John Daly - Distance
Charles Pfeil
Last week, John Daly won a longest driving contest against the Senior Tour
champion, Jim Dent. John's longest drive was about 341 yards, and he
averaged over 330 for his top drives. Jim Dent's longest drive was about
333 yards and he averaged about 320. The balls had to stop within a 40
yard wide area to count. After that competition, John entered the Shootout
and on that hole he hit his drive 358 yards.
Obviously these guys can really kill the ball. My question is, why is their
average drive in the tour events around 280-285 yards? I know that two holes
per round are designated as measurement holes. I know they have to put
their drives in the fairway to count. I know that John Daly does NOT ever
let up on his drives. Also, at the Masters, John Daly hit a 391 yard drive
on the 2nd hole in the last round.
Can anyone tell me why the tour average is so low?
I occasionaly hit a drive 290 to 300 yards, but my average drive is probably
230. So could we say John Daly occasionaly hit a 340 to 360 drive but
his average is 280? Have you ever seen John Daly hit a drive less than 270?
The averages don't work out!
How do they count a 340 drive that misses the fairway? Maybe they count it
as zero yards. Let's see, if John Daly hit 10 drives, 8 at 310 yards, and
2 at zero, his average would be: 240. Nah, that must not be it. Anyway,
thanks for being patient with my rambling on. Let me know if you have an
answer.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charles Pfeil
cpf...@charles1.b23b.ingr.com
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Bob McGwier
That should be obvious, they are throttling back to try to earn a big check
that week (i.e., keep it in the fairways!).
Bob
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Robert W. McGwier | n4...@ccr-p.ida.org
Center for Communications Research | Interests: amateur radio, astronomy,golf
Princeton, N.J. 08520 | Asst Scoutmaster Troop 5700, Hightstown
Roy Vallillee
: That should be obvious, they are throttling back to try to earn a big check
What it really is that they don't need to drive the ball 300 + everytime and
in a lot of cases it puts them through the fairway. Also if they can hit it
with "control" (key word here) at 260-270 then that is what they do. They
play courses where there is rough which is very difficult to play from. As
far as the measured holes go they take two that are in opposing directions to
allow for wind effects on the distance.
What really amazes me more is not so much their drives but when they hit a
1 or 2 iron 23-240 yards to a small green. Now that is a feat.
ROY
John L. Mimms
for example, may choose to hit the 3 wood or 1 iron and "only" hit it 280.
John M.
E. Reed Wilbur
[Deleted results of Daly vs. Dent driving contest]
> Obviously these guys can really kill the ball. My question is, why is their
> average drive in the tour events around 280-285 yards? I know that two holes
> per round are designated as measurement holes. I know they have to put
> their drives in the fairway to count. I know that John Daly does NOT ever
> let up on his drives. Also, at the Masters, John Daly hit a 391 yard drive
> on the 2nd hole in the last round.
>
> Can anyone tell me why the tour average is so low?
There are a number of reasons why statistical averages for these big hitters
is so low. The first is probably that they are not always hitting driver
on the driving holes. When you're able to hit 1-iron 270+ and 3-wood
around 300, there are lots of holes where driver doesn't make sense.
A related reason is that they're not trying to hit the ball as far as
they can (yes, I'm sure even John Daly doesn't hit everything at 110%
when every shot counts).
Remember, there is a *huge* difference between trying to hit *one* shot
as far as you can or playing in a hole-at-a-time event which rewards
those who take risks and succeed, and playing in a 72-hole medal play
tournament. Even John Daly recognizes this, despite what his public
statements might indicate.
Probably not a definitive answer, but my thoughts on the matter...
- Reed Wilbur
Internet: e...@tasc.com Compu$erve: 72053,2004
Phone: (617) 942-0080 x2799 Fax: (617) 942-7100
"I don't know... I'm making this up as I go along!"
- Indiana Jones
GSCHLIER
ton.
I wonder how many of us who hit big drives make as much as Daly does.
What stumps me is how he can hit it so hard and so straight?
