The Economics of Sport
  • Sports Economics
  • About
  • Workshop
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • A Primer on Gaelic Games
  • Upcoming Events
  • Media
  • Education
  • Resources & Links
  • Data

Drive for Dough

3/6/2014

0 Comments

 
By John Considine
Almost twenty years ago Bob Rotella published his best-selling book Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect.  Rotella's background is psychology and it was his application of psychology to golf that brought him to sporting prominence.  Tom Kite wrote the foreword for the book and he testifies to the important influence Rotella had on his career.  In chapter 9 Rotella lists an impressive range of golfers who have benefitted from redirecting their attention away from their long-game towards their short-game.  But he admits there are some golfers that he cannot help improve.  He says about such a player, "this is a player who cannot accept the fact that low scores depend on how well a golfer plays once the ball is within about 120 yards of the hole. This is the player who persists in thinking that golf is about who hits the longest drives or the prettiest 3-irons".

Picture
Rotella might revise his views given the changes to the Professional Golfers' Association Tour in the meantime.  According to a recently published paper in the Journal of Sports Economics, the average length of the golf courses on the tour has increased, the height of the rough has been reduced, cups have been repositioned to harder locations, while there has been no increase in the number of bunkers.  The authors suggest that these changes should have increased the returns to driving relative to putting.  Examining the data, the authors of the paper find that this is in fact the case.  Carson Baugher, Jonathan Day and Elvin Burford find that prior to 2011, putting ability was the most important determinant of earnings.  In 2011 this changed with driving distance becoming the most important determinant of earnings.  Putting slipped to second place in 2011 and remained there in 2012.  In 2013 putting slipped to third behind driving distance and driving accuracy.

A key year in their analysis is 2008 when "the average length of the golf course on the PGA Tour increased by 37.4 yards".  From that year there is a dramatic increase in the returns to driving length and accuracy.

To illustrate their argument on earning they compare the 2013 earnings of Bubba Watson and Bryce Molder.  Watson was the 5th longest driver and 122nd best putter.  Molder drove the ball 14 years less than the average golfer but was the 4th best putter.  Watson earned $1.8m while Molder earned $0.8m.  Eight of the top 10 drivers earned more than $1m whereas only 5 of the top 10 putter earned over $1m.

Carson, Day & Burford suggest that the old saying "drive for show and putt for dough" should be replaced by "drive for dough in order to putt for dough".

The evidence presented in the paper is not incompatible with Rotella's views.  However, it clearly attaches a greater importance to driving than one might get from Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect.  One of the things I found most interesting about the paper is my reaction to it.  If someone asked me to guess which of two golfers earned more money, and they said one was a better driver while the other was better from 120 yards to the hole, then I would go with the golfer that was better over the last 120 yards.  I find it hard to rationalise my choice.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    About

    This website was founded in July 2013.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    American Football
    Athletics
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Behavioural Economics
    Boxing
    Broadcasting
    Competitive Balance
    Cricket
    Cycling
    Darts
    David Butler
    Declan Jordan
    Drugs
    Ed Valentine
    Epl
    Esports
    Expenditure
    F1
    Fifa World Cup
    Finances
    Funding
    Gaa
    Gaelic Games
    Gambling
    Game Theory
    Gary Burns
    Geography
    Golf
    Greyhound Racing
    Guest Posts
    Horse Racing
    Impact Studies
    John Considine
    John Eakins
    League Of Ireland
    Location
    Media
    Mls
    Mma
    Olympics
    Participation
    Paul O'Sullivan
    Premier League
    Regulation
    Research
    Robbie Butler
    Rugby
    Simpsonomics
    Snooker
    Soccer
    Spatial Analysis
    Sporting Bodies
    Stephen Brosnan
    Swimming
    Taxation
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tennis
    Transfers
    Uefa
    Ufc
    World Cup
    Wwe

Related

The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities. 

Contact

To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.