average club head speed champions tour

Golf Swing Speed Chart: Averages By Age, Skill, and More

Swing speed charts can tell you the average speeds by age, skill, gender, and more. You can also compare how club head speeds compare to distance.

As a PGA-certified golf coach, I know I am not alone in being a numbers and statistics geek. Many of my students are hungry to compare their numbers with their favorite pro golfers using charts, graphs, and other visual representations.

Many swing speed charts exist today. Some break down clubhead and ball speed by a golfer’s handicap, gender, age, years playing, and many other areas. What many may find surprising by some of the data is that most golfers do not swing as fast as they think nor hit the ball as far as they claim to.

My goal in this article is to share all of the latest information and statistics regarding swing speed in golf. I’ll also share other related information, such as the distance at which golfers hit the ball. Other information relevant to this topic will be shared as well.

Here is a breakdown of what you can find if you read on:

Average Swing Speed By Age and Gender
Average Swing Speed By Handicap
Average PGA TOUR Club Head Speeds and Distances
PGA TOUR Average Club Head Speeds and Carry Distance Per Club
Average LPGA TOUR Club Head Speeds and Distances
LPGA TOUR Average Club Head Speeds and Carry Distance Per Club
The Fastest Swingers In Golf

Tips To Improve Your Swing Speed

So get ready, and make sure to buckle up. Things are going to get fast!

Average Swing Speed Chart By Age and Gender

Average swing speed chart by handicap, pga tour fastest 10 driver swing speed averages.

PGA TOUR Slowest 10 Driver Swing Speed Averages

Fast Swing Speed Does Not Always Equal Longer Drives

Swing speed and driving distance matters, but you can win without them, pga tour average clubhead speed and carry distance per club, lpga tour fastest 10 driver distance averages, lpga tour average clubhead speed and carry distance per club, the fastest swing speeds in golf, traditional tips for getting faster swing speeds, non-traditional tips for getting faster swing speeds, what is the mach 3 speed training system, final thoughts.

golf swing speed chart by age gender skill

*Estimates due to a lack of participants in this age and gender group

** The data in the chart was compiled from a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) study conducted in 2019.

Club head swing speed contributes to the distance a golfer can hit a golf ball. Countless factors contribute to how fast a golfer can swing, such as age, flexibility, strength, gender, and the efficiency of their swing mechanics.

The first factor I wanted to chart concerning swing speed is age and gender. The following chart represents the average swing speeds with a driver for several different age groups and by male and female golfers within them.

Age significantly affects how much clubhead speed a golfer can produce on average. Here is the main observation about swing speed versus age and gender:

As you age, swing speed generally gets slower

However, as you can see from the chart, age does not necessarily have to slow you down completely. Some golfers in the 50 – 59 and 60+ age groups can still swing significantly fast. It all depends on how flexible someone can stay as they age.

Check this out: What Are the Golf Club Distances for Each Club? (Charts for All Skill Levels)

*Data from PGATour.com as of 7/9/23

**Data from PGATour.com as of 7/9/23

Average swing speeds by handicap data from TrackMan

Let’s look at average swing speeds by handicap level for male golfers.

A golfer’s playing ability and how efficiently they swings the club also directly impact how fast their swing speed is. When golfers understand how the swing is supposed to work and can execute those fundamentals correctly, the result is a much more efficient swing. That efficient swing will lead to an increase in swing speed.

Read on: What Driver Loft Should You Use? (Full Chart Based On Swing Speed)

Average PGA TOUR Club Head Speeds

PGA TOUR professionals are among the best golfers in the world, so many golfers look to them as guides to playing the game correctly.

Note: Even though these speeds happened on a specific date in 2024, they’re still applicable today since swing speeds don’t rise significantly over time.

*Compiled through Rocket Mortgage Classic, 7/2/23

Tour Pro Golfer Average Swing Speed – 115.24
Tour Pro Golfer Average Driving Distance – 299.40

PGA TOUR Slowest 10 Driver Swing Speed Averages

*All data from PGATour.com

**Compiled through Rocket Mortgage Classic, 7/2/23

As you may have noticed, some of the PGA TOUR pros in the top 20 in swing speed with the driver are outside the top 20 in average driver distance. This is because of a stat called Smash Factor, which measures the efficiency of a swing.

Smash Factor is calculated by dividing the ball speed by the clubhead speed. Additionally, where the ball comes in contact with the clubface matters quite a bit as well.

Here are some examples of players with fast swing speeds who are outside the top 20 in driving distance.

Of those short knockers in the bottom 10 on the PGA TOUR this season in swing speed, and many of whom are very near the bottom in driving distance, all but two have a PGA TOUR victory on their resume.

*Data compiled from TrackMan’s 2017 PGA TOUR Data Points

I use data from TrackMan all the time with my students as a reference for what peak performance stats look like.

Above, I have pulled out the club head speed and carry distances for each club, on average, on the PGA TOUR.

TrackMan notes that these AVERAGE stats from 2017 have mostly stayed the same over the last six years. The top players on the PGA TOUR have gotten faster and carry the ball longer, but, on average, the chart above still holds close to today’s average.

Average LPGA TOUR Club Head Speeds

The LPGA does not keep data on swing speed. However, the average swing speed with the driver hovers around 95 mph, per TrackMan. As we noticed in the statistics above for the PGA TOUR, there is somewhat of a correlation between swing speed and driver distance, but not necessarily always.

The current top drivers on the LPGA Tour shake out as follows:

Driving Distance Averages from LPGATour.com

Swing Speed Estimates Via TrackMan

Data compiled through 7/9/23

As noted previously, TrackMan is a go-to source for swing and club data for many coaches and players. I use data from TrackMan with my students all the time. For my female students, as well as slower-swinging male students, one of my go-to charts is TrackMan’s 2017 LPGA TOUR Data Points .

Compiled data from TrackMan

As noted previously, TrackMan notes that these AVERAGE stats from 2017 have mostly stayed the same over the last six years. The top players on the LPGA TOUR have gotten faster and carry the ball longer, but, on average, the chart above still holds close to today’s average.

In 2012, Ryan Winther set the world record for swing speed at 167 mph, and that swing produced a ball speed of 225 mph.

Recent long-drive phenom, Kyle Berkshire, has come close to Winther’s record, recording a swing speed of 160. Berkshire does however have the highest ball speed ever recorded at 236.8 mph… Say What?!?

More from Golf Span: The 10 Best Drivers for Slow Swing Speed

Swing speed and distance have become one of the most talked about topics in the game over recent years. It seems that everyone in golf has a need for speed! There is no denying that swing speed is a hot topic in golf.

Golfers are always looking for tips and tricks to improve their swing speed. I will break down my tips for you in two different ways. The first is the more traditional ways we, as instructors and coaches, point students toward when working on improving their swing speed.

The second will come from my friend, Michael Romatowski, founder and creator of the revolutionary Mach 3 Golf Speed Training System. Mike’s system is really helping 1,000’s of golfers get faster with their swing.

Some of the more traditional tips for golfers to help them increase their swing speed include the following:

Train Your Body to Get Faster- If you can increase your flexibility and mobility, reaching faster swing speeds will be more realistic. How a golfer moves their body, in terms of how much they can rotate their hips and upper torso, will play a big part in their production of swing speed. Getting yourself into the habit of stretching your body regularly will help your ability to swing faster.
Equipment can make a difference- Having the right equipment for you can make a big difference in your ability to swing faster. Some of the critical things you need to consider in terms of equipment include:
The overall weight of the club- The lighter the club, the faster you can swing it. That is straight-up science, folks.
The type of shaft you use- The shaft matters in golf. From the length, to the flex, and where the kick-point is, all of these things equate to your ability to swing at your maximum speed.
The head of the club- Golf equipment technology has made massive gains over the last two decades. The clubheads on today’s drivers can offer maximum forgiveness and create a “trampoline effect” with the ball coming off the face. Test different drivers, and you may be surprised at what gains you can make by simply having the right club.

I have recently become a massive fan of a speed training program called the Mack 3 Golf Speed Training System . It was developed by Michael Romatowski. Mike is a multi-certified personal trainer, golf fitness expert, and post-rehab exercise specialist. I have spent a lot of time talking with Mike recently; he was a recent guest on my Quite Please Golf Podcast. You can listen to that episode here.

Mach 3 is a year-round speed training protocol that has produced an average gain in clubhead speed for program participants of 11.5 miles per hour. The tools used in Mach 3 are dynamic and unique, allowing golfers to experience the sensation of “Speed Out in Front,” which is the hallmark of Mach 3.

Some of the critical points of Mach 3 that I like include:

It’s Open To All – The Mach 3 program is for golfers of all ages, genders, and playing abilities.
It’s Fun & Safe – Workouts are fun, non-exhausting, safe, and athletic in nature.
It’s Accessible to All – Speed training workouts can be held indoors or outdoors.
It’s Optimized – Train for golf without “bulking up” and using natural golf body motions.

The overarching theme of Mach 3 is the “Speed out in front” concept. “Speed out in front” means that a golfer needs to become much more target-oriented when swinging. Anything after impact and up to the end of your swing is “out in front.”

Because the golf swing is such a fast movement, taking roughly only 1.25 seconds, it is essential to think in your mind to be a few steps ahead. Golfers often think of the ball and impact with the ball as the finish line when, in reality, it is only the mid-way point. If you focus on the ball as the ultimate goal, you will move slower into it at impact.

Mach 3 trains golfers to think of the finish line of the swing as being the top of your finish. You become hyper-focused on the target, the finish of the swing, and getting all of your energy, momentum, and speed “out in front” and past the point where the ball is at impact…well past it.

Mach 3 will help any and all golfers that give this concept a try. As mentioned earlier, program participants’ average gain in clubhead speed is around 11.5 miles per hour. That is significant!

If you’re a golfer seeking to improve your game, understanding the insights a golf swing speed chart can provide is invaluable. These charts break down swing speeds by various factors such as age, gender, and skill level, offering a wealth of data that helps golfers understand where they stand. My extensive experience as a golf coach has shown me that these statistics are crucial for those aiming to improve their performance. Surprisingly, many golfers discover they don’t swing as fast or hit as far as they initially thought.

The charts reveal that factors like age, gender, and skill level profoundly impact your swing speed and, subsequently, your driving distance. However, it’s important to note that age doesn’t necessarily have to slow you down. Many golfers in the 50 – 59 and 60+ age brackets can still generate impressive swing speeds, particularly if they maintain good flexibility and employ proper swing mechanics.

To boost your swing speed, you can rely on tried-and-true methods and cutting-edge techniques. On the traditional side, improving your body’s flexibility and selecting the right equipment can make a significant difference. For instance, lighter clubs and the right shaft type can notably increase your swing speed. On the innovative front, training systems like the Mach 3 Golf Speed Training System have helped thousands of golfers achieve faster swings by focusing on functional training tailored to golf performance.

To wrap up, a golf swing speed chart is an essential tool for anyone serious about upgrading their golf game. Combining this data with top tips for improving your swing speed can set you on the path to becoming a more formidable golfer. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to fine-tune your skills, a strategic approach backed by sound data can help you reach new heights in your golf career. Stay tuned for the latest updates and trends in golf statistics and training techniques.

More from me on Golf Span: How to Increase Swing Speed: 10 Tips

Brendon Elliott

Brendon is Class A PGA Professional and founded Little Linksters, LLC, and its nonprofit arm, the Little Linksters Association for Junior Golf Development. He won 25+ prestigious industry honors, including the 2017 PGA National Youth Player Development Award. He graduated from the PGA of America Management Program and has a handicap index of 7.8.

He has played golf for over 40 years and currently plays twice a month at the Eagle Dunes Golf Club near Sorrento, Florida. He loves Srixon clubs and plays a ZX5 driver with Z 585 irons. He's written over 60 articles on GolfSpan and specializes in sharing tips to improve your golf game. You can connect with Brendon at LinkedIn , X , IG , FB , his website , or [email protected] .

Best score : 69
Favorite driver : Srixon ZX5
Favorite ball : Srixon Z Star
Favorite food at the turn : Turkey and cheese on white
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Bombs Away: The Longest Drives in Golf History
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott 10 Longest Drives in PGA Tour History
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Are Refurbished Golf Balls Any Good?
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Masters Ticket Prices in 2024: What I Pay as a PGA Pro

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You won't believe how much farther PGA Tour Champions players are hitting the ball now than in their primes

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Dustin Johnson's prodigious playoff drive at last week's Northern Trust was the latest reminder that today's PGA Tour pros hit the ball a lot farther than their predecessors. The combination of better technology in golf clubs and golf balls, and a more fit golfer in Johnson, allowed him to take a line off the tee on the 18th hole at Glen Oaks Club that even the game's longest hitters 20 years ago couldn't have imagined.

It's not just today's players, however, who are hitting it farther. Yesterday's players—the guys playing the PGA Tour Champions—are hitting it farther than ever, too. And we don't just mean farther than previous generations of senior tour players, but farther than they ever hit it in their primes.

To find out how much farther, we went down the list of driving-distance leaders on the PGA Tour Champions this season and then looked up what some of those bigger-name players averaged off the tee during the PGA Tour season in which they turned 30. (We picked 30 because it's a nice, round number, but it also happens to be the average age of Johnson and Rory McIlroy, the PGA Tour's two longest hitters this year.) The results were eye-popping, even for the 60-year-olds on the 50-and-older circuit.

Let's start at the top with John Daly, who at 51, leads the PGA Tour Champions with an average of 299 yards off the tee. At age 30 in 1996 Daly only averaged 288.8 yards, which was part of eight consecutive seasons in which he led the PGA Tour in driving distance. To be fair, Daly had seasons with much higher figures, topped by a 314.3 average in 2003. Daly has always been freakishly long, so he's not the best guy to look at. Let's move on.

Kenny Perry ranks fourth on the PGA Tour Champions in 2017 at 295 yards per poke. In 1990, he had a driving-distance average of just 270.8 yards. That's not bad considering Tom Purtzer led the PGA Tour that season at 279.6 yards (for comparison, Rory McIlroy's 316.4 yards leads this season) but that equates to nearly a 9-percent increase in driving distance from the time Perry was 30 to his current average as a 57-year-old.

The increase is even bigger for Fred Couples, if we use his driving-distance average (a whopping 300.4 yards) from 2015, the last time he played enough rounds on the PGA Tour Champions to have official stats. In 1990, two years before Freddie won the Masters and ascended to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he averaged a measly 272.6 yards on his tee shots. Of the players we looked at, Couples' 10.2-percent increase led the way. (It should be noted that the Callaway Big Bertha was launched in 1991 , ushering in a new era where driver heads grew to the size of small microwaves, giving a boost to driving distance stats.)

What about the senior tour's dominant force, Bernhard Langer? At 60, the German checks in at 25th in distance at 280.4 yards. But that's up 7.72 percent from his 260.3 average in 1987, two years removed from the first of his two Masters titles. That's right, Langer is significantly longer now than he was 30 years ago . We know the guy is a physical marvel, but no matter how much time he spends in the gym, those numbers are crazy.

Anyway, these examples go on and on, so we decided to make a list ordered from biggest distance increase (by percentage) to smallest:

Earlier this year, the USGA asserted there's only a "slow creep" when it comes to distance increases across all tours in the past 13 years. But if this trend continues, it makes you wonder just how far someone like Dustin Johnson will be able to hit it when he's on the senior tour.

MORE STATS: Who are the best major championship performers of the past decade?

