An article published today in the New York Times by Mark Sweeney talks about Tiger Woods’s “success starts with finishing touch”. It explains how although Tiger ranks among the average in statistics like Driving Distance, he wins by ranking first in ratings like Greens in Regulation, putting and approach proximity.

So often golfers get caught up in hitting it further; the barrage of advertisements for the latest drivers year after year are proof. Yet, if golfers spent more time with their wedges and putters, and less with the driver, they would achieve lower scores.

Sweeney actually developed a statistical model to predict scores based on performance factors. His results found that greens in regulation and putting combined to account for 55% of the predictive power of scoring, and when you add scrambling in, it goes up to 78%.

But what is most interesting about this? Using the same statistical model, Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy only added 1% each among tour players. Bubba Watson’s leading average 314 yard driving distance is statistically irrelevant to a player like Tiger Woods who ranks first in a performance factor such as Greens in Regulation.

As Sweeney points out in his article, “as much as golfers love to hit more fairways, Woods has proved that it is a relatively insignificant part of his game — and everyone else’s on the tour.”

I certainly know what I’ll be practicing this season. Goodbye driving range, hello chipping/putting green.