Watch a golf tournament on television, and you’ll hear the announcers explain why Tiger Woods or Justin Rose or Ernie Els is in the lead. “He’s tops in the field this week in fairways hit,” they might say. Or perhaps they’ll point to his stellar driving distance, or his amazingly low number of putts per round, or his excellent birdie conversion rate. But none of those statistics—the ones we’re told separate the champions from the also-rans—truly reflects why golfers win and lose. At worst, they’re actively misleading, giving us the wrong impression of why the best players in the game succeed.
via Why most golf statistics whiff and how to fix them. – By Michael Agger – Slate Magazine.
Michael Agger 