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Champions Tour players make equipment choices just like recreational golfers

Author: Max Marcovitch

This is the second edition of Morning Read s "Truck Stop," where we check in with a PGA Tour equipment truck for gear news from the ground that week on Tour. ( Part 1 is here. ) This week, the PGA Tour is in Bermuda and the gear truck is back on the mainland, so we focused this report on news from the Champions Tour.

There are 81 players in the field for this week’s Champions Tour event, the TimberTech Championship in Boca Raton, Fla. Fewer than 25 percent of those players are sponsored by an equipment company.

That dynamic – in contrast to the PGA Tour, where nearly everybody is contractually bound to their equipment – creates a weekly competition among brands to win the equipment battle on performance alone.

“You’re looking at that and saying, There’s 65, in essence, free agents, that have the opportunity to play whatever they want ,” said Jacob Davidson, Callaway’s PGA Tour representative. Davidson and Callaway take pride in their numbers on the Champions and LPGA tours.

Johnny Thompson, Callaway's Champions Tour representative, estimates that, on average, 50 percent of the Champions Tour plays Odyssey putters and 40 percent uses Callaway drivers . Those numbers closely mirror the numbers on the LPGA Tour, which features a similar “free agency” dynamic.

And players' selections can, in some ways, inform the average amateur about which equipment might best suit him or her. Swing speeds on the Champions Tour tend to range between 95-105 mph, similar to that of a 5-to-10-handicapper. Nobody on the Champions Tour averages 300 yards in driving distance (though John Daly threatens that threshold, at 298.7 yards). The occasional Phil Mickelson foray aside, Champions Tour players haven't adopted the bomb-and-gauge obsession that's in vogue on the PGA Tour. On balance, their equipment priorities likely resemble something close to yours.

“They’re playing a lot more product that’s closer to just off-the-shelf that consumers can buy,” Davidson said. “I think on the PGA Tour, you start getting into extra-stiff shafts and all of that, but some of our most successful product out here is product that your consumers can go buy at their local green-grass store or big-box retailer.

“Obviously, the irons are a little bit different on the Champions Tour. You see guys playing irons that have got a little bit more offset, maybe something that launches a little bit higher, a little bit stronger lofts. And the driver , as well. It’s very similar.”

Odyssey putters stand at the ready in the Callaway tour truck.

Callaway Golf

So, in that context, which items are popular?

The SubZero driver tends to appear on many tee boxes on the Champions Tour. On the greens, Odyssey putters feature an alignment aid that provides peace of mind, particularly for those with ample experience.

“I think [players] can see the difference in the roll,” Davidson said. “They can see the improvement in how quickly the ball gets up and starts rolling immediately. Maybe somebody that hasn’t played long enough or hasn’t maybe had the history with one specific brand for a long time, to kind of have that to balance against, I don’t know would affect it. It just seems like these guys would say immediately, That ball is rolling so much better .”

Amateur question of the week: Is my driver loft costing me distance?

Was this a question borne of my own on-course frustration? Perhaps. Some have access to machines that measure spin rates and launch angles in a controlled environment. Others just wonder why those drives aren’t carrying what we think they should.

Could your loft be the problem? And if so, how can you know your proper loft?

“I think we see that week in, week out, when guys change their golf swings or they switch equipment that’s not operating in that optimal zone, and we’re able to tune them back in, they’re typically able to find somewhere between 7 and 10 yards, sometimes just if they’re over-spinning their driver or not launching it at the proper height,” Davidson said. “For the average consumer, I think that you’re looking for somewhere between that 11-13 launch [angle] and spin numbers somewhere between 2200 and 2500, depending on how they deliver the club.”

Well, I suppose a trip to a simulator is in my near future.

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Club Head Speed: Reverse Engineered

The potential benefits of club head speed have become clearly illustrated with modern golf analytics. It is now also extremely easy to measure. Longer drives off the tee and shorter clubs from each approach distance are extremely desirable for all golfers. It seems all levels of player are searching for more. This has lead to a number of different approaches becoming popular, and opinions on what is “the best way” even more popular.

How Do I Increase Club Head Speed?

In this recent video I summarized my approach into a 4 part model:

4 Part Approach for Increasing Club Head Speed

How much of your overall focus is on swinging as fast as you can, compared to other things? This will be an important area of exploration for players of all ability levels as there will almost certainly be a trade off between intent to swing as fast as possible and quality of shot execution.

Why Intent? Part of increasing club head speed is strategy. There must be a conscious decision made to start swinging faster on the course. This is a mental challenge. Whilst there’s no doubt that modern equipment has hugely changed what happens a “mishit”, the vast majority of even tour level players do not swing as fast as they can on the course. I know this from tracking the club head speeds of the tour players I train on the range when trying to swing as fast as they can, versus their ShotLink Data from within PGA Tour events. I have also talked to many players I do not train, about this gap between range and course. I estimate most tour players average club head speed in tournament play leaves at least 5 mph in the tank, and some are closer to 10mph. Even though modern equipment is great, balls can go extremely far offline at speeds in the 115-125mph range. The coordination and skill to keep a ball in play at 100% maximum speed is still extremely challenging, even for the best players in the world. If it wasn’t they would swing 100% on all their drives, but they don’t.

For amateur golfers whom have a lower skill level, and fear mishits even more, I estimate from my experience that they probably have a 5-15mph gap between their on course club head speed, and how fast they can actually swing.

Wondering about the potential benefit of swing speed? The most efficient players on tour get approximately 2.5 yards for each mph of swing speed.

The real metric we are trying to change is of course ball speed, as that is very closely correlated with total distance. The three main things affecting ball speed are, club head speed, centeredness of strike, and launch conditions. To assess your centeredness of strike, start spraying the face of your driver with strike spray during practice. To assess your launch conditions, book a lesson with an instructor who has a launch monitor, and knows how to use it.

2) Biomechanics

Advancements in technology are not just limited to clubs and balls. The ability to measure and analyse things like 3D movement of the golfer and the club, ground reaction forces, and muscle activation with wearable EMG provides amazing insight into how speed is being created in the golf swing. When it comes to producing club head speed, it is essential to get physics on your side. In simple terms this means how you move your body and the club. Biomechanics and Physical Capabilities will be closely linked and can’t really be fully separated, as one will influence the other.

Why Biomechanics ? A golfer with a high level of Intent , and great Physical Capabilities will not be able to maximise their swing speed without using mechanics that are advantageous.

What are advantageous biomechanics for swing speed? This is a whole science in itself, and where I have been trying to spend a lot of my study time in the last 12 months. Sasho Mackenzie, Steve Furlonger, Lee Cox, and John Novosel are fantastic resources and have been very helpful.

Biomechanics principles to consider for swing speed:

Hand Path Length

Increasing the distance your hands travel in the backswing is very beneficial for increasing swing speed. The reason for this is that it gives us more time to apply force on the downswing. This is because of a scientific term called impulse.

Impulse = Force x Time.

To think about this from a very basic viewpoint, consider how much speed you can generate when your hands come back to the height of your trousers pocket. Now consider how much speed you can create when you bring your hands back to the height of the buttons on your shirt. Much faster. We can apply this same idea to swing speed for full swings. A longer hand path will likely be beneficial as it increases the time element of the impulse equation. Your mobility and technique will have a huge influence on your hand path length. From a mobility standpoint, the hips, thoracic spine, and lead shoulder are extremely important. The GolfFlex Mobility Routine in the Fit For Golf App was designed to target these important areas and how they move in the swing. From a technique standpoint, raising the left heel in the backswing and allowing the hips rotate more will make a huge difference in how far your hands can travel.

Jack Nicklaus rotates for faster club head speed

The length of Jack’s hand path played a big part in how far he could hit the ball. This wouldn’t be possible without the left heel lifting and allowing the hips to rotate in the backswing. Photo: Golf Digest

Hand Path Force

The average force applied to the grip in the downswing can have a huge impact on swing speed. Remember the impulse equation.

As explained above we can increase the time element of this equation with a longer hand path, and we can increase the average force applied with better technique and stronger muscles which allow you pull on the grip with more force.

Earlier in the article I wrote that there is always overlap between biomechanics and physical characteristics. This is a good example. The average force applied will come down to technique and physical strength. If you have great technique but low strength levels you won’t be applying a high average force. Conversely, if you are very strong, but have terrible technique, you won’t do a good job of applying your high force potential to the club in the right direction, or at the right time.

While reading some of this biomechanics stuff you might be thinking “how the heck am I supposed to think of this stuff while I swing”? That is a very fair point. The idea is not to swing with all of these thoughts cluttered in your head. Understanding the science behind what generates swing speed just allows you to confirm or question whether what you are working on with your technique and physical training is on the right track. That’s really what all this science is going to boil down in a practical sense anyway. Improve technique and improve physical capabilities. The underpinning science is essential for working on things that may help. All too often people put a lot of time and effort into things that can’t possibly yield big returns.

3) Physical Capabilities

The only thing in the human body that can produce force is muscle. The “signal” or message that is sent to the muscle to produce force is controlled by the Central Nervous System (CNS). As a result it goes without saying that methods of training which enhance the CNS’s and muscles ability to produce force and produce it quickly are absolutely critical in the quest for improving swing speed. As a “physical trainer” this is where the vast majority of my education and experience is.

Of course, the structure of our skeleton also needs to be included in this section (and will also affect biomechanics). Things like height, limb length, limb proportions, hand size, and a whole host of other things can have a very important role in our ability to produce club head speed. These are untrainable however, which is why the focus is on force development with the structure we have.

Why Physical Capabilities ? A golfer with a high level of Intent and excellent Biomechanics will be limited in how much club head speed they can create by their ability to produce force. LPGA Tour Players & Champions Tour Players don’t swing as fast as PGA Tour players (for the most part). Why is this? Is it technique? Is it intent? I think the answer is quite clearly physical capabilities. Pushing this further, what physical capabilities have the biggest impact? The answer is a mix between mobility and power. In general, LPGA Tour players will be more flexible than PGA Tour players, yet there is a 20mph difference between the average swing speed of the two tours. Why is this? Some of it will be due to the differences in height, but this is not coming close to making up the 20mph difference. Players from both tours are exceptionally skilled, and have great technique, so I don’t think that’s the main reason. How about muscle mass, muscle strength, and muscle power? This is where the big difference lies.

What about if we compare the Champions Tour to the LPGA Tour? There is a 10mph difference between the average club head speed, with the Champions Tour players being 10mph faster on average. I can assure you that the mobility on the LPGA Tour is better than the Champions Tour, so again, mobility isn’t the answer.

Mobility is very important, but only to a certain point, and only if you use it to enhance to mechanics of your swing. This will primarily mean by either increasing the length of your hand path, or improving your sequencing in the transition and downswing. If your mobility work does not do this, it probably won’t do anything for your swing speed. On the contrary, continual increases in muscular strength and power, especially in the correct muscles and movements, will keep transferring to increased hand path force to a much greater extent.

*The above info is by no means a knock on LPGA tour players. I am just trying to provide some real world examples that may be easy to understand for illustration purposes*

4) Equipment

Finding the right equipment for you can play an important role in your ability to produce swing speed (and ball speed). I am definitely not an expert in this, but factors like grip thickness, shaft length, shaft weight, shaft flex, the overall weight of the club, and how this weight is distributed can all play a role in how much swing speed you can create. I am sure there are more I am leaving out too. Contact an expert club fitter!!!

Why Equipment? If you gave a golfer with high levels of Intent , superb Biomechanics , and extremely impressive Physical Capabilities , but they have inappropriate equipment their swing speed and certainly ball speed will not be maximised.

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Improving the 4 Elements of Club Head Speed

Intent is something that you need to experiment with. The vast majority of people do not swing at 100% maximum effort when playing on the course. The reason for this is simple. Even though it might maximise club head speed, it can cause issues with control and coordination. This can lead to mistrikes which can end up with a slower ball speed and distance than a slower swing with better contact, and also huge, punishing misses.

An important point to consider however is that there is no guarantee that by trying to swing faster you will hit the ball less solidly or further offline. The attempt to “hold back” or “guide” the ball can also lead to issues. You will need to experiment. (Check out my podcast episode with John Novosel of TOUR TEMPO where he discusses this).

The ability to swing closer to 100% of your maximum speed while simultaneously improving strike and accuracy can be improved through deliberate practice. If you are used to swinging at 90% of your maximum speed, and start trying to swing at 100% speed, it is completely normal and to be expected that strike and accuracy may suffer at first. The key is that you don’t throw in the towel after 5 shots and say “what’s the point of swinging at this speed, I can’t control it”? These types of skills take lots of effort, repetition, and patience to significantly improve.

An often forgotten benefit of training at 100% maximum speed is that as your maximum speed goes up it makes your 90% and 95% speeds go up too. This is hugely beneficial for when you decide (if you do) to dial back down to “playing speed”. This is the called the “speed reserve”.

Consider “A” and “B” as one gofer, but over the course of a couple of months they have increased their maximum club head speed from 100mph to 105mph

At the end of the day swing speed governs your distance potential. It also declines with age if you do not work on it proactively. If you are over the age of 30 and not working on your speed, you’re gradually getting slower. Fortunately, speed can be increased at any age.

If you don’t strike the ball reasonably solidly, your lowest hanging fruit is improving your contact. If you do strike the ball solidly and you have good launch conditions, but your “optimised shots” don’t go as far as you’d like, you must increase swing speed. Most people can benefit from a mix of both launch conditions and speed!

Using a radar and radar and spraying the face of your driver gives you feedback for speed and strike. Two critical keys to distance. You can get radar and spray HERE . Use the code fitforgolf21 for 10% off.

Biomechanics improve through practice. Most players see automatic changes to biomechanics that aid swing speed as soon as they start training to swing faster. A good coach can really expedite this process however. Do your research and find a coach who specialises in helping players with increasing swing speed if this is something you really want to do.

Here are some simple ideas you can experiment with right away, and see how they impact your speed. (You need a radar for speed training)

– Increase takeaway and backswing speed – Increase length of hand path in the backswing. Allow your lead heel raise and your lower body rotate more to assist this. – Try to swing your arms faster on the downswing. – Explode off your lead foot in the downswing near impact.

Some of these pointers crossover with Intent but that’s always going to be the case. Try them out, and see what works for you.

PS – I am not a golf instructor – this not advice. Just info you can experiment with if you want to. I think it has good rationale

Check out “Speed Series” on the Fit For Golf App

Physical Capabilities desirable for the ability to create high swing speed are not complicated. We want enough mobility to make as long a backswing as we’d like and enable good sequencing, and we want as much muscle power as possible. As a result, our training should be largely made up of things that can improve these two things.

We should be:

-Striving to improve mobility in the hips, spine, and shoulders. -Working on increasing muscle size and strength with progressively overloaded strength training. Bigger muscles are stronger muscles and can produce more force. This is hugely under appreciated in the “golf fitness world”. -Doing some light weight explosive movements like jumping and medicine ball throwing & slamming. These help bridge the gap between strength training and swing speed training. They develop the ability to produce force at faster rates. They also allow us train movement patterns that are much more similar to the golf swing, which is great for learning how to apply high levels of force in full body rotational movements, similar to the golf swing. If you can combine bigger and stronger muscles and the ability to produce force at faster rates, you are on track to huge club head speed gains. -Practicing swinging golf clubs / speed training tools as fast as possible. This is how you make your strength and power gains “golf specific”. You learn how to tap into them when making a golf swing. There are also very beneficial specific muscular and nervous system adaptations that come from high speed training. It is very different to heavy strength training. We must train for them to achieve best results. You need to be measuring and tracking your swing speeds in these sessions.

