hit:
9th (22.4%), 2nd (48.7%), 18th (50.3%)

Three easiest holes to par:
17th, 7th, 1st

Three most difficult holes to par:
5th, 10th, 9th

Matt Cooper