However the old saying is so very true...Drive for Show and Putt for Dough. I
bet if you look at the stats for putting, those at the top are also closer to
the top of the $$ list.
GREG
Jorge Nigaglioni 93
No, no, no.
Daly does not hit it straight, that is why he could do good at crooked
stick, wide open golf course, where even the rough couldn't punish him.
Put a couple of trees and anyone on tour and a few of us can beat him
Jorge
Gregg Bond
> What it really is that they don't need to drive the ball 300 + everytime and
> in a lot of cases it puts them through the fairway. Also if they can hit it
> with "control" (key word here) at 260-270 then that is what they do. They
> play courses where there is rough which is very difficult to play from. As
> far as the measured holes go they take two that are in opposing directions to
> allow for wind effects on the distance.
>
> What really amazes me more is not so much their drives but when they hit a
> 1 or 2 iron 23-240 yards to a small green. Now that is a feat.
>
> ROY
I saw the contest between Daly and Dent. Daly used a Killer Whale
driver with a 7 degree face. Does anyone know if that's the same
degree he uses on tour? That seems awful tough to control on the
tight PGA tour fairways...
Btw, Dent used a 9 degree Big Bertha.
************************************************************************
* Gregg Bond *
* Delgado Community College *
* New Orleans, LA *
* Bitnet: GSBOND@DELGADO *
* Voice : (504) 483-4910 *
************************************************************************
Jorge Nigaglioni 93
can run through Daly's mind, either kill it, ruin the hole and perhaps do
poorly ob the tournament, or try to kill it so badly that he can't hit the
fairway. It is called pressure and we all get it. Over Spring Break I
played five rounds, and compiled stats for my rounds, and my average drive
was longer than I had thought, Charlie, you can probably average more than
230 a drive.
Jorge
On Wed, 5 May 1993, Charles Pfeil wrote:
> Last week, John Daly won a longest driving contest against the Senior Tour
> champion, Jim Dent. John's longest drive was about 341 yards, and he
> averaged over 330 for his top drives. Jim Dent's longest drive was about
> 333 yards and he averaged about 320. The balls had to stop within a 40
> yard wide area to count. After that competition, John entered the Shootout
> and on that hole he hit his drive 358 yards.
>
> Obviously these guys can really kill the ball. My question is, why is their
> average drive in the tour events around 280-285 yards? I know that two holes
> per round are designated as measurement holes. I know they have to put
> their drives in the fairway to count. I know that John Daly does NOT ever
> let up on his drives. Also, at the Masters, John Daly hit a 391 yard drive
> on the 2nd hole in the last round.
>
> Can anyone tell me why the tour average is so low?
>
Isaac Kim
>>
>I saw the contest between Daly and Dent. Daly used a Killer Whale
>driver with a 7 degree face. Does anyone know if that's the same
>degree he uses on tour? That seems awful tough to control on the
>tight PGA tour fairways...
I watched John Daly hit golf balls at the Torrey Pines driving range
on a practice day for the Buick Invite of California (previously the
Andy Williams San Diego Open) in 1992. This was right after he signed
with Wilson golf. When he won the PGA the previous year, he was hitting
a Cobra Kevlar driver. Daly at the time was still trying to find the
right Wilson driver. He started with this 7 degree metal Killer Whale,
but after hitting a few, he thought he was hitting the ball too high.
So he gave it to a Wilson equipment guy, and he went into a trailer
parked next to the range. He came back a bit later, Daly hit a few,
and he still though the ball was going to high, so he gave it back
to the equipment guy to work on it some more. I asked another Wilson
guy what they were doing to the dirver and he figured that they were
torching the hosel of the driver and bending it more upright, since
that is the only way to change the loft of a metal wood. After a few more
trips back to the trailer, Daly was finally happy with the loft.
I noticed that the hosel was definitely darkened due to the torching.
I have no idea if this is still the driver he is using today. But
there is a chance that even thought the driver says it is 7 degrees,
it could actually be even steeper.