Strength training examples: If you can progressively increase your 5 rep maximum in each of the movements below over the course of a couple of years, you will be in a fantastic position in terms of strength and power for golf. Your mobility will likely improve too. Start with a weight that you can easily perform 5 reps with. Gradually add weight until 5 reps becomes challenging. This will be your starting weight for each exercise. Try to add 5 lbs to the bar each time you workout. 3 sets of 5 reps is a good amount of sets and reps to use. If you don’t like barbells or free weights, you can choose similar machine exercises.

This is where the plug for the Fit For Golf App comes in. Your first month is just $6 with the code FFGTRIAL. You get access to ALL of my programs and speed training protocols. If you don’t like it or don’t want to keep going, just cancel. It’s a $6 investment. You will probably gain 5mph in the first month if you follow the program and speed training protocols.

Equipment – See a club fitter and get some lessons on a launch monitor. This article is not the place for that discussion, and I am not qualified to speak on it!.

Conclusion: I hope you enjoyed this article and you have learned some information you can apply to your overall golf development plan. If you have any questions you can send an email via the contact form, or leave a comment below. I’d love to help.

Regards, Mike Carroll

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Tee Precision

What is The Average Club Head Speed of A Pro Golfer?

Watching the pro’s play live or on TV, it seems like they are swinging the club at a ridiculous speed when compared to the average player down at your local course.

So how fast is the average clubhead speed of a pro golfer? We’ve looked at this and will also provide tips to help you increase your own clubhead speed!

Average club head speed on tour, fastest swing on tour, how fast should your swing be, swing big for speed, setup for success, fast swing, fast equipment, the takeaway…what is the average clubhead speed of a pro golfer, average club head speed for pro golfers.

In golf, clubhead speed is directly proportional to distance. With this in mind, it is not surprising that pro golfers – especially the big hitters – can swing the club at speeds much higher than amateurs.

The PGA Tour is where the best golfers in the world compete weekly to prove themselves as the top players in the world. Being at the top of any statistic list on the PGA Tour is impressive, especially when it is something as crucial as clubhead speed.

The PGA Tour has a statistics section online which is updated after every tournament. At the time of writing, Cameron Champ has the fastest average clubhead speed at 126.98mph, which is hard to comprehend when you consider the normal male amateur golfer swings with an average speed of 93.4mph.

Across the board, the average swing speed on the PGA Tour is 113mph with a driver compared to 94mph on the LPGA Tour.

While it’s not one of the leading tours, the World Long Drive Championship showcases the world’s longest hitters. While the average on the PGA Tour sits around 113mph, the average clubhead speed for a world long drive competitor is a colossal 150mph plus!

Coming from 2019 into the 2020 season, Bryson DeChambeau has gained some notoriety as the biggest hitter on the PGA Tour. His success is down to an intense offseason training plan which saw him gain 40 pounds since September – all of which seems to be muscle.

This new, bigger and improved Bryson is smashing driving records this season. He currently holds the fastest swing speed on tour with a recorded 137.14mph. Not only does he have one of the fastest swings on tour, but he also has the highest driving average with a massive 324 yards.

Despite him crushing the ball off the tee this season, DeChambeau doesn’t get close to the fastest swing on record. During the 2012 World Long Drive Championship, Ryan Winther set the world record with an incredible 167mph clubhead speed.

Not only this, but he also set the world record for ball speed with this swing at 227.6mph.

Increasing Your Club Head Speed

If you’re looking to increase your driving distance , increasing your clubhead speed is an essential step towards this.

Before you look at increasing your clubhead speed , you need to know where you’re starting and what you should be aiming for.

Trackman is a leading manufacturer of golf radar systems used to analyze every part of your shot. Trackman’s reputation and experience make them an ideal and reliable source of information when it comes to statistics for average golfers.

According to the USGA (United States Golf Association), the average male handicap is 14-15 in the US. For this handicap range, Trackman has stated the average clubhead speed is 93.4mph.

Trackman has also given a figure of 78mph as the average clubhead speed off the tee for female amateur golfers .

Now that we know what speed to aim for, it’s time to work towards achieving or surpassing these speeds!

Get in the Gym

The first place to start increasing your swing speed is training to improve your physical strength. Weight training is only beneficial to your game if you train the correct muscle groups.

View this post on Instagram The hard work never stops. Wearing my new limited edition Gold Nike Lunar Caldra training shoes @Niketraining #TodayIGetStronger A post shared by RORY (@rorymcilroy) on Jan 19, 2016 at 8:52am PST

While many assume that the main requirements for a quick swing and long drive are big chest and biceps, you need to focus on your core, hips, and forearms instead to support your faster swing.

There are many benefits provided by strength training for golfers. Here are a few exercises which can help improve your swing speed:

Russian Twists
Side Planks (Also helps with hips!)
Squats (In Any Form)
Romanian Deadlifts
Pullups/Deadhangs
Spring Grip Trainers

Strength is no good without the flexibility which you will need to swing effectively. There are many ways to promote flexibility.

For example, always remember to stretch before and after every workout and before every round of golf or practice session. Taking up yoga can make a massive difference to your flexibility while also promoting additional strength in areas that, during regular weight training routines, are typically overlooked.

Tiger Woods has sworn by Pilates for years; this is another regular exercise that can help your game.

Looking at your swing itself, there are a couple of tweaks that can be made to help speed it up by making it bigger. Firstly, look at extending your lead arm on your backswing.

Extending your lead arm will increase the arc of your swing, increasing the clubhead speed due to the distance traveled by the head relative to your body.

As you begin your downswing, you need to extend your back arm to continue that big arcing swing as you make contact with the ball.

Stability is a big issue when you start to swing the club faster. Consider starting with your feet slightly further apart than usual to create a more stable base. If you are having issues with weight transfer from the point of contact to your follow-through, flare your front foot out towards the target.

Pointing your front toe towards the target rather than straight will allow you to swing through easier and complete your swing efficiently. Concentrate on keeping your posture upright and tight, as swinging faster will make it easier for things to come loose and cause havoc for your game.

Now that you have the fundamentals there to increase your swing speed, it’s time to hit the range or course to get the practice in! But remember, when practicing at the range, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

Here are four key tips for practicing at the driving range .

Weighted clubs can also be an excellent investment as a training aid for speed. Use them to practice your swing and train it for speed or to warm up before your round or range session.

Once you start to swing faster, you need to make sure you are using the correct equipment for your swing speed.

Your club reacts very differently once you start to swing faster. The main point of focus here is your shaft flex.

For slower swings under 80mph (based on a 6-iron), a regular flex will work fine. Over this and up to around 92mph, you should consider switching to a stiff shaft.

If you are swinging a 6-iron over 92mph, you should look at Extra-Stiff shafts.

The best thing to do here is to get a custom club fitting with your local pro shop or golf store. Personally, a custom club fitting slashed my handicap by 7 points over the first season with my new clubs!

I was using a set of clubs with regular flex shafts . My swing speed measured up around 92-95mph, so I was set up with a custom fit set of stiff shafted irons. The difference in not only distance but accuracy and control was fantastic!

After seeing the difference made by the stiff shafts on my irons, I promptly changed out my fairway woods and driver for stiff shafts too.

Since making the switch over five years ago, I have gotten down to and maintained a handicap 10 points under my previous plateau I was stuck at after being limited by incorrect clubs!

The professional golfers we see on television each week make their swings look effortless. They regularly hit average speeds of 113mph with some even reaching speeds over 135mph!

If you want to improve your clubhead speed, then there are a few areas where you can concentrate. For example, you could consider strength training to increase your core, hip, and forearm strength. When training or playing, remember to stretch to aid flexibility to help use your increased power.

Consider taking up yoga or pilates to increase your flexibility further. While there are several exercises to help improve your strength, look at investing in a weighted club to train your swing for extra power, and they also make a fantastic tool for warming up before your practice or round.

Concentrate on keeping your posture correct through your swing, not letting the faster movement throw you off balance or loosen off. Ensure you are extending your arms properly to make a bigger swing arc and widen your stance if you need a more stable base.

If you don’t know your swing speed and are curious, look for a range with radar systems set up or book a session with your local pro shop. It is a worthwhile investment to get the correct clubs for your swing, especially if you are serious about improving your game!

Having the right shaft on your clubs can make or break your rounds.

I hope that this has helped to understand the importance of clubhead speed and you can improve your own!

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Biomechanics

Club Head Speed By Age Group: What Percentile Are You In?

Wed Feb 27, 2019 by Chris Finn

Over the past four years at Par4Success, we have been working with and testing juniors, amateurs, professionals and senior golfers in the state of North Carolina and throughout the country. Our mission has been to collect information and data on all of these “average” golfers to better understand how to help the 99 percent of us that love and play the game of golf.

From all of this testing, over 600 data points at this time, we have been able to identify a number of top metrics in the physical realm that you should be striving for if you want to play at your highest level. While we have identified over 10 critically important metrics for golfers, today we wanted to share the one that is most asked about...club head speed.

If you are in the golf industry, you have no doubt worked with a golfer who swings, looks at his/her speed and then turns to you to ask, “is that good?” If you are like us before we had this data, you likely pull from your memory bank of other golfers you have worked with to compare the person in front of you to them...not the most scientific or accurate approach.

This is one of the most important questions to answer as most of the data out there is on PGA and LPGA tour averages. To have 13 and 65 year olds comparing themselves to the 113 mph PGA Tour average or the 98 mph LPGA Tour average is silly (and, in some cases, potentially dangerous). It is like the average person comparing their wealth to Warren Buffet...let’s be serious and come up with a realistic and helpful comparison of where you are today and where you want to be in a few months and even decades from now.

On the LPGA and PGA Tours, it is very clear that length matters with most of the top money earnings belonging to the longer hitters. It is a reasonable assumption to make that the same would be true with amateurs, juniors and seniors around the world. The longer you hit it, the easier it should be for you to score better. You will have a shorter approach and hopefully avoid hitting a hybrid into every green.

Before we go any further, however, please do not mistake the previous statement to mean that you "have" to be a super long hitter to play on a professional Tour or to play at a high level. You can clearly make a living on Tour not swinging 120 mph and play at a very high amateur level not hitting it 300 yards. The stats clearly show, however, that length helps a ton when it comes to earning dollars on Tour. 1

When children are little, all parents reading this remember being told by the physician what percentile your child's height and weight were. While this is a fun metric, it doesn't tell you how tall they will be, how good of an athlete they will be or anything else predictive of their future. It does, however, give you an objective metric to be able to understand where your child stands at that moment compared to other children of the same sex and age.

With our data, we have done exactly that for club head speed. The percentiles that follow below are meant to help you in a few ways depending on where you are in your golfing life.

If you are a junior golfer, the hope is that this data allows you to see where you stand compared to others in your age range and the older golfers at the next level. For example, if you are 10-16 years old and want to see how fast the college kids you will be playing against will be swinging, take a look at the 17-30 age group. The hope is that this gives you a target of where you may want to get to in order to be most competitive with the other players you are competing against.

If you are a working amateur in your 30-50’s, hopefully this gives you a realistic expectation of what is actually good for your age and how much your peers are losing on average over the years when it comes to speed. Use this data as a barometer to identify losses in power that would be abnormal for your age.

If you are 50+, the hope with this data is that you gain a realistic understanding of where you are vs where you could be. In fact, a 90 mph club head speed when you are 65 years old is not that good and there is likely lots of room for improvement!

Utilizing this data, industry professionals should be able to tell golfers who have forced themselves to accept that they are just getting old, that in fact, they are wrong. There is ample opportunity to improve and get better well into your 60’s if you have an organized and sport science based plan.

The next logical question for everyone not in the 99th percentile, of course, is probably "how do I get more club head speed?" That answer lies in science and one of the four quadrants of speed. The four quadrants that a player can gain speed in are improving technical efficiency, improving equipment to match the player’s needs of speed with consideration for accuracy, improving mobility to allow full rotational capacity and improving power. Power is the simple sum of how much force a player can generate plus how fast they can produce that force. Simply put, Power = Strength + Speed.

Depending on where a player is in their golf lifecycle, the solutions to speed may vary in order of importance. For example, if we have two players, a senior with poor mobility and a junior with hypermobility and compare them, their increased club head speed solutions will be very different. For this example, let’s assume that equipment and technical efficiency are equal in both players. The senior player will see greater improvement in club head speed with mobility improvements. The junior player will likely see greater improvements in their club speed with a focus on improving strength and control of their mobility.

This isn’t to say that both players should ignore the other areas of the four quadrants, but rather, that the greater majority of their time should be spent addressing the low hanging fruit first. For example, the hypermobile junior will still work on mobility, but instead of trying to increase it, they would work on better control of their end ranges and throughout their entire range of motion. This might happen during active rest breaks between strength and power training. This will have the added benefit of injury prevention as well.

The senior player will not ignore strength and speed training, but likely use eccentric strength training periods throughout the year. This will help further their mobility gains while also working on strength. See my earlier mytpi article on the benefits of eccentric training here. The senior player will also work on speed and deceleration drills (sport specific, vertical, horizontal and torsional) to increase their speed. This will all be done, however, after a significant focus on soft tissue work, mobility drills and attention to golf specific rotary centers.

Knowing what percentile you are in for your age/sex can be the starting benchmark for you and help you set goals to shoot for. It is important you utilize a sports science based plan designed to maximize your return on the your time spent as demonstrated above. Seek out the guidance of a golf fitness/medical and teaching professional who can help you assess where you are and identify the quadrants of speed that you need to focus on most.

A note about the data. It is important to note that the age groups with the larger sample sizes can be extrapolated out much more than those with smaller ones. This is just the beginning of the database we are collecting and numbers will only grow and become more helpful. If you are a 30-50 year old female, please reach out so we can fill your age group’s numbers in as there is clearly a gap in our data for your age group.

Be on the lookout for the upcoming article on the top tests that we found related to identifying your low hanging fruit when it comes to producing club head speed based on your age. These tests have a very high correlation to club head speed and can shed light for you as to which quadrant you should be focusing on to improve your club head speed. If you’d like to see our full full free research report with all of the numbers from age 10-65+ You can download the full free report here.

At Par4Success, our speciality is helping golfers play better golf, swing faster and hurt less. The average golfer based on our research and in our programs, will see over 3 mph gain (~10 yards) in less than 12 weeks and many see much more; 50% more when they use the specific type of power and strength training most dialed in for their age and developmental level. Let us know if we can help you reach your goals!

Chris Finn is a Licensed Physical Therapist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Titleist Performance Institute Certified Medical Professional, Certified Precision Nutrition Coach, and trained to perform Trigger Point Dry Needling in North Carolina. Since starting Par4Success in 2012, Chris has and continues to work with Touring Professionals, elite level juniors & amateurs as well as weekend warriors. He has contributed to numerous media outlets including GolfWRX, is a published author, works with many of the nation’s leading coaches and instructors to improve their players and presents all over the country on topics such as Golf Performance, Junior Golf Athletic Development, Injury Prevention and Power/Speed improvement for golfers.

References:

https://golfweek.com/2018/04/22/golf-by-the-numbers-distance-off-tee-pays-dividends/

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Analytics 101

Here is the average swing speed for each skill level of golfer.

