Building the perfect golfer in 2014
Tiger Woods is included, so is Rory McIlroy (twice actually). Here's what the perfect golfer in 2014 would look like when pulling attributes from every PGA Tour player.
By
Kyle Porter
•
3 min read
Professional golf is a game played by imperfect human beings who often shank wayward drives, mis-club iron shots and yank short putts (they're just like us, but rich).
But what if you could take all these shortcomings out of the equation? What if you could build the perfect golfer made of the best attributes of the best golfers?
What would this golfer look like? For a while in the mid-2000s, he would have looked 70 percent like Tiger Woods -- but those days are long gone.
The knee-jerk reaction is to say that the perfect golfer would be Rory McIlroy with Graeme McDowell's or Luke Donald's putting.
Let's dig deeper, though, and pair some advanced stats with what we've seen with our own eyes to create the perfect golfer in 2014.
I've broken the parts of our mythological character into eight categories. Let's look at each one individually.
Driving: Rory McIlroy
Is this really even up for debate? It's true that McIlroy only finished 16th in total driving during the 2013-14 season, but it's also true that he led the PGA Tour in strokes gained from tee to green.
And when he really has it locked in, he doesn't even look to see where his drives land (which, coincidentally, is one of my favorite #TourSauce moves).
Long iron play: Henrik Stenson
You could have your pick of a handful of terrific long-iron players here, but for my money, Stenson is the one I trust the most.
He finished sixth on Tour last season in greens hit in regulation from 200-plus yards, and when I think of the best long-iron hitters I think of him, Justin Rose and Jason Dufner.
The big Swede is the pick. Just don't trust him with the short-iron play.
Short iron play: Tiger Woods
I can't help myself. I know he was atrocious in 2014, but he finished third in greens in regulation percentage from 150-175 yards in 2013. With a tournament on the line and the ball in the fairway 170 yards from the pin, there's nobody else on the planet I would rather have taking the shot than a healthy Woods.
Wedge play: Jim Furyk
Furyk has been a wizard around the greens (and in not winning tournaments) the past few years. He has finished either first or second in proximity to the hole from 30 yards away and closer in each of the past three years.
Just don't let him putt it.
Bunker play: Justin Rose
Theoretically, our created player will never find himself in the sand but just in case we'll have Rose's insane proximity to the hole from the bunker backing us up.
There are a number of ways you could go with sand play -- Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and Brian Gay were all considered -- but Rose has been top four in each of the past five seasons, averaging about seven feet in proximity to the hole out of the bunker.
You could easily make the case that he has been the best bunker player on earth for the past half decade.
Putting: Aaron Baddeley
Where art thou, Brandt Snedeker? Baddeley has finished in the top 10 in strokes gained putting each of the past three seasons, which nobody else on tour can say.
He's not the biggest name, but according to the best putting stat we have, he has been the most consistent putter.
Mental game: Sergio Garcia Graeme McDowell
McDowell finished in the top 25 in bounce back (going under par in a hole after going over par) and only missed one cut in 2014.
It goes deeper than that, though. For my money, nobody combines thoughtfulness on (and off) the course with an ability to turn it off and just let the clubs take over like McDowell. That's a rare combo in today's sporting scene, and McDowell accomplishes it gracefully.
Swagger: Rory McIlroy
Let's bookend this with what I think is Rory's second-best attribute, his moxie. When the Ulsterman really has it going he thinks (in a good way) that he's the greatest golfer who has ever lived.
The scary part is that when he enters that zone he probably isn't far off.
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