In case you haven’t heard, driving distance has been a serious dialogue subject inside golf over the previous few years.
We have now our personal opinions for what elevated hitting distances imply for the sport of golf, however we thought it might be attention-grabbing to take a more in-depth take a look at driving distance numbers in golf’s fashionable period.
It’s clear that a mixture of higher know-how, higher athletes and extra pristine agronomy have paved the best way for the place we stand now—however how precisely did it evolve to succeed in this level?
The Early Years of Recorded Distances
The PGA Tour has saved driving distance stats courting again to 1980 when Dan Pohl led with a 274-yard common.
Whereas strategies for monitoring distance have grown extra superior through the years due to ShotLink, the PGA Tour has continued to make use of solely two holes per spherical to measure driving distance. They’re each holes the place gamers are principally assured to be utilizing a driver off the tee.
“Care is taken to pick two holes which face in reverse instructions to counteract the impact of wind,” the PGA Tour states. “Drives are measured to the purpose at which they arrive to relaxation no matter whether or not they’re within the fairway or not.”
In 1980, Tour gamers averaged 256 yards per drive—about 44 yards shorter than final season.
Just one PGA Tour participant from the 2022-2023 season (Brian Stuard) would have ranked behind Pohl. Mentioned one other means, Pohl would have been second-to-last for driving distance on Tour final season.
In fact, Pohl and his fellow rivals had been utilizing persimmon drivers and hitting balatas. That accounts for a big chunk of the distinction.
There was little enhance in driving distance all through the Nineteen Eighties. Tour common was between 256 and 263 yards yearly and there have been no significant tendencies in driving distance leaders.
The highest driving distance chief in that decade was a well-recognized identify: Davis Love III. He averaged almost 286 yards per drive in 1986, about 25 yards forward of Tour common.
1980 — Common: 256.89 | Chief: Dan Pohl (274.3)
1981 — Common: 259.66 | Chief: Dan Pohl (280.1)
1982 — Common: 256.89 | Chief: Invoice Calfee (275.3)
1983 — Common: 258.65 | Chief: John McComish (277.4)
1984 — Common: 259.61 | Chief: Invoice Glasson (276.5)
1985 — Common: 260.18 | Chief: Andy Bean (278.2)
1986 — Common: 261.58 | Chief: Davis Love III (285.7)
1987 — Common: 262.50 | Chief: John McComish (283.9)
1988 — Common: 263.50 | Chief: Steve Thomas (284.6)
1989 — Common: 261.81 | Chief: Ed Humenik (280.9)
Late Nineties’ Distance Growth
Common Tour driving distance stayed stagnant from 1990 to 1995, between 260 and 263 yards.
Every thing was establishment—apart from the emergence of John Daly, a participant who can be the “driving distance champion” of the PGA Tour for 11 years all through his profession.
Daly averaged about 289 yards in 1991, a report on the time. He would keep round that mark for the following few years till we begin moving into the late ‘90s.
We actually see distance bounce beginning in 1996 because the Tour common goes up three yards. By 1999, the common distance shot up one other six yards. This coincides with persimmon drivers fading from the sport as higher know-how takes its place.
Daly went from averaging 289 yards per drive in 1996 to nearly 306 in 1999.
Impressively, that will be nicely forward of PGA Tour common (299.9) for the 2022-2023 season.
All through the last decade, solely Tom Purtzer (1990) and Love III (1994) steal driving distance “titles” from Daly.
1990 — Common: 262.75 | Chief: Tom Purtzer (279.6)
1991 — Common: 261.44 | Chief: John Daly (288.9)
1992 — Common: 260.52 | Chief: John Daly (283.4)
1993 — Common: 260.36 | Chief: John Daly (288.9)
1994 — Common: 261.84 | Chief: Davis Love III (283.8)
1995 — Common: 263.55 | Chief: John Daly (289)
1996 — Common: 266.49 | Chief: John Daly (288.8)
1997 — Common: 267.67 | Chief: John Daly (302)
1998 — Common: 270.63 | Chief: John Daly (299.4)
1999 — Common: 272.45 | Chief: John Daly (305.6)
An Even Greater Leap within the 2000s
What we noticed within the ‘90s was a harbinger of what was to return as driving distance exploded within the following decade.
Because the Titleist Professional V1 and different revolutionary know-how got here on board early within the 2000s, we noticed an unbelievable spike. Driving distance averages went up six yards from 2000 to 2001; there was then a seven-yard bounce from 2002 to 2003.
At that time, PGA Tour driving distance common was 286 yards. Keep in mind that Love III had led the Tour in driving distance with that very same mark again in 1986—solely 17 years earlier.
Nevertheless, the remainder of the ‘00s don’t see a ton of motion. Common hitting distance creeps one other few yards however lacks the huge bounce we noticed early within the decade.