Swing speed, also referred to as clubhead speed, is a term you hear pretty often as golfer.

It refers to how fast the clubhead is travelling at impact with the golf ball..

Being able to record this data can help guide your golf swing training and measure your improvement. It can also be useful to see how you stack up against golfers of a similar ability. If you are lacking speed compared with similar handicappers, it might be a sign to focus on this area of your swing.

It will perhaps not surprise you to learn that lower handicap golfers tend to have a faster swing speed. After all, the quicker you can swing the golf club, the greater distance potential you have.

When discussing swing speed, it is worth keeping in mind that ball speed is an equally important statistic in distance . Want to hit longer drives? Find out your 'smash factor' first. This is ball speed divided by clubhead speed. You want this number to be as close to 1.5 as possible. As a guide, PGA Tour players average 1.49. Single figure handicap golfers should be aiming to average above 1.45.

That being said, a faster swing speed will give you a better opportunity for more distance. It is one of the major reasons why modern PGA Tour golfers spend so much time in the gym. Good technique is obviously vital, but strength and mobility play more of a role here than in any other area of your game.

The Bryson DeChambeau Effect

The body transformation of Bryson DeChambeau has been well documented over the last few years and he is an excellent example of how putting in the work off the golf course can impact your driving distance.

By bulking up in the gym and making adjustments to his golf swing, he transformed his driver clubhead speed from 118 mph to a staggering 132 mph in just a couple of years. Perhaps most impressive was his maximum speed of 138.39 mph during the 2021 season. For a PGA Tour golfer, not a specialist long driver, that is serious speed.

To highlight the importance of swing speed and driving distance, let's look at DeChambeau again. He led the PGA Tour in strokes gained off-the-tee in 2021 and had the fourth-best overall scoring average. This is despite having only the 178th best driving accuracy.

We are not suggesting you need to add on 30 pounds like DeChambeau. There are plenty of simple drills and exercises that can help give your swing speed a boost.

Swing Speed Benchmarks

It is worth noting that as a general rule of thumb, every additional 1mph of clubhead speed equates to roughly 2.5 yards more driver distance. That is assuming additional factors, such as strike and weather conditions, are equal.

The point remains though. If you can improve your clubhead speed by 10 mph, and hit the ball exactly the same, you could add 25 yards to your drives.

Here at Graff, we're developing the most accurate and affordable at-home golf simulator. Read more on our homepage.

Swing speed vs handicap.

The trend between swing speed and handicap is fairly self-explanatory. Hitting the golf ball farther allows you to hit shorter approach shots to the green. Less club into the green equals better accuracy. Ergo, lower scores.

Research conducted by Trackman a few years ago showed that the average driver swing speed for average male golfers was 93.4 mph. Approximately 45 percent of golfers tested averaged between 91-100 mph swing speeds. If you fall within this category, it is safe to say you are around average. The average male handicap is approximately 14, so if you fall within this speed bracket your handicap most likely ranges anywhere from 6 to 20.

Scratch golfers and top amateurs will be looking to get their driver swing speed over 105 mph.

Comparatively, the average clubhead speed on the PGA Tour for the 2021 season was 114.2 mph. The vast majority of PGA Tour golfers sit between 110-125mph.

On the LPGA Tour the average driver swing speed is approximately 94 mph. For the average female golfer there is less research available, but from experience it is typically around 65-70 mph.

Swing Speed vs Age

Low handicap equals quicker swing speed. High handicap equals slower swing speed. Overall, that is probably true the majority of the time. But, it is not always that simple.

There are always some noticeable outliers to this rule. These exceptions are typically down to age. Young or old.

Athletic golfers can posses lots of power but lack basic swing fundamentals and have minimal control. This could relate to any golfer aged between 16-50 that would be considered above average for physical fitness.

The opposite can be true for junior or senior golfers. Juniors might be extremely talented but not yet have a fully developed physique. Seniors can have years of experience and skill, yet diminishing strength as they age. This could be true for any golfers aged under 16 or over 50. The younger or older, respectively, either side of these brackets, the slower the swing speed is likely to be.

Final Thoughts

Having the ability to measure your swing speed and understanding the impact of it changing is important for golfers as they look to improve their overall game. Equally, it is important to note that swinging faster is not the only way to hit the golf ball farther.

Are you already around average for your skill level? If so, swinging over 10 mph faster might be a difficult challenge without large changes to your swing technique or physique. Instead, you want to combine improvements in speed with better strike efficiency.

Pierce Reiten

Pga tour stat leaders off the tee in 2023 so far.

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How much spin should each golf club produce, the optimal max height when hitting your driver, reserve today..

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Trackman Tour Avg. Numbers - Will We Have An Update?

By mkidding July 11, 2023 in Tour Talk

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4 minutes ago, mkidding said: I think probably most of us have seen this chart - however I just realized that this is from 2015 and was never updated since. Does anyone know if an updated version after 8 years would show up sometime soon? Or do we have any Trackman (or Foresight or other tour-level tracker) rep here that can kindly ask for a more up-to-date version of this? Very curious to see if the data has changed, not just the club speed of course, but also attack angle, launch, spin, etc. Also one question that I always have - why is tour avg. Driver attack angle is negative. I thought nowadays almost all instructors are teaching us to hit-up (resulting in a positive attack angle) on the driver.

Just cause something is being taught doesnt mean old dogs will learn it ;}

AoA, as all data in this, are averages. Some are up and some are down. The average person wants three things from a lesson. The first is more distance. Hitting up is the fastest way for them to get that with the same swing speed.

I want more distance, and I want it now!

It’s a lot of work to get data. Trackman was in growth stage then and did a lot to help people understand impact cause and effect. It was new information about it and put them on the map. Unless your get a return on all that time and effort, it’s hard to justify.

The problem is that chasing tour averages of anything in instruction isn’t realistic or helpful. No one is average.

i don’t need no stinkin’ shift key

I've contacted Klaus and Morten Eldrup-Jørgensen .

Hoping to get some answers by Friday.

@mkidding if you go to the PGA Tour stats page they now have a section called "Radar" which will give you all the raw data for the driver.

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Tour angle of attack with driver tend to be neutral/negative for control reasons vs. flat out maximizing distance.

Mortals need higher angle of attack to achieve higher launch to achieve higher apex to achieve optimal distance, because they don't have the same ball speed. When you have an abundance of speed, two things are true: (1) you don't actually need to launch it as high, i.e. you can get pretty close to optimal with 10 or 11* launch vs closer to 13 for someone with a slower swing speed and (2) the marginal gain from each increased yard of distance is not nearly as important at 300 vs 310 as it is at 250 vs 260. So the optimum is actually to gravitate towards parameters that hit it far enough with sufficient control vs. just maximizing distance outright. Nonetheless, all of those guys are certainly capable of teeing it high and letting it rip with a positive AOA when necessary. It just isn't necessary or valuable on all that many holes.

You will observe something similar when comparing LPGA tour launch conditions vs PGA tour launch conditions with driver. LPGA AOA average is closer to 3 or 3.5 IIRC, which is probably closer to optimal for most amateurs.

the other thing I'd keep in mind is that the economic incentive for instructors is for you to come back, i.e. feel like you are playing better rather than necessarily actually playing better. A lot of amateurs would be best off playing a ball flight that goes substantially shorter but gets the ball in play a higher percentage of the time. It's the same reason you see so much instruction out there on "how to hit a draw". You need to be really, really good for a draw to make sense as a desirable stock ball flight. But a lot of the golf market associates draw=good because slice=bad. My 12 handicap brother has been obsessed with hitting draws for the last 5 years even though I kick his a** by 15 shots every round hitting a fade. It boggles the mind.

From PGA Stats Radar:

Median 10.5°

The average hides the fact that PGA pro's launch at a surprisingly wide variance of launch conditions. Spin rates vary from 2200 to just over 3000rpm. Tour average ball speed is now 173mph, ranging from 156mph to 191mph. At first glance I don't think the driver numbers have changed that dramatically in the last 8 years. Slight bump in average ball speed. Thats all I see.

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52 minutes ago, MattC555 said: From PGA Stats Radar: Launch High 13.5° Median 10.5° Low 6.2° The average hides the fact that PGA pro's launch at a surprisingly wide variance of launch conditions. Spin rates vary from 2200 to just over 3000rpm. Tour average ball speed is now 173mph, ranging from 156mph to 191mph. At first glance I don't think the driver numbers have changed that dramatically in the last 8 years. Slight bump in average ball speed. Thats all I see.

oddly enough i bet every pro worth anything can adjust there launch angle based on conditions and how theyre playing so even a massive hitter like rahm can do low launches if he fills he needs more fairways and less distance.

1 hour ago, mbb86 said: The launch conditions that are optimal for a tour-caliber player in tournament conditions are much different than the optimal launch conditions for a regular (or even very good single digit) player hacking it around a muni or nice club. Tour angle of attack with driver tend to be neutral/negative for control reasons vs. flat out maximizing distance. Mortals need higher angle of attack to achieve higher launch to achieve higher apex to achieve optimal distance, because they don't have the same ball speed. When you have an abundance of speed, two things are true: (1) you don't actually need to launch it as high, i.e. you can get pretty close to optimal with 10 or 11* launch vs closer to 13 for someone with a slower swing speed and (2) the marginal gain from each increased yard of distance is not nearly as important at 300 vs 310 as it is at 250 vs 260. So the optimum is actually to gravitate towards parameters that hit it far enough with sufficient control vs. just maximizing distance outright. Nonetheless, all of those guys are certainly capable of teeing it high and letting it rip with a positive AOA when necessary. It just isn't necessary or valuable on all that many holes. You will observe something similar when comparing LPGA tour launch conditions vs PGA tour launch conditions with driver. LPGA AOA average is closer to 3 or 3.5 IIRC, which is probably closer to optimal for most amateurs. the other thing I'd keep in mind is that the economic incentive for instructors is for you to come back, i.e. feel like you are playing better rather than necessarily actually playing better. A lot of amateurs would be best off playing a ball flight that goes substantially shorter but gets the ball in play a higher percentage of the time. It's the same reason you see so much instruction out there on "how to hit a draw". You need to be really, really good for a draw to make sense as a desirable stock ball flight. But a lot of the golf market associates draw=good because slice=bad. My 12 handicap brother has been obsessed with hitting draws for the last 5 years even though I kick his a** by 15 shots every round hitting a fade. It boggles the mind.

slice != fade || draw != hook. saying people should hit a slice is equivalent to saying they should hit a hook

Seems like 180mph+ ball speeds are the norm these days.

174-179 dime a dozen. Those are amazing numbers imo.

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Regarding AoA, had always heard that since most of these guys are adequately long for the courses they are playing, they sacrifice a touch of distance in exchange for keeping the ball lower and a little more controllable. That saw may be incorrect at this point though.

Regarding differences between now and 2015, I would bet that spin rate has come down some with driver to more in the 2400-2200 range.

5 minutes ago, smashdn said: Regarding AoA, had always heard that since most of these guys are adequately long for the courses they are playing, they sacrifice a touch of distance in exchange for keeping the ball lower and a little more controllable. That saw may be incorrect at this point though. Regarding differences between now and 2015, I would bet that spin rate has come down some with driver to more in the 2400-2200 range.

Average spin rate this year is 2555.6rpm. Last year just short of 2600rpm. The driver numbers are very similar to what was reported in 2015. Slightly more ball speed, slightly less spin. Club head speed has increased 2mph from 113mph to 115mph.

https://www.pgatour.com/stats/detail/02405

7 hours ago, jvincent said: @mkidding if you go to the PGA Tour stats page they now have a section called "Radar" which will give you all the raw data for the driver.

Thanks for the tips. There's no attack angle data but here are some people's stat that I picked out for reference. It's hard to believe they carry a neg. attack angle IMO

Anyways, updated the original post on top.

I'm more interested in the iron data than driver. Pretty clear that the guys are absolutely launching the driver now and the the newer players are swinging faster and faster. It also appears that pros aren't as steep with their irons as they used to be. Divots look to be much smaller and shallower.

Guessing that 7i numbers are closer to:

98-100 mph swing speed

130-135 ball speed

-2 or -3 AoA

Carry distance 180-190

Assuming that pros are using 7 irons with 32-34 degrees of loft.

TLUBulldogGolf

2 hours ago, mgoblue83 said: I'm more interested in the iron data than driver. Pretty clear that the guys are absolutely launching the driver now and the the newer players are swinging faster and faster. It also appears that pros aren't as steep with their irons as they used to be. Divots look to be much smaller and shallower. Guessing that 7i numbers are closer to: 98-100 mph swing speed 130-135 ball speed -2 or -3 AoA Spin 6000 Carry distance 180-190 Assuming that pros are using 7 irons with 32-34 degrees of loft.

I would expect to see very similar numbers just with slightly higher club and ball speed. With the tour averaging 115 with the driver you can extrapolate it to around 92-93. Pros aren't looking to reduce spin with short and mid irons.

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30 minutes ago, TLUBulldogGolf said: I would expect to see very similar numbers just with slightly higher club and ball speed. With the tour averaging 115 with the driver you can extrapolate it to around 92-93. Pros aren't looking to reduce spin with short and mid irons.

This is why we need actual data. Who knows how accurate the broadcasts are but alI I saw on the US Open coverage was 7i ball speeds over 130mph and carrying 190~ yds.

My own numbers with a 36 degree blade 7i are 98~ swing speed, 129~ ball speed, 7200~ spin and 180~ carry and I'm almost positive most pros are using less loft (34 probably) and swinging at least as fast.

The other thing that would be nice to see is the median numbers instead of the averages. I know the tour is becoming younger and faster and while there definitely some old guys bringing down the average I'd almost guarantee that the IQR (25th-75th percentile) is significantly faster than the old Trackman averages.

Chunkitgood

On 7/11/2023 at 6:24 AM, Soloman1 said: AoA, as all data in this, are averages. Some are up and some are down. The average person wants three things from a lesson. The first is more distance. Hitting up is the fastest way for them to get that with the same swing speed. I want more distance, and I want it now! It’s a lot of work to get data. Trackman was in growth stage then and did a lot to help people understand impact cause and effect. It was new information about it and put them on the map. Unless your get a return on all that time and effort, it’s hard to justify. The problem is that chasing tour averages of anything in instruction isn’t realistic or helpful. No one is average.

No one may be average, and we can’t be sure without more info, but it is almost certain that a lot of people are in a pretty small space really close to it.

2 minutes ago, mgoblue83 said: This is why we need actual data. Who knows how accurate the broadcasts are but alI I saw on the US Open coverage was 7i ball speeds over 130mph and carrying 190~ yds. My own numbers with a 36 degree 7i are 98~ swing speed, 129~ ball speed and 180~ carry and I'm almost positive most pros are using less loft (34 probably) and swinging at least as fast. The other thing that would be nice to see is the median numbers instead of the averages. I know the tour is becoming younger and faster and while there definitely some old guys bringing down the average I'd almost guarantee that the IQR (25th-75th percentile) is significantly faster than the old Trackman averages.

All fair points but you are probably a touch faster than the average PGA player. It would be nice to have the data. I think you are probably correct on loft as 36 is quite weak nowadays. I would guess 33-34 range, which in your case would yield more ball speed immediately and you are at the 130+ number.

