This week’s RSM Classic is the last full-field PGA Tour event of 2022, but technically, the 2021-22 PGA Tour season ended after Rory McIlroy won the Tour Championship back in August. Summer feels like a long time ago for people who are already feeling winter’s early bite, but we can still look back and admire the great seasons that players like Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris enjoyed.
Aside from earning a lot of money and currently being ranked in the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Scheffler, Thomas and Zalatoris have something in common, they finished the 2021-22 PGA Tour season ranked in the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green.
Strokes Gained: Approach the Green is the best statistic out there for measuring the quality of a player’s iron game because it reveals how much of an advantage a golfer has over the field on shots more than 30 yards away from the green (which are not hit off the tee). Scheffler, Thomas and Zalatoris were marksmen last year, setting up lots of birdie chances and avoiding greenside hazards.
Below is a list of the golfers who finished the year ranked in the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, along with the irons they played.
T-9. Mito Pereira, 0.679
IRONS: Ping iBlade (4-9), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Onyx X100 shafts
T-9. Shane Lowry, 0.679
IRONS: Srixon ZX Utility (3), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 X, Srixon ZX5 (4-5), Srixon ZX7 (6-PW), with KBS Tour 130 X shafts
Shane Lowry's irons - $9998. Justin Thomas, 0.696
IRONS: Titleist T100 (4), 621.JT prototype (5-9), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
Justin Thomas' irons - $1,2997. Xander Schauffele, 0.701
IRONS: Mizuno MP-20 HMB (3), Callaway Apex TCB (4-PW), with Nippon Modus Tour 130X shafts
Xander Schauffele's irons - $1,4006. Hideki Matsuyama, 0.711
IRONS: Srixon Z-Forged (4-9), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts
Hideki Matsuyama's irons - $999.995. Cameron Smith, 0.771
IRONS: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi (3-4), Titleist T100 (5-9), with KBS Tour 130 Custom Matte Black X shafts
Cam Smith's irons - $1,2994. Scottie Scheffler, 0.819
IRONS: Srixon ZU85 (3-4), with Nippon Pro Modus3 Hybrid Tour X shaft, TaylorMade P-7TW (5-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts.
Scottie Scheffler's irons - $1,999.993. Collin Morikawa, 0.854
IRONS: TaylorMade P-770 (4), P-7MC (5-7), P-730 (8-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts.
Collin Morikawa's irons - $1,399.992. Russell Henley, 0.969
IRONS: Titleist T100 (4-6), with True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT Tour X100 shafts, (7-9) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
Russell Henley's irons - $1,2991. Will Zalatoris, 1.063
IRONS: Titleist T200 (3), with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 130X shaft; T100 (4-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts
Will Zalatoris' irons - $1,299