Actually, there is no such thing as a different sequence of years that matches the 2000-2003 time interval the place common driving distance climbs 16 yards.
Daly begins the last decade because the longest participant in golf (nonetheless) however different gamers emerge to steal that crown.
Hank Kuehne (2003, 2004) and Bubba Watson (2006, 2007, 2008) earned a number of driving distance titles within the decade.
Kuehne’s 321-yard common in 2003 was a report that lasted for 17 years till Bryson DeChambeau got here alongside.
The place was Tiger Woods in driving distance through the prime of his profession? He positioned second (2000), T3 (2001), sixth (2002), eleventh (2003), ninth (2004), second (2005), sixth (2006), twelfth (2007), N/A (2008) and twenty first (2009).
2000 — Common: 273.18 | Chief: John Daly (301.4)
2001 — Common: 279.35 | Chief: John Daly (306.7)
2002 — Common: 279.84 | Chief: John Daly (306.8)
2003 — Common: 286.30 | Chief: Hank Kuehne (321.4)
2004 — Common: 287.32 | Chief: Hank Kuehne (314.4)
2005 — Common: 288.88 | Chief: Scott Hend (318.9)
2006 — Common: 289.35 | Chief: Bubba Watson (319.6)
2007 — Common: 289.08 | Chief: Bubba Watson (315.2)
2008 — Common: 287.74 | Chief: Bubba Watson (315.1)
2009 — Common: 288.07 | Chief: Robert Garrigus (312)
A Small Uptick Throughout the 2010s
You is likely to be shocked to be taught that common PGA Tour driving distance didn’t transfer a lot within the 2010s, a decade that noticed the emergence of weight coaching and higher athletes.
Between 2010 and 2019, the common distance elevated by about six yards.
There have been eight totally different gamers who had the longest common for the season, a departure from the Nineties and 2000s when Daly, Kuehne or Watson was often on high.
J.B. Holmes (2011, 2016) and Watson (2012, 2014) had been the one gamers to be the longest for a number of years on this decade. Superstars like Dustin Johnson (2015) and Rory McIlroy (2017) emerge on this record as nicely.
2010 — Common: 287.49 | Chief: Robert Garrigus (315.5)
2011 — Common: 291.14 | Chief: J.B. Holmes (318.4)
2012 — Common: 290.07 | Chief: Bubba Watson (315.5)
2013 — Common: 288.00 | Chief: Luke Checklist (306.3)
2014 — Common: 289.85 | Chief: Bubba Watson (314.3)
2015 — Common: 290.21 | Chief: Dustin Johnson (317.7)
2016 — Common: 291.06 | Chief: J.B. Holmes (314.5)
2017 — Common: 292.79 | Chief: Rory McIlroy (316.7)
2018 — Common: 295.29 | Chief: Trey Mullinax (318)
2019 — Common: 293.90 | Chief: Cameron Champ (317.9)
Greater Good points So Far within the 2020s
There have been a few eye-catching numbers to date within the 2020s.
One is that we noticed the all-time driving distance report set twice, most lately by McIlroy. He averaged greater than 326 yards final season.
The opposite is that the common distance on the PGA Tour reached nearly precisely 300 yards two years in the past. That repeated final season. Thus far in 2024, the common is all the way down to 295 yards—however that may be a regular winter fluctuation. We have now but to hit the hotter months the place the ball goes farther.
Younger gamers developing now have been coaching to swing out of their sneakers, maximizing the know-how at hand, so it is smart why we might see that quantity get barely greater.
It seems to be to be short-lived, nonetheless, because the 2028 rollback may convey us nearer to averages we noticed within the 2010’s. We’ll have to attend to search out out.
If you’re questioning how LIV compares to the PGA Tour, we have now you lined there. The PGA Tour’s longest hitters are barely longer than bombers on LIV but it surely’s fairly shut.
Bryson DeChambeau, nonetheless, seems to be to have misplaced a step from the place he was a pair years in the past.
2020 — Common: 296.40 | Chief: Bryson DeChambeau (322.1)
2021 — Common: 295.30 | Chief: Bryson DeChambeau (320.8)
2022 — Common: 299.80 | Chief: Cameron Champ (321.4)
2023 — Common: 299.90 | Chief: Rory McIlroy (326.3)
Ultimate Takeaways
The brief abstract is that driving distance has elevated a big quantity within the 44 years for the reason that stat was first tracked by the Tour.
Common distance is up nearly precisely one yard per 12 months over that point.
The ‘80s and early ‘90s had been steady however modifications in tools triggered an explosion in distance through the late ‘90s and early 00s.
Since then, we’ve seen a gradual creep of driving distance.
My objective right here is to not argue whether or not distance within the professional sport is an issue—I simply wished everybody to see the evolution through the years.
One factor on which we are able to all agree: the sport is totally totally different than it was in 1980.