Here is Keegan with a 6 iron, though we don't have his swing speed or ball speed. He is very close to tour average club head speed:

https://golf.com/news/launch-monitor-numbers-keegan-bradley-trackman/

I tinkered with the trajectory optimizer and would guess he's 96-97 with 6 iron, which would put him 94-95 with 7. I think that's likely to be closer than my initial estimate, as the radar stats on the TOUR site include more than just driver afaik.

Here is JT at 99 with a 6 iron (though it's from 5 years ago), he's slightly above average ball speed:

https://blog.trackmangolf.com/justin-thomas-trackman-numbers/

27 minutes ago, TLUBulldogGolf said: All fair points but you are probably a touch faster than the average PGA player. It would be nice to have the data. I think you are probably correct on loft as 36 is quite weak nowadays. I would guess 33-34 range, which in your case would yield more ball speed immediately and you are at the 130+ number. Here is Keegan with a 6 iron, though we don't have his swing speed or ball speed. He is very close to tour average club head speed: https://golf.com/news/launch-monitor-numbers-keegan-bradley-trackman/ I tinkered with the trajectory optimizer and would guess he's 96-97 with 6 iron, which would put him 94-95 with 7. I think that's likely to be closer than my initial estimate, as the radar stats on the TOUR site include more than just driver afaik. Here is JT at 99 with a 6 iron (though it's from 5 years ago), he's slightly above average ball speed: https://blog.trackmangolf.com/justin-thomas-trackman-numbers/

Really interesting stuff but I would bet almost anything that JT is closer to the median PGA tour speed than Keegan is. Speaking of Keegan my mind is blown that he wants his 6i swing plane under 54 degrees. I don't even know how that's physically possible especially for a tall guy like Keegan. My driver swing plane is higher than that.... Also that swing looked like a chip shot. No way that's his game speed.

53 minutes ago, mgoblue83 said: Really interesting stuff but I would bet almost anything that JT is closer to the median PGA tour speed than Keegan is. Speaking of Keegan my mind is blown that he wants his 6i swing plane under 54 degrees. I don't even know how that's physically possible especially for a tall guy like Keegan. My driver swing plane is higher than that.... Also that swing looked like a chip shot. No way that's his game speed.

JT is 77 out 190 for driver CHS. Keegan is 102.

On 7/11/2023 at 8:24 AM, Ferguson said: I've contacted Klaus and Morten Eldrup-Jørgensen . Hoping to get some answers by Friday.

21 hours ago, Chunkitgood said: No one may be average, and we can’t be sure without more info, but it is almost certain that a lot of people are in a pretty small space really close to it.

That isn’t the case with range of motion. It’s a wide band.

Optimum AoA for any player depends on variables in equipment, physical attributes and swing (particularly swing plane).

Even for a data guy like me, sometimes numbers are a distraction. Impact geometry, spin and ball flight result is more productive because optimum AoA can be different for individuals.

Chasing one parameter is one of the best ways I know to turn a 1 handicap into an 8.

8 months later...

On 7/13/2023 at 12:15 PM, Ferguson said: Q1, 2024 Thanks.

As Q1 2024 is over, any news on the release of updated figures as per the indication mentioned in this thread?

3 hours ago, RaisyDaisy said: As Q1 2024 is over, any news on the release of updated figures as per the indication mentioned in this thread?

The bottleneck is Fredrik Tuxen, engineer. Tuxey, as they call him, should have some answers for us around the middle of June.

Mike Hall has a recent article. (How far PGA Tour Players carry their drives)

3 weeks later...

I'm also looking for current numbers, but there is an update from 2017 which is pretty much the same as 2015... https://blog.trackmangolf.com/2017-pga-lpga-tour-avg/

2 weeks later...

FYI they just posted an update

Still negative AOA for Driver which is surprising

https://www.trackman.com/blog/golf/introducing-updated-tour-averages

Average carry of 282 is just incredible. I’ve seen Jordan Spieth hit 180mph ball speeds so he has picked up around 10mph ball speed from not long ago. Different ball game these days.

On 7/11/2023 at 9:27 AM, mbb86 said: The launch conditions that are optimal for a tour-caliber player in tournament conditions are much different than the optimal launch conditions for a regular (or even very good single digit) player hacking it around a muni or nice club. Tour angle of attack with driver tend to be neutral/negative for control reasons vs. flat out maximizing distance. Mortals need higher angle of attack to achieve higher launch to achieve higher apex to achieve optimal distance, because they don't have the same ball speed. When you have an abundance of speed, two things are true: (1) you don't actually need to launch it as high, i.e. you can get pretty close to optimal with 10 or 11* launch vs closer to 13 for someone with a slower swing speed and (2) the marginal gain from each increased yard of distance is not nearly as important at 300 vs 310 as it is at 250 vs 260. So the optimum is actually to gravitate towards parameters that hit it far enough with sufficient control vs. just maximizing distance outright. Nonetheless, all of those guys are certainly capable of teeing it high and letting it rip with a positive AOA when necessary. It just isn't necessary or valuable on all that many holes. You will observe something similar when comparing LPGA tour launch conditions vs PGA tour launch conditions with driver. LPGA AOA average is closer to 3 or 3.5 IIRC, which is probably closer to optimal for most amateurs. the other thing I'd keep in mind is that the economic incentive for instructors is for you to come back, i.e. feel like you are playing better rather than necessarily actually playing better. A lot of amateurs would be best off playing a ball flight that goes substantially shorter but gets the ball in play a higher percentage of the time. mind.

"It's the same reason you see so much instruction out there on "how to hit a draw". You need to be really, really good for a draw to make sense as a desirable stock ball flight. But a lot of the golf market associates draw=good because slice=bad. My 12 handicap brother has been obsessed with hitting draws for the last 5 years even though I kick his a** by 15 shots every round hitting a fade. It boggles the"

Truer words have never been spoken. My game with a fade was fine until I took a lesson to learn how to hit a draw consistently. I lost my game and my motivation to play the game, that was five years ago. I still play, but nothing like when I was posting good scores. For the Amateurs and Professionals......an added 10 yards is the "Holy Grail"

Is there any question as to why most golfers disagree with a rollback?

As for me, I'll continue to search for the consistent fade that I should have appreciated in the first place. 🙂 🙂

Cactus Jack

1 hour ago, hogan2017 said: FYI they just posted an update Still negative AOA for Driver which is surprising https://www.trackman.com/blog/golf/introducing-updated-tour-averages

Crazy to me how those ladies and gentlemen hit each club on average, PW to driver, the same height, and how low they get their launch angles. They have some serious hands forward delofting compression.

Would be interesting in seeing who the most average player is.

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PERFORMANCE OF THE AVERAGE MALE AMATEUR GOLFER

How TrackMan Combine can improve your game

The average USGA handicap for male golfers has been between 14.0 and 15.0 since 2005. GHIN reported the average male handicap at 15.3 in 2003 and 14.3 in 2012.

Although there is a slow trend towards improvement, many in the golf industry wonder why progress has not been faster. To make such large scale improvements, we must first better understand the “patient” in order to diagnose the problems. As such, this article will focus on the performance of the average male amateur (AMA).

The AMA has a reported handicap of 14 or 15. There is no age or nationality restriction for the AMA. The TrackMan Combine data collected from over 10,000 golfers of all levels from around the world will be used to analyze his performance in hopes of better understanding where improvement(s) can be made.

Club Speed for Average Male Golfers

When looking at how the AMA performs, let’s start with the drive. The AMA has an average club speed of 93.4 mph and an average total distance of 214 yards.

The following graph shows the distribution of AMA Driver club speeds. As you can see, 45% have a club speed between 91 and 100 mph.

The AMA is far from efficient with his driver. He has an average attack angle of -1.6 degrees. The following table looks at the AMA versus what is optimal.

*Carry, Landing Angle, and Total were normalized under 0 alti- tude, 75°F, and 75% humidity for the AMA to create an apples to apples comparison

Did you know that the average amateur golfer is giving up 30 yards off the tee?

The AMA is capable of carrying the ball much further than his current total distance. He is giving up 30 yards of total distance off the tee, which makes his approach shots more difficult. Let’s consider the (average) approach shot distance that the AMA will have on an “average” par 4.

First we have to determine the average length of the par 4’s at your course from the different tees available.

The following is Torrey Pines South, where golfers line up each morning for a chance to play one of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses (Golf Digest). The calculated distances for the approach shot are based on actual driver data and optimized driver data for the AMA is also listed.

*Normalized data was used to calculate approach shot distances

Even when playing from the green tees at Torrey Pine South, the AMA is left with 165 yards for his approach shot. Hitting long irons or hybrids into all of the par 4’s does not set the AMA up for an enjoyable day on the golf course.

Golf critics talk about technology making golf courses obsolete because of distance, but what they fail to clarify is that this only pertains to 0.1% of the golfing population. In truth, the vast majority of golfers are playing from tees that are too long based on their club speed and skill level.

If golfers are to continue playing the same length tees, then optimizing their driver distance is going to be key to enhancing their performance.

The previous table looked at the approach distance the AMA will have based on hole length and average drive distance.

Achievable proximity

Let’s go one step further and use the TrackMan Combine data to see what kind of proximity to hole the AMA will be able to achieve at the various approach distances.

The next table uses the approach distances from the previous and calculates the proximity to hole.

Because of the trends and correlations found in the TrackMan Combine data, it is possible to calculate the proximity to hole for nearly any handicap or approach distance with high confidence.

The average green size at Torrey Pines South is 6,000 square feet. That means the distance from the center of the green to the edge averages just under 44 feet.

This data further confirms the need for most golfers to aim towards the center of the green on all approach shots. Or when hazards are present, it may be even wiser to aim for the opposite edge of the green.

Once AMA understands the likely outcomes for various shots, then he can most effectively implement course strategy for the benefit of improving his golf performance.

Knowing what club to hit based on distance and the safest place to aim based on dispersion tendencies will undoubtedly benefit the golfer.

The following graph shows a plot of the AMA’s shots from 160 yards. Notice how few balls landed past the target.

By adding 10 yards to every shot hit by the AMA from 160 yards, the percentage of shots that would hit the green increases from 38.5% to 44.0% and the average distance from the target decreases from 71.8 feet to 60.6 feet.

This demonstrates that without changing technique and only changing strategy, the AMA can improve their performance. Before it is assumed that the AMA should simply “club up”, actual distances with each club should be determined.

Do you know your carry distance?

Does the AMA truly know how far each of their clubs carries? The strategy implemented to create 10 additional yards of carry could be from lack of knowledge regarding how far each club goes.

Course length, driver optimization, and course strategy are three key components to improving the performance of the AMA. Of course, playing shorter courses seems very obvious if you want to improve performance.

However, it is more the fact that golfers are playing courses that are too long relative to club speed and skill level. The following chart shows average handicap versus average club speed.

There is a very obvious relationship between these two variables. As club speed increases, those golfers tend to have lower handicaps. It is not to suggest that a golfer should simply play a shorter course to shoot better scores, but that a golfer should play a course length that is appropriate.

Optimizing a golfer’s distance with the driver (using their existing club speed) is an alternative way to effectively shortening a golf course.

With the AMA averaging 30 yards less than his potential, there is a lot of room for improvement. As he becomes more efficient, the AMA has shorter approach shots which lead to closer proximity to the hole. One suggestion could be to setup course length based on club speed and optimal driver efficiency.

For example, based on the average club speed of the AMA (93.4 mph) he should be able to hit his driver 255 yards (assuming certain ground conditions).

If a 50% greens in regulation (GIR) stat was desired for the AMA, then the approach shot would need to be approximately 140 yards. That means the par 4’s would average 395 yards. Going back to Torrey Pines South, that is somewhere between the Green and White tees. This course setup for the AMA is assuming a perfectly optimal drive by the golfer so in theory 395 yards would be a maximum length for the AMA based on 50% GIR.

Score better without changing your swing

Finally, course strategy is an improvement that can be made without having to change anything relating to the swing, technique, or other physical items.

By understanding simple averages and probabilities, a golfer can choose the best club and target for each shot. And this is where taking the TrackMan Combine and going through a “Find Your Distance” session is so valuable.

Yes, the TrackMan Combine data is extremely valuable for identifying weaknesses that can be improved, but it is just as (arguably more) important for identify strengths that the golfer can “play to” without having to spend any additional time practicing.

This instant gratification can be achieved through the 30-45 minute TrackMan Combine process! And for those golfers looking to make more substantial improvements to their game, the TrackMan Combine provides a roadmap for the improvement journey and accurate, immediate feedback at all checkpoints / stops along the way.

As golf instruction and coaching continue to move more towards “verifiable data” (what the instructor/coach knows) and further away from “guess and check” (what the instructor/coach thinks), we expect to see more improvement in the golf community. Acting upon real data, not opinion, takes a giant step in that direction.

You can use our TrackMan Locator to find your local TrackMan certified and ask for a combine test.

Feel free to share your thoughts and experience in the comment section below.

62 comments

Great read with invaluable data and information. The facts are in front of us at instructors, now we must help convey your points to the masses. RJ

What was the actual value of swing speed group 115 mph+, since it shows 0%

Only 0.4% of the average male amateur population is above a club speed of 115 mph. The average for those golfers was 117 mph.

How can that be true. Almost every post I read on the internet the guys say they are swinging 125 mph. :-)

4 out of 1000 swings avg 117 mph? May I ask how many of them have 120 mph swing.

They must get “club speed” confused with “ball speed”

Cough Some people may exaggerate slightly 😉

Hi My ball speed is with driver 195 km/h AND 160 km/h with a 6 iron Schaft = régular or ???? Can i play a pro v1, or a harder ball I wont more distance KIND regards Rene Claeys René

Dear Claeys, We highly recommend you to visit a TrackMan coach or fitter close to you, as there are many individual aspects to your question.

Please have a look at the TrackMan locator at this link; https://mytrackman.com/public/locator

Kind regards Niklas Bergdahl Support Manager

I am writing a dissertation at university and was wondering how you got all your data. Especially the average driving distance data. If it was published in a journal as well, please could you direct me to where I could find it. The title would be just as useful as well.

Thank you George

The data has been collected through the TrackMan Combine from over 10,000 golfers of all levels from around the world.

Now that you guys have more and more data from the combine tests are you going to adjust the hcap chart. In my opinion if your long game level is around hcap 0 you should score 76-80 . Hcap 5 will be around 68

kind regards

The data results given in this article are completely skewed. The AMA isn’t going to be achieving this max theoretical 255 yard drive very often. The professionals are going to hit the ball on the screws significantly more often than the AMA. Also, the dispersion for misses will be much wider for the AMA than the professional. The handicap system is equally misleading as the vast amount of amateur golfers don’t have a handicap, and if they did, they would be 36.4. I do agree the AMA should be playing much shorter courses than most presently do. While the length of the course is an important factor in scoring, more so is the challenging greens and required approach shots. The false fronts, forced carries, and deep protecting bunkers are too difficult for the AMA to deal with. It’s unrealistic for most amateurs to break 100 on courses that share the aforementioned conditions, which is what a lot of the courses of today present. The respective games the AMA and professional golfers play today are two entirely separate entities and should be treated as such.

Try a par 3 course (18 holes) of any length and compare your results to your handicap. Oddly, I bet you find that you do NOT score significantly better than your handicap even though the distances are short. I’ve tried this with many people and they shoot about their handicap. Granted, their handicaps are high, but it gives a lot of support to what Mr. Pelz has been telling us all these years.