A humorous thing happened after Daly was happy with his driver and
started to really crank them down the range. You can hit from both
ends of the new range at Torrey. The driving range must be 350
yards long at least. Once Daly got rolling, he started to reach the
pros hitting from the other end. A PGA official had to ask him not hit
anymore drivers because the other Pros were complaining that they couldn't
concentrate as Daly's golf balls kept on were rolling into them.
Daly kindly obliged.
The most amazing thing about watching Daly up close is that he really
does not swing all that hard. He gets all of distance because of
an incredible coil of his upper body. At the top of his swing, the
bicept/tricept part of his left arm is flush against the right
side of neck. Try this at home (but don't hurt yourself). I thought
I had a decent shoulder turn at the top, but I can't even come close
to how much Daly can turn.
Isaac (k...@bull.ucsd.edu)
Paul Maxson
or against the golfer, does he draw it, but is the wind blowing left to
right. also, notice that most long drive contests are on fairways thjat
are pretty rolling, maybe even a bit downhill, or at least the fairways
have been cut very low. These things typically don't happen in pro
tournaments...the officials try to set up the course so controllable
factors try to balance somewhat all types of golfers...also I've noticed
that so many tournaments are played in less than ideal weather, wet
fairways can sure knock distance down a lot too....
Paul Maxson
Glendale College
Glendale, AZ
Max...@gc.maricopa.edu
Pat Inglis
to hit a full 9-iron 160 yds into the green.
Just kidding, although Daly has suprisingly good touch with his wedges.
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Noel Kerns
>From: cpf...@charles1.b23b.ingr.com (Charles Pfeil)
>Subject: John Daly - Distance
>Date: 5 May 93 19:45:52 GMT
>Last week, John Daly won a longest driving contest against the Senior Tour
>champion, Jim Dent. John's longest drive was about 341 yards, and he
>averaged over 330 for his top drives. Jim Dent's longest drive was about
>333 yards and he averaged about 320. The balls had to stop within a 40
>yard wide area to count. After that competition, John entered the Shootout
>and on that hole he hit his drive 358 yards.
>Obviously these guys can really kill the ball. My question is, why is their
>average drive in the tour events around 280-285 yards? I know that two holes
>per round are designated as measurement holes. I know they have to put
>their drives in the fairway to count. I know that John Daly does NOT ever
>let up on his drives. Also, at the Masters, John Daly hit a 391 yard drive
>on the 2nd hole in the last round.
>Can anyone tell me why the tour average is so low?
Maybe they count all non par 3 tee shots as drives, even on 340 yard holes
where one might lay up with a 3-iron, thereby greatly reducing the overall
average? After all, there aren't that many golf courses where it's wise to
simply pull out the driver and rip away on every tee box.
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Noel Kerns
Ericsson Network Systems, Inc
P.O. Box 833875
Richardson, TX 75083-3875
Voice - (214) 907-5954
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Marcelo Gallardo
>
> After all, there aren't that many golf courses where it's wise to
>simply pull out the driver and rip away on every tee box.
>
Maybe that's my problem ;-)
Marcelo -
--
Marcelo Gallardo mar...@deadzone.princeton.edu
Test and Evaluation Specialist ...!princeton!deadzone!marcelo
Princeton University mar...@Princeton.EDU
Advanced Technologies and Applications (609) 258-5661
We learn from history that we do not learn anything from history.
robert.j.dietrich
drives which is not typical. I also remember that he was consistently
hitting it 280-290 when he won the PGA.
Bob D.
Bob McGwier
In article <1993May5.1...@dazixco.ingr.com> cpf...@charles1.b23b.ingr.com (Charles Pfeil) writes:
>From: cpf...@charles1.b23b.ingr.com (Charles Pfeil)
>Subject: John Daly - Distance
>Date: 5 May 93 19:45:52 GMT
>yard wide area to count. After that competition, John entered the Shootout
>and on that hole he hit his drive 358 yards.
WOW, that exceeds Big Cat Williams record drive when he won the long driving
championship doesn't it?! I believe he still holds the record.
B