🐅Sand Between His Paws

Ludvig Dominates, Min Woo Cooks & The Cat is Back

Nov 28, 2023

I’ve crawled out of my data den to send this email. I’ve spent the last week, hood up, lights off and dialed into The Social Network soundtrack. It’s data szn.

I’m adding millions of data points across six professional tours to make RickRunGood.com as complete as possible. It’s not “difficult” work but it certainly flexes my brain muscles. There’s only so many formulas you can write before just manually changing every instance of Seung Yul Noh to S.Y. Noh.

This is how I started the site, by being data-first and worrying about content/promotion later. It’s so much fun to get multiple days in a row to only care about data.

But — a quick break to lookahead to Tiger, Viktor and the Bahamas.

Good luck this week
Rick

🏆 RSM Classic Optimal Lineup 🍑

🌏 Livin’ In Ludvig’s World

There are any number of ways that I could present the numbers that would make Ludvig Aberg appear to be an all-timer. With two wins in his last six starts and not finishing worse than T14 since July — it’s easy to make him look good. Let’s try a few new ways:

Aberg has 51 measured rounds this season and his averaged a staggering 0.99 strokes gained per round off-the-tee. That’s his entire sample size without removing any below-average rounds.

To put that into perspective, of the golfers playing in the Hero World Challenge this week, only three of them have sustained a 51 round stretch as good as Aberg since 2017.

Tony Finau did it from R4 of the 2017 Valspar to R4 of the 2017 NORTHERN TRUST.
Cameron Young did it from R2 of the 2022 Genesis Invitational to R1 of the 2022 BMW Championship.
Scottie Scheffler is currently in a stretch of 95 rounds while holding that average because, sure why not.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ludvig Aberg is already one of the best drivers on the PGA TOUR while also possessing elite skills from the fairway through the green.

🧑‍🍳 Cooking In The Biggest Kitchens

Min Woo Lee was victorious last week at the Australian PGA Championship, his second win in four starts. Get comfortable seeing this chef on the biggest stages, because that’s when he shines the most.

Since the 2022 Masters, Min Woo Lee is averaging +0.78 SG/round in events with a 200 SOF+ (events that have a strength of field at least 2x the average field for that year).

That’s the 29th best mark of all golfers in the world who have played at least 50 rounds in those situations. He’s been better than notables Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Jason Day and Adam Scott.

Since the 2023 PGA Championship his average jumps to +1.62 which is 8th amongst all golfers with at least 20 rounds.

⛱️ Bahamas’ Best In Class

There are only eight golfers in the world who have played Albany for at least 16 rounds and gained strokes to the field. Of those eight, four are teeing it up this week.

🃏 He’s Baaaaaaack!

There’s a highly anticipated return this week, from a golfer who hasn’t teed it up in over six months. I’m referring to Will Zalatoris, obviously!

Tiger Woods has actually played a PGA TOUR event more recently than Will Zalatoris. Willy Z last played the Match Play event in March before shutting it down and getting back surgery.

2023 was a wash for Zalatoris, only playing seven events under questionable health. His 2022, however, was special.

He gained 1.45 strokes per round that year, which is the 32nd best season by any golfer in the last five years. There’s only been 14 seasons better in which golfers won once or fewer — Jon Rahm’s 2021 remains the gold standard of missed opportunities.

If Zalatoris plays anything like he did in 2022, he will immediately be thrust back into the discussion for Top 10 players in the world.

🐯 The Cat In His Natural Habitat

What am I to say? Nobody has any idea about the state of Tiger Woods’ game. We are all just guessing. Just enjoy the opportunity to see him tee it up again.

If you really need *something more*, this should be one of the friendliest events and walks on the PGA TOUR for him.

Albany Golf Club has a total ascent of just 35m (114.8 feet). For reference, Augusta National’s total ascent is 135m (442.9 feet) with a 5.5x greater distance between the minimum elevation and maximum elevation.

However, Woods has only gained strokes to the field once since August 2020 (nine events). His once masterful short-game has fallen off a cliff. Here’s hoping he finds some magic this week and stays healthy.

🐳 Splash Around With Me

Pick six golfers, one from each tier, and compete for cash prizes!

⛳ Link: https://bit.ly/45PcGyB

🚨 Coming Soon! 👀

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