I play off 8 at a championship course 7200 yards in the UK. I also play at a local par 3 course which holds the junior par 3 championship and I have shot 7 under around the par 3 course. I have shot level round the chammpionship course on occasion also though,

I agree with you 100%. I almost just quit playing golf because when I started 4 years ago I was playing golf with two people most of the time that were in the 1% of AMA’s . They were consistently breaking 80 if not the mid 70s and almost every time hit their drives relatively straight and 275 to over 300 yards without a problem and doing it from the blue or blacks . On top of that it drew me feeling like unless I can hit it 250 every time and at least shoot in the low 90s from the Blue I might as well just give golf up. Honestly many guys in this small % sort of make every other golfer feel like that . It was not until I got together with almost every other golfer played and realized most like as in 90% were just like me which was a work in progress. I spent a year playing by myself getting lessons finding a swing and just focused on having fun. I play from the white’s if it is more of a difficult or bigger course. IF a smaller easier course with less hazards I will play from blue but I am having a ton of fun and scoring between 90 and 97 consistently every time with an average drive of around 220 yards. Sometimes I will hit a 270 once or twice a round maybe and then two or three more at 240, but I will mix in a few bad ones at 190 with a hook or a slice and the rest will be at least 215 to 220. My average driver distance over 2 full rounds it 223 yards and that includes the one or two bad shots off the box that only goes 100 plus yards just above the red T’s . Everyone has one. It is fun and I find that I usually am scoring better than I would say 90% of the guys I play with now, hitting on average longer than 90% and I realize that that is because shooting in the 90s means in golf you are better than most so above average which unless you played since a teenager and have no other life and want to play 4 to 5 days a week or more that is all you can ask for. Too many people walking around either who hit one drive at 300 a round and the rest slice 100 yards that only go 200 straight trying to tell people how great they are at golf when in reality they take like 6 mulligans a round or guys that are actually really good think that they are the norm when in reality they are a small minority and golf would not even exist if it were not for guys like me .

hard to say for sure who was at fault in the beginning – i am 7 handicap – play with a friend who is 26-28 – i play blue he plays white – even when an extra player joins me on the blue he still plays white. we never play for money. i suggested he play white from the start and he is happy. why you did not work that out or your ‘friends’ did not suggest it I don’t know. FYI I hit my drive 240-250 he often hits is way past me from the whites. pleased to hear you are enjoying it now though.

My handicap is 24, but my driving (swing) works well. 200 to 225 yards. What is the speed?

I would recommend that you go visit a TrackMan certified coach, he/she will be able to help you with your club speed.

To find a TrackMan Certified coach, please see our locator: trackmangolf.com/locator

I recently had my swing “analyzed” and would like to share the results so that maybe someone could explain this in simpler terms. I’m a baseball coach who plays golf when I can. I have a terrible slice that knocks A LOT of yards off of my drive.

My average distance was 235-245. My longest drive was 270. On the longest drive, the projected distance(without the slice) was 332 yards. On average, all of the projected distances were 50-70 yards further without the slice.

Average club speed was 105-112, average ball speed was 139-152, and average rpm was between 4400-5100. Launch angle was between 17-22.

Can anyone give me any insight of what all these numbers mean?

Did your coach share the TrackMan report with you on mytrackman.com ? It will make it a lot easier to give a qualified answer if we have all the numbers :-)

Your ball speed is a little low which could indicate an off-center strike. Spin Rate is on the high side, which also could indicate an off-center strike, and probably a negative attack angle – both will shorten your distance. If you are a right handed player the slice and above numbers could be due to a heel strike.

Please have a look at this video about Smash Factor .

I shared the dispersion plot with our local club committee who are thinking of installing trackman after redeveloping several holes, and was asked questions along these lines: 1. What’s the proportion of shots wide of the mark by say 80 feet or more (or some width for which there is data) 2. Is the dispersion linear, eg at 176 yards is it the same proportion at 88 feet or more? 3. Can trackman info like the dispersion plot data be projected over a course layout?

who can answer that please

Hi Gerry. Thanks for the post. The questions you ask are great questions, but unfortunately that data is not readily available. Our TrackMan Combine database would contain the answer to those questions, but it would require significant work to pull that information out. The plan is to include this type of information within TrackMan University in the future, but that is likely many months away at this point. Sorry that I can not be of better help right now.

My problem is the amount of power i have and need to work on half wings. My taylermade aero burner average distance is 330 yards on a good day 364 yards. My 8 iron 190yards 5iron 252 yards Pw is 150yrds And loft 56 at 120yrds Loft 110 yrds How do i control the power to less distance? Or should i take control on the distance i have?

I suppose you have the biggest and fastest car as well ?

Bilan, I think you should rub one out before you get to first tee box. It should make you a little

Very interesting but sort of depressing article. I’m a 9 handicap wanting to get into the low single digits. I’m 46 years old and don’t think my 95 mph swing speed will increase that dramatically without throwing rhythm off.

I’m wondering if there are outliers here?. And also wondering how LPGA fits into this chart. I seem to have the same speed as pro women and they are playing the same distances that I am but scoring way way lower with a game built from precision over speed.

You dont need to be depressed your swing speed is high enough to play very good golf. Mine isnt that much higher and i hit driver 275 yards. You just have to be fit correctly and learn how to deliver the club better to the ball

and i shoot low 70s and i hit the ball 245 yards with ZERO roll in Thailand – so it can be done. work on your short game. get up and down 3 out of the 5 times you miss the green makes all the difference

This is something I’m finding out at a 14 handicap. I’m your AMA although I’m trending down. As you can guess my improvement has now become dependent on driver efficiency and distance. I have been working around that weakness by using shorter clubs off the tee but it leaves me with much longer second shots.

Made more swing improvement of late and starting to control my driver more. When it’s hit well I have hit enough times in the 260-270 range so I’m probably in that 95 mph swing speed range. As the previous poster said I’m 43 so won’t be Bubba Watson anytime soon. The way forward has to be more tighter averages with the driver maximising my best yardage from the swing speed I have. There are golfers out there who are scratch only hitting the ball 200-250.

Anyone remember young Guan the 14 year old at Augusta he was so small he could only drive it 250 but did alright.

I am a 35 year old AMA at a 15. I have played golf for 22 years. This philosophy has been a revelation to me. I work in the industry and frequently play with low handicaps who tease me into playing longer yardage (they assume at 6’3″ 250 I bomb it) my home course is 7400 from the tips, and this frustratingly puts my score in the mid 90s. After reading this article I did more research and discovered I should be playing nearly 1200 yards shorter, and doing so without shame. I’ve played four rounds since reading this, and shot 81, 83, 79, and 78. Including a personal best one under 35 for nine. My teachers are always trying to get me to change my swing to generate club head speed, but this consistently leaves me frustrated and physically sore. Once you except your limitations, you can get out and enjoy the game we LOVE instead of loathing it.

My average driving distance is 240 but IF I can make a shot in the sweet spot (Stars Aligned after a long Prayer) I can go 290 to 300 measured on the golf course. Crazy thing is I hit my 3 wood off the tee about 250 yards.

I have completely lost my iron swing due to injury and need a swing coach as well as does your program cover this as well? I carry my 8 iron about 158 yards when I’m hitting it good (see above). My average club separation is about 15 yards.

I think this is very interesting but misleading. Most golfers I know are happy to drive the ball 200 yards and keep it in the fairway.

This analysis seems to be for elite athletes.

How many average golfers drive the ball 250 yards and keep it in the fairway?

I once read that if all golfers had to count every stroke they took, and appropriate penalty shots, only 10 percent could legitimately break a 100. My experience suggests that this is true.

Commented here a while ago I’m actually not sure before I used GPS through my mobile whether I hit it further than I do now. Most of my longer clubs only just creep above the 200 yd mark. I have the occasional outlier above 250 but that’s rare. I actually feel I get more out irons than I do the woods. I hit a green today which was 163 so pulled a 6 iron landed on back part of the green 10 yds past the flag. I’ve hit greens from 210 out with a 20 degree hybrid. I’ve tried lots of different woods shafts and lengths but seem to reach a ceiling on distance. My home course is around 6200 so I can work around not bombing it off the tee but it is perplexing to me.

Thanks this will help my golf game so much now. All that strength comes from the lower body. Its important to turn your body to get that extra speed.

What about the balls we use. Is a soft ball for club head speed of 90 MPH with the driver better than a hard ball?

I’m 65 years old. Club head speed is around 90 MPH giving me a distance of 214 yrds. I should be getting more distance on this club head speed right? wrong?

Well I certainly feel hood about how I played when i did. I am disabled now and dont play at all but i had a spinal fusion and two rods put in my back when i was a teenager. My full swing with a driver was anout ewual to an average guys 9 iron turn. Yet I hit my driver 230 yards to what they say is average, 214. And that was 12 years ago. I didnt start playing until i was 31 and it was over by 42 yet my handicap was 12. But i attribute most of that to playing with a best friend who was a scratch golfer and showed me theres no need to take longer than 2 hours to play 18 holes. (Unimpededof course, because we always were able to play during the week). God how I loved playing golf. Especially when they was no other golfers in sight. Sorry for the ramble.

Dear friend, do anyone here user Taylormade RSI 1 Irons. I need to know few things before buying

I think the difference is practice, practice and more practice. Very unfortunately most of us are too busy with other things we need to do.

Exactly, I had the same perception in mind too. Well, they say that If you practice more and more you’ll get better and better.

What a great read with invaluable data and information. With all the new technology that is now available in Drivers since this article came out, do you plan on updating the information. I think it would be awesome to see if any of the numbers change due to the new developments.

I often feel articles such as this are skewed. Torrey Pines South, huh? That’s a course representative of the average golfer? My time spent on the driving range tells me there are a lot of guys hitting 100 yards, 125, 150, 175…a few hitting 190….and an even smaller number hitting over 200. Sure, I see guys hitting 250-300 yards, but they are far from the norm. I bet your average golfer on your average course doesn’t hit more than 160-175. Why gather data from an elite course where people “line up” to play when that is far from representative of what most people are doing? How about heading out to Wedgefield in Georgetown, SC? Or Fox Hollow in Baltimore? Or the public course in Lenoir, NC? Get off the elite courses and look at the ones where people are paying maybe $45 to play, not $200+. It’s a whole different story.

This is really intersting reading and I could not agree more with the finding your distance principal. All too many golfers go to the course and hit every shot in the hope it’s the best shot they’ve ever hit. Learn to play your game, but keep pushing yourself where sensible and on the range, and you’ll enjoy your round more and start playing much more consistent golf.

Do you have Average Female Amature driver swing speed? Is it around 25-35% less then the AMA group?

Its about 20% less when comparing PGA vs LPGA. My hunch its even bigger for AFA vs AMA?

You can check the combine driver stats here: https://mytrackman.com/#combine

beginer level female golfer how to to benefit ths..is this correct this tracker..

Love all of this data and seeing exactly what the correlation is between the data and player performance! Thanks!

Distance is great. There isn’t anybody who wouldn’t like to be able to hit the ball further. However, the vast majority of the time I spend with my students that would fall into the AMA category is spent on working out the kinks in their swing (to help them hit straighter shots more consistently) and helping them with better contact with the golf ball. To me, working on improving distance happens only after they’ve advanced beyond the AMA category. I guess what I’m saying is if you don’t hit the ball straight consistently and you don’t make good, clean contact consistently, it would be silly to focus on things like swing speed/distance.

Greater distance…the eternal quest for golfers. I can say that Trackman is second to none, and it’s always my first recommendation to others. The challenge is, improving your distance is a slow and arduous process. It takes persistence and painstaking practice to regularly do drills designed to help improve your swing speed, not to mention the constant measuring to ensure you are in fact improving your swing speed. It takes a detailed plan and it takes time, and this is why I think the improvement of AMAs isn’t as impressive as it could be.

wow great guide

The first chart, with the club speed distribution, is that only for hcp 14-15 golfers?

Hi I have always had an out to in swing until recent. Following 3 Trackman lessons and 4 Trackman practice sessions (and my own research) i have moved my swing path nearly 5 degree in to out. My question is my average D is +5.3, 6I is +3.5 and 8I is +2.1. Although early days yet is there a general reason for the different results in club path. I have always wanted a push draw and now i can see the light in the tunnel.

Is here any benefit ideas about beginners level women, what you say?

What was the actual value of swing speed group 105 mph+, since it shows 0%

Do you have Average Female Amature driver swing speed? Is it around 25-35% less than the AMA group?

Thanks to this impressive article, they will help more and more those who want to play golf. This informative information was more helpful for golfers.

Thank You !

I love your article and content too.

I feel like a lot of AMs sacrifice strike for the extra 1-2 mph which ultimately leads to less distance. Does Trackman update this data each year? Thanks for posting.

My total yardage for my 7 iron is 190, my ball speed is 119 mph. Does that make sense? Should my ball speed be faster based on the distance I’m getting. Even my 4 iron ball speed max is 137 and I’m getting 235 yards. I’m a 42 year old 5’9″ and been playing golf since I was 35. I appreciate your thoughts, great article. Thanks

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2022 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings

by Swing Man Golf Staff | Aug 29, 2022 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Are you curious what the club head speed rankings are on the PGA TOUR for 2022?

Who posts the fastest swing speeds?

Who has the slowest swing on PGA TOUR?

Click HERE to Learn How to Increase YOUR Average Golf Swing Speed

Click to Learn How to Increase YOUR Average Golf Swing Speed

PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings By Year

2023 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2021 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2020 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2019 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2018 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2017 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2016 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2015 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2014 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2013 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2012 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2011 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2010 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2009 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2008 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
2007 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings

Swing Speed Charts for Male & Female Amateurs, LPGA Players, and World Long Drivers

Ever wonder how your swing speed compares to the top (or average) golfer? This swing speed chart will serve as a guide, displaying the range of swing speeds for various player groups. From weekend warriors to touring professionals, compare average driver swing speeds between male and female amateurs, LPGA players recognized for their consistency and power, and the World Long Drive Champions, the world’s most elite distance hitters. This chart will not only provide you with an estimate for your swing speed, but it will also throw light on the extraordinary clubhead speeds required to reach those mind-blowing long ball lengths that leave the golfer stunned.

For detailed charts and further analysis, visit the page here .

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Whether you’re aiming for longer drives or llower scores, our tailored programs and power boost sessions will rapidly and drastically transform your performance. Start your journey to a more powerful game today!

Scouting the Routing: 2024 PGA Championship

T he venue on which this year's PGA Championship will be contested is named for a fabled hall where the souls of heroes reside, and over its last two appearances on the Major stage, Valhalla Golf Club has crowned two all-time greats of its own. Will Tiger in 2000 and Rory in 2014 be followed by yet another established great? Or will Louisville provide a basecamp for a young upstart's climb to the peaks of golfing immortality? Either way, we're in for a legacy-defining week as the stars get together for the second time this Major Championship Season!

This piece will serve to break down every key trend and statistic I'm weighing to project a player's viability at Valhalla Golf Club, and set our readers up to make the crucial decisions necessary on pre-week betting boards. Without further ado, here is my comprehensive scouting report on Valhalla Golf Club and the 2024 PGA Championship!

