Sentry Tournament of Champions 2022
Stats, Trends & Things You Don't Need To Know
Course: Plantation Course at Kapalua
Par 73 - 7,596 Yards
Bermudagrass Greens
Everyone But Rory
Forty different golfers won on TOUR last season and earned a ticket to this event. A jarring 39 of them have chosen to show up, all except Rory McIlroy. We are headed for a 516 Strength of Field, making it the second-best field in the last decade and twice as good as the 2020 edition. Here are this week’s best players in “Strong Fields” (over 500 SOF):
Jon Rahm +1.61
Patrick Cantlay +1.36
Justin Thomas +1.35
Brooks Koepka +1.22
Xander Schauffele +1.21
NOTE: Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama and Bryson DeChambeau are the only other golfers gaining at least one stroke per round.
The Weights Matter!
Earlier this week, I released my new “Weighted Strokes Gained” (wSG) metrics on RickRunGood.com. It’s a calculation that has been two years in the making that factors in Strength of Field (amongst other things) to better define the Strokes Gained Metric.
We inherently know that gaining two strokes at the US Open is more impressive than gaining two strokes at the Bermuda Championship, but now I can quantify it. Here are the best players in the field, for the last 50 rounds, in Weighted Strokes Gained:
Daniel Berger Is Better Than You Think
2022 is shaping up to be the Year of the Berger. When we think about elite players, we generally start with approach play since it’s such a big separator of talent. The Top 5 Approach players in this field over the last 100 rounds:
Collin Morikawa
Justin Thomas
Daniel Berger
Hideki Matsuyama
Xander Schauffele
He’s better than Hideki! Right behind JT and Morikawa! I could have given you 100 guesses and you wouldn’t have gotten that right.
When you go back to the wSG numbers, it doesn’t take long to find his name either. Of players in this field, over last 50 rounds; only Rahm, Cantlay and DeChambeau have been better.
That means he’s not only elite at an elite skill-set but he’s contending in the best fields. Get ready for a year of strait vibin’ all the way to the pay window.
The Bermuda Dilemma
Hat tip to my buddy Sia Nejad for pointing this out to me…
Sungjae Im, during his career, has been phenomenal on bermudagrass greens. Statistically, that’s his best surface and he’s gained about 0.37 strokes putter per round on them. That number alone would make him the 6th best putter in this field on Bermuda. So what’s the problem?
Well, over his last eight starts on the surface, he’s been horrendous. He’s lost a total of 13.17 strokes to the field in those eight starts. Is eight bad starts the outlier? Or does he get back to normal this week? Let me know what you think about it, tweet me @RickRunGood.
Tuesday Scramble
The brand new LIVE show, The Scramble, had it’s first episode this week. Joined by Andy Lack, we discussed the Curious Case of Xander Schauffele, played “Bet It or Forget It” and much more. This show is every Tuesday and Friday at 12pm ET on the RickRunGood YouTube Channel.
WE WANT MORE!
Okay, sheesh… relax! I’ll give you more (all times Eastern):
Wednesday: Live Chat (3pm), Twitter Space (7pm) & Jock MKT Power Hour (8:15pm)
Friday: Scramble (12pm)
Saturday: Twitter Space (9pm)
See you then
Rick