By Chris Dell
To view the full spreadsheet of updated round to round data for our Strokes Gained Ratings, click here
Primer/Intro: Last fall, I outlined how we can look for strong edges after Round 1 of a given PGA tournament using strokes gained statistics, combined with a little math. Using our "Strokes Gained Ratings" (SGR) formula, we will determine our buys and fades for head-to-head matchup bets and DFS strategy from round to round. Depending on certain courses we might look at some metrics more than others as well, but the primary focus will be on strokes gained putting, strokes gained approach and strokes gained off the tee. We will also refer below to "strokes gained ball striking," which is a combination of approach and off the tee numbers. Now let's dive into how exactly we'll use these numbers below.
In order to determine our buys and fades, we will simply subtract a golfer's strokes gained putting numbers from his strokes gained approach, off the tee and/or ball striking numbers. The premise here is that putting is often unpredictable and will regress more from round to round, whereas approach and tee to green (which combined equals "ball striking") are the "sticky" stats which indicate the golfers who are/aren't playing well in the moment. Our "buy" golfers will be those with a strokes gained rating of "+3" or higher, while our "fade" golfers will be those with a strokes gained rating of "-3" or lower. If two buys are facing each other in a head to head matchup bet, then we will pass, however we especially want to look for head to head opportunities where a "buy" is facing off directly with a "fade," and so on and so forth.
Strokes Gained is broken down into four categories, and depending on a certain course/tournament, we will look to target certain stats specifically to determine out H2H, round to round matchup prop bets.
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
Strokes Gained: Approach
Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green
Strokes Gained: Putting
Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (which is Off-the-Tee + Approach)
Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (which is Ball-Striking + Around-the-Green)
Overall Strokes Gained - Tee To Green
Adam Svensson +6.50
Chase Seiffert +5.12
—
N/A
Strokes Gained Rating - Tee To Green
Mito Pereira +6.73
Adam Svensson +6.47
—
Dylan Wu -6.23
Rickie Fowler -6.04
Overall Strokes Gained - Ball Striking
Adam Svensson +6.60
Sepp Straka +4.31
Mito Pereira +3.93
Louis Oosthuizen +3.56
John Huh +3.36
Mark Hubbard +3.22
Shane Lowry +3.21
Taylor Pendrith +3.02
—
Kyounghoon Lee -3.83
Strokes Gained Rating - Ball Striking
Mito Pereira +7.02
Adam Svensson +6.57
Danny Willett +5.43
—
Kyounghoon Lee -6.10
Rickie Fowler -5.65
Overall Strokes Gained - Approach
Adam Svensson +5.38
Garrick Higgo +4.70
Mark Hubbard +4.05
C.T. Pan +2.79
John Huh +2.72
Kurt Kitayama +2.67
Russell Knox +2.63
Justin Lower +2.60
Austin Cook +2.59
Sepp Straka +2.59
Louis Oosthuizen +2.58
Danny Willett +2.51
Mito Pereira +2.42
Nick Taylor +2.32
Vaughn Taylor +1.96
Chase Seiffert +1.88
J.J. Spaun +1.84
Shane Lowry +1.82
Taylor Pendrith +1.80
Brian Gay +1.59
J.T. Poston +1.55
Mackenzie Hughes +1.54
Sam Ryder +1.45
—
Kyounghoon Lee -3.39
Rickie Fowler -1.86
Denny McCarthy -1.79
Bill Haas -1.75
Andrew Kozan -1.75
Brett Drewitt -1.68
Dylan Wu -1.68
Stephan Jaeger -1.60
Christian Bezuidenhout -1.59
Martin Trainer -1.54
Matthias Schwab -1.51
Strokes Gained Rating - Approach
Mito Perreira +5.50
Danny Willett +5.40
Adam Svensson +5.35
Garrick Higgo +5.33
C.T. Pan +3.67
Kurt Kitayama +3.03
—
Rickie Fowler -5.66
Kyounghoon Lee -5.66
Dylan Wu -4.07
Denny McCarthy -3.51
Brett Drewitt -3.07
Stephan Jaeger -3.04
Christian Bezuidenhout -3.00
Overall Strokes Gained - Off The Tee
Sepp Straka +1.73
Alex Smalley +1.66
Mito Pereira +1.51
—
Garrick Higgo -3.79
Strokes Gained Rating - Off The Tee
Mito Pereira +4.60
—
Garrick Higgo -3.16
Overall Top Buys (Using Round 2 Data):
*******Mito Pereira +7.02
******Adam Svensson +6.57
***Danny Willett +5.43
***Sepp Straka +0.61
**C.T. Pan +3.15
**Chase Seiffert +2.21
**Taylor Pendrith +3.38
**Kurt Kitayama +3.28
**Shane Lowry +1.91
**Louis Oosthuizen –0.35
Overall Top Fades (Using Round 2 Data):
*****Rickie Fowler -6.04
****Kyounghoon Lee -4.98
***Dylan Wu -6.23
**Stephan Jaeger -4.31
**Denny McCarthy -2.89
**Christian Bezuidenhout -2.26
**Brett Drewitt +0.79
Round 3 Matchup/Head To Head (0.5 Units):
Pereira +0.5 > Vegas @ BO -125 (+9.78)
Willett +0.5 > Schwab @ BO -135 (+6.50)
Pereira > Noren @ Bet365 +105 (+6.44)
Pereira > Westwood @ DK -105 (+6.04)
Svensson > Straka @ BO -115 (+5.96)
Pan > Vegas @ Bet365 -105 (+5.91)
Young > McCarthy @ Bet365 -110 (+5.71)
Smalley > Dylan Wu @ BO -125 (+4.97)
Svensson > Knox @ Bet365 -110 (+4.87)
Poulter +0.5 > K.H. Lee @ BO -130 (+4.77)
Tournament Finish (0.25 Units):
Hughes > K.H. Lee @ BR -225 (+7.34 and 2 stroke lead)
The Field > Daniel Berger @ BO +109
Outrights/Longshots:
(0.05 Units) - Adam Svensson Outright Winner, 14:1 @ DK
(0.05 Units) - Adam Svensson Leader After Round 3, 18:1 @ FD
(0.1 Units) - Adam Svensson Winner WITHOUT Berger, +850 @ FD
(0.1 Units) - Kurt Kitayama Winner WITHOUT Berger, +750 @ FD
(0.1 Units) - Chase Seiffert Winner WITHOUT Berger, 18:1 @ FD
(0.05 Units) - Chase Seiffert Outright Winner, 44:1 @ FD
(0.05 Units) - Sepp Straka Outright Winner, 31:1 @ FD
Strokes Gained Ratings Key/Abbreviations
*Indicates the number of threshold metrics a golfer qualifies as a "buy" or "fade" in out of:
Strokes Gained Putting
Strokes Gained Ball Striking
Strokes Gained Tee To Green
Strokes Gained Gained Net Rating - Ball Striking
Strokes Gained Net Rating - Tee To Green
SGR = Strokes Gained Net Rating
BS = Ball Striking
OTT = Off The Tee
APP = Approach
PUTT = Putting
ARG = Around The Green
T2G = Tee To Green
FRL = First Round Leader
SRL = Second Round Leader
TRL = Third Round Leader
DK = DraftKings
FD = FanDuel
CZ = Caesars
BO = BetOnline
DSI = BetDSI
MB = MyBookie