The Golf Course

Valhalla Golf Club - Par 71; 7,609 yards

Past Champions

2023 - Brooks Koepka (-9) over Viktor Hovland & Scottie Scheffler
2022 - Justin Thomas (-5) over Will Zalatoris (playoff)
2021 - Phil Mickelson (-6) over Brooks Koepka & Louis Oosthuizen
2020 - Collin Morikawa (-13) over Paul Casey & Dustin Johnson
2019 - Brooks Koepka (-8) over Dustin Johnson
2018 - Brooks Koepka (-16) over Tiger Woods

Bonus: PGA Championships held at Valhalla

2014 - Rory McIlroy (-16) over Phil Mickelson
2000 - Tiger Woods (-18) over Bob May (playoff)
1996 - Mark Brooks (-11) over Kenny Perry (playoff)

Valhalla by the Numbers (Off-The-Tee):

From a catalog of past champions that includes Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Justin Thomas, to a recent rotation of courses that includes Oak Hill, Quail Hollow, Kiawah Island, and Bethpage Black, there is perhaps no skill more closely intertwined with the PGA Championship than driving distance. Outside of Collin Morikawa's triumph at 7,200-yard Harding Park in 2020, no PGA Champion since 2014 has finished the year outside the top 60 on Tour in Driving Distance, and in that time, only Phil Mickelson finished his campaign outside of the top 25 (54th).

Since Jason Day's waltz to 20-under around Whistling Straits nine years ago, the PGA of America has made a concerted effort to up the difficulty for the game's best -- resulting in an average winning score of (-8) in the nine championships since. But how they've achieved these higher scores may well be the main factor for why distance has provided such a distinct edge in recent PGA iterations. In this modern age of power and speed, the default response from the superintendents of these Championship golf courses has been to build new tee boxes 30-40 yards farther back, pinch in the fairways, and grow up the rough. Valhalla's now 7,600-yard layout with 4" Bluegrass rough couldn't be a more perfect example.

Unfortunately for those in the field that don't possess the elite driving gifts of a Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, or Bryson DeChambeau, this new direction of golf course "design" stacks the deck even further against them -- as even the game's most accurate players will find themselves missing their fair share of fairways, and when they do, the thick rough will prove a lot more penalizing with a mid/long-iron in hand as opposed to the short irons and wedges that longer hitters will have.

This is why we've routinely seen longer hitters dominate venues like Torrey Pines, Oak Hill, and Winged Foot (all courses that feature driver-heavy layouts with narrow fairways and thick rough). With some fairways here at Valhalla pinching in as narrow as 22 yards, recent rains likely to spoil any chance of firm-and-fast turf conditions, and virtually no option to club down for position (7/11 Par 4s measure over 460 yards), this week figures to be more of the same in terms of off-the-tee outlook. I'll be placing an above average weight on driving distance, and looking particularly closely at a player's historic off-the-tee acumen on similarly narrow golf courses with penal rough.

Valhalla by the Numbers (Approach):

Major Championships in 2024 aren't exactly known for presenting players with a vast array of wedge opportunities, and with this week's routing featuring seven Par 4s over 460 yards, four Par 3s over 190, and three Par 5s over 570, Valhalla fits very snuggly into the established mold. There's a reason the golfing world will be basing many of their weekly opinions on last week's outing at Quail Hollow, as the nearly 7,600-yard layout featured in Charlotte would have projected for a very similar approach distribution to what's expected this week.

One key difference between the setups at this and next year's PGA Championship venues is in the agronomy on the fairways. While Quail Hollow featured an overseed akin to the likes of Harbour Town or TPC Sawgrass, Valhalla has been changed over to a Zeon zoysiagrass. Zoysia has most recently been seen at the likes of TPC Southwind and Eastlake in last summer's FedEx Cup Playoffs, but has also featured at the 2019 PGA Championship (held at Bellerive Country Club), as well as in the annual ZOZO Championship (hosted at Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan).

Given the similarities in terms of agronomy (and projected approach distributions), I do believe it's worth a look back at a player's second-shot proficiency around these four venues. However, I'll be looking predominantly at long-term iron splits from 175 yards and beyond, as well as a player's ball-striking history at other Major Championship setups.

Valhalla by the Numbers (Around the Greens):

While Valhalla doesn't feature the same selection of tight lies and severe undulation we saw at Augusta National, the presence of wet, 4-inch thick rough will test these players in other ways around the greens. From Winged Foot in 2020, to Torrey Pines in 2021, and Oak Hill last year, the stateside Majors have routinely tested players in this way -- and routinely rank as some of the toughest venues to scramble from out of the rough.

Another key corollary to keep in mind is at Jack Nicklaus's most famous design: Muirfield Village. The host of the annual Memorial Tournament also sports some of the gnarliest rough on the PGA Tour (a very similar length/agronomic mix to this week), and has ranked as the toughest non-Major venue to gain strokes from off the green. When attempting to model for a player's chances around the greens of Valhalla, historic splits around Muirfield Village would be among the first places I would look.

Outside of the 4" rough, however, I don't believe Valhalla will pose nearly the same danger from its short grass. Zoysia is very well known as some of the most forgiving turf in the golfing world to create clean contact, and in the hierarchy of around the green difficulty from their fairways, TPC Southwind, Eastlake, and Craig Ranch all right around or well below the Tour average. I'll be paying much more attention to a player's historic acumen on golf courses with similar greenside rough lengths than any chipping splits specific to zoysia.

Valhalla by the Numbers (Putting):

As mentioned in the earlier section, Jack Nicklaus's greens at Valhalla won't feature nearly the same character as we've previously seen at Alister McKenzie's Augusta National or project to see next month at Donald Ross's Pinehurst No. 2. However, with Stimpmeter readings of 13, they will rank as some of the fastest complexes players will see all year.

The pure speed of these bentgrass greens hasn't necessarily translated to difficulty, however, as back in 2014, Valhalla ranked well below the Tour Average in 3-putt percentage (2.3 vs 3.1%), and exceeded the Tour Average in make percentage from outside of 15 feet. These metrics, along with a relatively small set of greens by square footage (~5,000 sq. feet on average), mean that I don't project Valhalla to be a venue that requires elite touch from long range.

In direct contrast to many of the recent Major Championships we've seen in the last few years (Augusta National, LACC, St. Andrews, etc.), I'll be placing a below average weight on Approach Putt Performance and Three-Putt Avoidance. General bentgrass putting splits will be the main stat I'll be weighing -- particularly from the key scoring range of 5-15 feet.

Key Stats Roundup (in order of importance):

Mid/Long-iron play -- specifically looking at proximity/strokes gained splits from >175 yards and approach splits off of zoysia fairways (Eastlake, TPC Southwind, Bellerive, etc.)
Driving Distance/Historic off-the-tee acumen on longer golf courses with thick rough
Recent history at Major Championships (particular emphasis on comparable PGA/US Open venues like Oak Hill, Winged Foot, Bellerive, Bethpage Black, etc.)
Bentgrass Putting (particularly from <15 feet)
History on Jack Nicklaus designs

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The Sunday Shortlist

Before the odds come out on Monday morning, here are two to three names I've identified as significant targets upon my initial research.

Brooks Koepka

It's frankly pretty fascinating how quickly Brooks can turn the switch from one of the Masters' biggest disappointments into the player I'm perhaps most excited for this week at Valhalla. He's, of course, going for a mind-blowing sixth Major Title (and a fourth PGA Championship), and looking back through Koepka's track record in this particular event, it's easy to spot the similarities between Valhalla and the likes of Bellerive, Bethpage Black, and Oak Hill.

7,600 yards, narrow fairways, thick rough -- Brooks has proven as capable of anyone in the history of this sport when it comes to dissecting these modern-day PGA/US Open layouts, and with the recent life he showed in a two-shot victory at LIV Singapore, it's difficult to avoid the comparisons to this time last year. Koepka entered the 2023 PGA Championship on the back of two consecutive top-fives on LIV, and in each of his two previous PGA triumphs, Brooks has given us a definitive sign that the game was ramping up. He finished fourth at the Byron Nelson prior to his 2019 win at Bethpage, and logged a fifth-place finish at Firestone ahead of his 2018 win at Bellerive.

Advanced metrics from the LIV Tour have been spotty and unreliable to the say the least, but for anyone who stayed up late on a Saturday night to watch Brooks capture his fourth title on his new Tour, you'd have seen Koepka at his resolute best. Metronomic off of the tee, conservative yet decisive on approach, and money on the greens when the chips were down. Brooks mentioned on multiple occasions about being "embarrassed" about his T45 finish around Augusta National last month, and if last year taught us anything, it's that you should never step in front of a motivated Brooks Koepka on this stage. He'll be leading the line on my betting card this week, and I'd endorse any price down to 14-1.

Bryson DeChambeau

Although I held a 100-1 ticket on Bryson last month at the Masters, my 65-1 future here at Valhalla was always the one I had circled as DeChambeau's most likely spot for a revival. Already a winner at Jack Nicklaus's Muirfield Village (2018), and at a similarly narrow, driver-heavy Major venue at Winged Foot (2020), Bryson couldn't set up more perfectly for the bomber's paradise on tap this week.

One thing I felt has gone under-reported since Bryson's move to LIV has been the sudden surge in driving accuracy we've seen since he switched to a Krank driver -- a brand much more synonymous with long-drive contests than the ranks of Tour professionals. DeChambeau has spoken glowingly over the last nine months about this new driver's reliability at swing speeds over 125 mph, and in each of his two LIV seasons since making the change, Bryson has went from nearly dead-last in fairway percentage to right around the middle of the pack.

He gained a whopping 6.8 strokes off of the tee at last month's Masters (hitting 75% of his fairways in the process), and while he's unlikely to replicate those accuracy numbers this week around Valhalla, his sheer length will give him as decisive of an advantage as anyone in this field -- evidenced by a Strokes Gained: Off-the Tee rating of +7.5 last May at Oak Hill.

Bryson also rates out as one of the game's top entities on Approach shots from beyond 175 yards, and of the elite players, he's been one of the most reliable putters from inside 15 feet. Between Harding Park and Oak Hill, DeChambeau has sneakily finished inside the top five in two of his last three PGA Championship appearances, and he did most of his damage around Augusta National after overnight rains made the course much more receptive. The recent forecasts around Louisville suggest we could be in for very similar playing conditions at Valhalla, and I'd have no issue doubling down on my current position even as prices dip below 30-1.

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Scouting the Routing: 2024 PGA Championship

Akshay Bhatia’s Valhalla history gives him confidence ahead of PGA Championship

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 29: Akshay Bhatia of the United States walks the course during the second round of the Texas Children's Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on March 29, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

“Did you chunk it?”

All Akshay Bhatia could do was shake his head at the ridiculous question from his friend after the round. Sixteen-year-old Bhatia had just sunk a near-impossible 40-foot chip for an eagle. And this was not your average hole out. Bhatia did it on the 72nd hole of the 2018 Junior PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. A downhill slider from just long of the par 5, which he reached in two.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Bhatia left himself with one of the most precarious chips possible around the horseshoe-shaped green complex. And with the clubhouse leader one shot ahead, Bhatia needed an up-and-down birdie to tie and move into a sudden-death playoff.

He did one better instead.

“It was one of the clutchest moments of my career,” Bhatia said three weeks before the PGA Championship’s return to Valhalla for the fourth time.

Earlier today, Akshay Bhatia won the #JuniorPGA at @ValhallaGolf … by doing this! pic.twitter.com/MeITpo4ufH — PGA of America (@PGA) August 4, 2018

The chip was airborne for less than a yard — hence the inquiry about it being an accidental mishit — before it softly landed on the putting surface and picked up speed. The lefty retracted his wedge into his right hand like a knight returning his sword to his sheath as he watched his ball head directly toward the cup. It was all part of Bhatia’s plan.

“I hit it exactly how I wanted to,” Bhatia said. “It was one of those chips where you just have to tap the golf ball and it’s going to feed down to the hole.”

The teenage golf sensation triumphantly pumped his clenched fists as the ball fell over the hole’s edge, family and friends joining him in celebration around the green. With the improbable chip-in, Bhatia defended his 2017 Junior PGA title, becoming the first back-to-back champion in the event’s 48-year history. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas have all played in the prestigious junior tournament. Sam Burns and Trevor Immelman have won it. Bhatia is the only player who has come out on top twice.

He might not have known it then, but the confidence Bhatia mustered to visualize and execute that shot epitomizes exactly why he came out on top on that sticky afternoon in Louisville. It also explains how he made it back to Valhalla six years later, this time as a PGA Tour player making his first PGA Championship start.

He stands a couple of inches taller, and a few additional pounds support his recognizable lanky physique. His signature eyeglasses have shape-shifted from nerdy rectangles to sleek, rounded frames. A few more trophies stand on his shelf at home in Wake Forest, N.C. Bhatia is ready as ever to compete in his third major, at the same venue that started it all: The Kentucky course awaits another flash of brilliance from the former golf prodigy.

Full-circle moments are starting to feel like regularly scheduled programming for Bhatia.

Last month, the 22-year-old clinched his second PGA Tour victory at the Valero Texas Open in a one-hole playoff against Denny McCarthy to earn the final Masters invitation up for grabs. He was the last player to be added to the field at Augusta National, but his entry had another significance.

That week Bhatia became the first Drive, Chip & Putt Finals alum to tee it up in the Masters, 10 years after participating in the competition for 7-to-15-year-olds hosted annually at Augusta National.

Friday morning, he found himself next to Tiger Woods on the practice green.

“Tiger came up to me and said congrats,” Bhatia said. “He joked around with me and gave me a nickname. The first time I met him, it was just a handshake in line with a bunch of other junior golfers. For Tiger Woods to recognize me as a player and a person is something I’ll cherish as a memory from my first Masters.”

He made the cut in his Masters debut and finished tied for 35th.

Threads continue to string themselves together throughout Bhatia’s career, with Valhalla being the latest example. The trend won’t stop here. Why? Bhatia has been winning and succeeding at the game’s highest levels for a long time.

Bhatia’s journey to his current position as the No. 33-ranked player in the world, per DataGolf.com, was unconventional. But Bhatia wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Already gaining significant traction on the amateur golf scene as a middle schooler, Bhatia’s parents, Sonny and Renu, knew they had a special talent on their hands. Renu took on additional work outside of her 9-to-5 corporate planning job to continue supporting her son’s dream of becoming a professional golfer. Sonny traveled with Bhatia to tournaments across the country. Bhatia took advantage, honing his craft nonstop.

The accolades kept coming. When Bhatia won tournaments, he’d ask his coach at the time, George Gankas, what he could have done to win by more. He would speak about getting bored when playing so well, always searching for a new skill to perfect on the course. Bhatia’s relentless, never-satisfied attitude was innate. His parents decided to transition Bhatia to online home school starting in sixth grade.

Most elite junior golfers in the U.S. have sights set on verbal commitment offers from Stanford, Texas or another top-tier Division I golf program. Bhatia had a different vision, and his parents were on board, despite his older sister Rhea enjoying college golf at Queens University of Charlotte. Bhatia wanted to skip college and turn professional as soon as he completed online high school, and that’s exactly what he did. A path that American juniors rarely dare to take was the only option Bhatia ever truly considered.

A 17-year-old Bhatia turned pro at the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship. Already growing a social media following for his junior dominance and powerful swing, Bhatia received seven sponsor exemptions to PGA Tour events. He missed all seven cuts. Bhatia wasn’t sitting in a classroom, but he was learning.

He didn’t earn a fast track to the PGA Tour by succeeding in those coveted sponsor exemptions, like college stars Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa had done that summer. Instead, Bhatia had to grind it out on the mini-tours. He encountered all sorts of unforeseen hurdles: His mental game was in disarray and the onset of the pandemic limited his competitive schedule. Many questioned his decision to forgo an NCAA career.

