"Distance = Performance"... "Not Yet"

2022/2023 PGA Tour Long Hitters' Earnings Calculation
'Top 10' 4 Wins, McIlroy's 18 Billion KRW Jackpot
Young, An Byeonghun, Aubrey Show Relatively Strong Performance
Quest, Matthews Prize Money Ranking Within Top 200

Powerful long drives are the dream of every golfer. They are the aspiration of both professionals and amateurs. However, tremendous driving distance does not guarantee success. In fact, the saying "putting is money" holds more weight. This is why tour players focus on their green play. The average driving distance on the 2022/2023 PGA Tour season was 299.90 yards. There were as many as 98 players who drove over 300 yards. We examined the correlation between performance and long hitters on the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy has earned over 18 billion won in prize money this season on the PGA Tour, powered by his powerful long drives.

This year's top long hitter is Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), ranked 2nd in the world. He drove an impressive 326.30 yards on average. In the 4th round of the Genesis Scottish Open last July, he recorded a maximum drive of 428 yards. He dominated the tour with his fearsome long drives followed by precise wedge play. McIlroy secured 2 wins this season and finished in the top 10 thirteen times, earning $13,921,008 (approximately 18 billion KRW). He ranks 4th in the prize money standings.

Among the players in the top 10 for driving distance, aside from McIlroy, no other player made a strong impression. This season, the "rising stars" Ludvig Aberg and Vincent Norrman (both from Sweden) each added one win, combining for a total of 4 wins. Cameron Young (USA), ranked 7th in driving distance (315.70 yards), earned $5,392,961 (33rd) without a win. An Byeong-hun, ranked 8th in driving distance (315.6 yards), is 54th in prize money with $3,231,760, and Aberg, ranked 6th in driving distance (317.1 yards), performed well with 55th place in prize money at $3,144,994.

The rest of the players fell short of expectations. Peter Kuest, ranked 2nd in driving distance (321.7 yards), earned $950,647, and Brandon Matthews, ranked 3rd (321.3 yards), earned $265,711, both falling outside the top 200 in prize money rankings. Kuest also had an outstanding greens in regulation rate of 73.79% (2nd), but his probability of scoring par or better when in the rough around the green was only 55% (124th). Matthews had a fairway hit rate of 47.38% (192nd), with erratic tee shots making it difficult to create birdie opportunities.

Cameron Champ (USA), known for his long drives and ranked 4th (319.9 yards), finished 134th in prize money with $1,103,852 this year. Nikolai Hojgaard (Denmark), who mainly competes on the European Tour, ranked 5th in driving distance (317.7 yards) and earned $1,239,111. Marti Schmid (Germany), ranked 10th in driving distance (314.10 yards), earned $1,064,025, remaining at that level.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.