Six years ago, at the conclusion of the PGA Tour’s 2015-2016 season, Jason Day finished No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Putting and achieved something that no other golfer, before or since, had accomplished. The Australian, who used a TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter that year, ended a PGA Tour season with a Strokes Gained: Putting average of 1.13, making him the first player to end a season with an average over 1.0.
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG:P) is the best statistic to use to compare golfers and see who is a better putter, measuring that advantage in strokes. For example, if a player has a SG:P average of 0.4 and another golfer has an average of 0.1, that 0.3-shot edge over 72 holes of a tournament translates to a 1.2-shot swing and on the PGA Tour, averaging one shot better than translates to a lot of money.
So back in 2016, over 54 measured rounds of golf that season, Day gained more than a full shot advantage over the average player (who would average 0.0), every 18 holes, based exclusively on his putting. That’s 4.52 shots over 72 holes.
No one scared Day’s record-setting performance last year, but with the PGA Tour’s wrap-around 2021-22 season now concluded, we can look back and see which golfers finished in the top 10 in SG:P and what putters they used.
10. Sam Burns, 0.553
PUTTER: Odyssey O-Works Black 7S
9. Kevin Kisner, 0.561
PUTTER: Odyssey Stroke Lab 2-Ball 11
Kevin Kisner's putter - $299.998. Cameron Smith, 0.563
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron 009M Tour prototype
7. Kelly Kraft, 0.572
PUTTER: Odyssey Versa 2-Ball Red
6. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 0.653
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot OG #7
Chrisitaan Bezuidenhout's putter - $229.995. Beau Hossler, 0.717
4. Tyrrell Hatton, 0.742
PUTTER: Ping Vault Oslo
Tyrell Hatton's putter - $279.993. Brendon Todd, 0.781
PUTTER: Sik Pro C-Series
Brendon Todd's putter - $399.992. Denny McCarthy, 0.818
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist GoLo #7 prototype
1. Lucas Herbert, 0.853
PUTTER: TaylorMade Spider X Chalk