Traveling the country as a sub-21-year-old presented its challenges. While competing on the Korn Ferry Tour, Bhatia was forced to drive a U-Haul to the Wichita Open because he was too young to rent an SUV.

Finally, Bhatia made his first PGA Tour cut and found a groove. He won a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2022. He secured special temporary member status on the PGA Tour by early 2023. Bhatia parlayed the opportunity into his maiden PGA Tour victory at the opposite-field Barracuda Championship that July, where he sunk a 15-foot putt to force a playoff.

He captured his second victory on tour at the Valero in a similar fashion. After Bhatia made the turn with a comfortable six-shot lead, Denny McCarthy charged, making eight birdies on the back nine to shoot a back-nine 28. Bhatia again faced a putt that would determine his fate: He drained an 11-footer for birdie to enter a playoff, and the ensuing fist pump was so forceful it nearly threw out his bad shoulder. He won in sudden-death play.

Bhatia’s winning instinct took over. He executed the task at hand when it mattered the most. Sound familiar?

“I always go back to those three moments I’ve had,” Bhatia said, “Barracuda, Valero and Valhalla. Those are all shots I needed to make and I was able to do it three times. It shows me that I can dig deep and truly embrace the moment when a lot of people can’t.”

Near ACE for Akshay Bhatia on 17. 😨 📺: Golf Channel & @peacock | @WellsFargoGolf pic.twitter.com/yxJGidZqeC — Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 11, 2024

That summer at Valhalla, Bhatia was in the middle of his most successful junior golf season. The No. 1 junior in the world at the time, Bhatia was busy claiming victory after victory. He began winning the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, just 20 miles from Augusta National. A few weeks later, he claimed the AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic title by 10 shots, his sixth victory on the elite junior tour.

Then it came time to chase junior golf’s pinnacle achievement: the U.S. Junior Amateur, a match-play format tournament with a 36-hole championship match, hosted at Baltusrol Golf Club in 2018. It was no surprise when Bhatia made it to the finals. But that Sunday Bhatia was outplayed. Fellow 16-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen defeated Bhatia in a thrilling back-and-forth battle, winning 1 up on the final hole.

The loss stung, but Bhatia pressed on. The Junior PGA — where he had won the year prior by shooting a record-breaking 61 — was the next major junior event on his schedule.

Bhatia remembers bits and pieces of his historic week in Kentucky in 2018. He recalls studying the hole locations from the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, when Rory McIlroy won his last major championship. When the tournament began, Bhatia recognized the pin positions from his pre-tournament research. He felt like he suddenly had a leg up on the rest of the field.

Bhatia can grudgingly recount shooting a 4-over 76 in the second round. He needed a pep talk from his coach, Chase Duncan, in the car. The next day he fired a 7-under 65 to take a share of the lead heading into Sunday.

Then came the eagle hole-out that cemented his status as a junior golf legend.

“We were expecting him to get it up and down, no question,” said Canon Claycomb, a current member of the University of Alabama men’s golf team who finished top five at the Junior PGA. “The chip was so hard. We were all kind of joking, ‘He’s gonna make this’ because he had just killed everyone all year.”

But Bhatia knows he is the same in many ways. He’ll always be the fearless competitor who got up and down from jail on the 18th green at Valhalla for the win.

The shot was far from a “chunk” that got lucky. It was the chip that started it all.

(Top photo: Logan Riely / Getty Images)

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Gabby Herzig is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering golf. Before joining The Athletic, she worked as a breaking news writer for Sports Illustrated’s golf vertical and a contributing editor at Golf Digest. She is a graduate of Pomona College, where she captained the varsity women’s golf team.

Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele set for Sunday showdown at Wells Fargo Championship

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship will see a showdown between two of the top five players in the world. It’s the sort of scenario that the Signature Events were made for.

But the two players who have pulled away from the pack also will be seeking much-needed wins. Xander Schauffele, who will start Sunday with a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, is seeking his first PGA TOUR victory in nearly two years. His closest pursuer also hasn’t won an individual title on U.S. soil since 2022.

There’s a good chance they won’t have to worry about anyone else.

McIlroy is the only player within three shots of Schauffele. The two will play in the final group for the second consecutive day. Sungjae Im is in third place, four shots behind Schauffele, and Sepp Straka is another stroke back.

Both Schauffele and McIlroy are seeing the benefits of recent swing changes as they pursue another PGA TOUR title. Schauffele changed coaches to Chris Como at the end of 2023 and has been the third-best player on TOUR this year, trailing only Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark in Strokes Gained: Total. Schauffele has seven top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season.

Xander Schauffele on switching swing coaches

Unlike the other two, though, Schauffele is still seeking his first win of 2024. He was winless in 2023 after winning a career-high three times the year prior. To win Sunday, Schauffele will need to beat the player who has become synonymous with this place. McIlroy has won three times at Quail Hollow and twice set the course record here.

"I'm going to have to earn it tomorrow,” Schauffele said. “I've got Rory breathing down my neck.”

McIlroy struggled between those wins, though. He had five consecutive PGA TOUR finishes outside the top 20, a stretch that preceded McIlroy’s pilgrimage to see Butch Harmon in Las Vegas. McIlroy finished third at the Valero Texas Open but again was outside the top 20 at both the Masters (T22) and RBC Heritage (T33).

The lesson with Harmon focused on McIlroy’s iron play. McIlroy said he found a key to his driving during his win in New Orleans, and it has carried over this week. His familiarity with Quail Hollow also helps him swing freely.

“Every time I hit a good tee shot, the more confidence I get,” McIlroy said, “and then the more I want to just keep hitting it.”

He leads the field in SG: Off-the-Tee (+5.39) and Driving Distance. His average driving distance on all tee shots this week is 325 yards, 10 yards longer than the No. 2 player in that stat. He hit 10 tee shots over 320 yards Saturday, including five tee shots over 340 yards.

McIlroy also has excelled with his iron play this week, ranking third in SG: Approach-the-Green. He has been bogey-free over the past 36 holes.

“I've holed out pretty well for the most part inside 6 feet, and then I think because I know this golf course so well, I've missed it in the right spots when I have missed the green,” McIlroy said. “To play two rounds in a row on this golf course in these conditions bogey-free is a bit of a feather in my cap, I'm pretty proud of that.”

A victory Sunday would be McIlroy’s first individual PGA TOUR title since the Genesis Scottish Open last July. His previous PGA TOUR victory before that was THE CJ CUP in South Carolina in the fall of 2022. Schauffele preceded McIlroy with a win at the Scottish Open; his victory at Renaissance Club in 2022 is his most recent PGA TOUR win.

Rory McIlroy’s Round 3 highlights from Wells Fargo Championship

This will be the second consecutive year that Schauffele will play in the Wells Fargo’s final group. He entered last year’s final round two shots behind Clark, shooting 70 to finish four back. Quail Hollow’s greens were resurfaced after last year’s tournament, and the new putting surfaces are still firm despite rains earlier in the week. On Saturday, players averaged nearly two strokes over par (72.8) on the par-71 course.

Like McIlroy, Schauffele has separated himself from the field with his ball-striking. He is third in SG: Off-the-Tee and second in SG: Approach-the-Green. Schauffele also has hit the most greens this week despite hitting just 10 on Saturday. He only made one bogey in the third round, however. Schauffele has gained clubhead speed since he started working with Como but admitted earlier this week that he needs to resist the temptation to swing too hard because it messes up his transition.

That can be difficult to do when playing with McIlroy, however. He hit several tee shots 50 yards past Schauffele on Saturday.

“I think I just like walking ahead of guys in general,” said McIlroy, “like them to be looking at my back.”

Schauffele may lead at Quail Hollow, but McIlroy is always the man to beat here. Whoever wins Sunday will have earned a victory that was worth the wait.

Sean Martin is a senior editor for the PGA TOUR. He is a 2004 graduate of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. Attending a small school gave him a heart for the underdog, which is why he enjoys telling stories of golf's lesser-known players. Follow Sean Martin on Twitter .

COMMENTS

Golf Swing Speed Chart: Averages By Age, Skill, and More
Average PGA TOUR Club Head Speeds PGA TOUR professionals are among the best golfers in the world, so many golfers look to them as guides to playing the game correctly. Note: Even though these speeds happened on a specific date in 2024, they're still applicable today since swing speeds don't rise significantly over time.
You won't believe how much farther PGA Tour Champions players are
The increase is even bigger for Fred Couples, if we use his driving-distance average (a whopping 300.4 yards) from 2015, the last time he played enough rounds on the PGA Tour Champions to have ...
2020 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
PGA TOUR PLAYER Average FASTEST SPEED; 1: Cameron Champ 126.86: 132.00: 2: Will Gordon 125.79: 129.94: 3: ... PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings By Year. 2023 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings; ... and the World Long Drive Champions, the world's most elite distance hitters. ...
TrackMan PGA Tour Averages Stats
TrackMan PGA Tour Average stats including Club speed, Attack Angle, Ball Speed, Smash Factor, Launch Angle, Spin Rate, Max Height, Land Angle and Carry. ... 2014 PGA Championship Gallery. 80 comments Bret Douglas June ... With the MBs my 7 iron has 34 degrees of loft and flies 165yds with 89mph average club head speed. Same swing with the Apex ...
Golf Stat and Records
Do you want to know how fast the PGA TOUR players swing their clubs? Check out the Golf Stat and Records page, where you can find the clubhead speed and other metrics for every player and ...
Average Golf Swing Speed Chart
299.9. 2.61. As you can see at the end of the 2022-2023 PGA TOUR season, the tour average runs about 115.80 mph and they hit about 299.9 yards/drive, which means their driving efficiency is about 2.61 yards/drive. This is much better than the average 14-15 -handicap golfer who comes in at 2.29 yards/drive.
Golf Stat and Records
PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. The Korn Ferry trademark is also a registered trademark, and is used in the Korn Ferry Tour logo with ...
Golf Stat and Records
Scoring Average (Actual) Steven Alker. 67.79. Avg. 1. Steve Stricker. 67.93. Avg. 2. Padraig Harrington. 68.50. Avg. 3. ... PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are ...
2023 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
Average Club Head Speed; 1: Brandon Matthews: 126.51: 2: Cameron Champ: 126.07: 3: Will Gordon: 124.84: 4: Kyle Westmoreland: ... PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings By Year. 2023 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings; ... and the World Long Drive Champions, the world's most elite distance hitters. ...
Champions Tour players make equipment choices just like recreational
Swing speeds on the Champions Tour tend to range between 95-105 mph, similar to that of a 5-to-10-handicapper. Nobody on the Champions Tour averages 300 yards in driving distance (though John Daly ...
Club Head Speed: Reverse Engineered
I estimate most tour players average club head speed in tournament play leaves at least 5 mph in the tank, and some are closer to 10mph. Even though modern equipment is great, balls can go extremely far offline at speeds in the 115-125mph range.
This is how far PGA and LPGA Tour players hit it with every club
Cameron Champ currently leads the club-head speed charts this season with a 129.72 average. You'll also notice that the average PGA Tour player hits down on their driver (attack angle -1.3 ...
What is The Average Club Head Speed of A Pro Golfer?
At the time of writing, Cameron Champ has the fastest average clubhead speed at 126.98mph, which is hard to comprehend when you consider the normal male amateur golfer swings with an average speed of 93.4mph. Across the board, the average swing speed on the PGA Tour is 113mph with a driver compared to 94mph on the LPGA Tour.
Golf Swing Speed: Averages, How to Measure & Increase
The PGA Tour averages 114 mph and scratch golfers are right around 106 mph. Swing speed decreases for clubs other than the driver. According to TrackMan, PGA Tour golfers average the following swing speeds. Driver: 114 mph. 3-wood: 107 mph. 5-wood: 103 mph. Hybrid: 100 mph. 3-iron: 98 mph. 4-iron: 96 mph.
Club Head Speed By Age Group: What Percentile Are You In?
This is one of the most important questions to answer as most of the data out there is on PGA and LPGA tour averages. To have 13 and 65 year olds comparing themselves to the 113 mph PGA Tour average or the 98 mph LPGA Tour average is silly (and, in some cases, potentially dangerous). It is like the average person comparing their wealth to ...
Average Club Head Speed Driver
On the PGA Tour, the average driver club head speed is 113 mph, ranging from 109 mph to 117 mph for most players. The very longest hitters on tour can reach 120+ mph. On the LPGA Tour, the average speed is around 94 mph, with a range of 85-105 mph. Longer hitters on the LPGA can also reach speeds of 110+ mph.
2021 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
Click to Learn How to Increase YOUR Average Golf Swing Speed. PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings By Year. 2023 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings; 2022 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings; ... LPGA players recognized for their consistency and power, and the World Long Drive Champions, the world's most elite distance hitters. ...
What is Club Speed?
Club Speed determines a golfer's potential distance. More club speed equals more potential distance. In fact, adding 1 mph of club speed can increase your distance by up to 3 yards with the driver. The highest recorded club speed is 156 mph! This was accomplished by Connor Powers during the Quarterfinals of the 2014 World Long Drive Championship.
Average Club Head Speed Driver PGA
The PGA Tour tracks and publishes driving statistics for all players. In the 2022 season, the average driver club head speed on the PGA Tour was 113.02 mph. This reflects the club head speed across all drives during measured tournaments, including miscues and less than full swings. When looking at top speeds, the averages are even higher.
Here is the Average Swing Speed for Each Skill Level of Golfer
Comparatively, the average clubhead speed on the PGA Tour for the 2021 season was 114.2 mph. The vast majority of PGA Tour golfers sit between 110-125mph. On the LPGA Tour the average driver swing speed is approximately 94 mph. For the average female golfer there is less research available, but from experience it is typically around 65-70 mph.
Trackman Tour Avg. Numbers
The average hides the fact that PGA pro's launch at a surprisingly wide variance of launch conditions. Spin rates vary from 2200 to just over 3000rpm. Tour average ball speed is now 173mph, ranging from 156mph to 191mph. At first glance I don't think the driver numbers have changed that dramatically in the last 8 years.
Performance Of The Average Male Amateur Golfer
The AMA has an average club speed of 93.4 mph and an average total distance of 214 yards. The following graph shows the distribution of AMA Driver club speeds. As you can see, 45% have a club speed between 91 and 100 mph. The AMA is far from efficient with his driver. He has an average attack angle of -1.6 degrees.
2022 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings
Click to Learn How to Increase YOUR Average Golf Swing Speed. PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings By Year. 2023 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings; 2022 PGA TOUR Club Head Speed Rankings; ... LPGA players recognized for their consistency and power, and the World Long Drive Champions, the world's most elite distance hitters. ...
Scouting the Routing: 2024 PGA Championship
The pure speed of these bentgrass greens hasn't necessarily translated to difficulty, however, as back in 2014, Valhalla ranked well below the Tour Average in 3-putt percentage (2.3 vs 3.1%), and ...
He's one of the PGA Tour's young stars but Akshay Bhatia's story begins
Then it came time to chase junior golf's pinnacle achievement: the U.S. Junior Amateur, a match-play format tournament with a 36-hole championship match, hosted at Baltusrol Golf Club in 2018.
Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele set for Sunday showdown at Wells Fargo
Schauffele preceded McIlroy with a win at the Scottish Open; his victory at Renaissance Club in 2022 is his most recent PGA TOUR win. Rory McIlroy's Round 3 highlights from Wells Fargo Championship