To figure out strokes gained putting, you take the expected number of putts from a player’s starting distance, subtract the expected number of putts from where the ball ends up, and then subtract one for the stroke they just hit. This simple math creates a reliable performance metric that isolates a golfer’s work on the green from the rest of their game.
How Strokes Gained Putting Works
Before this metric existed, golf analysts judged putting with basic counting stats. They looked at total putts per round or putts per green in regulation. But those numbers told an incomplete story. A player who constantly missed greens and chipped the ball to within two feet would naturally have very few putts. On paper, they looked like the best putter in the world. In reality, they were just an excellent chipper who tapped in short putts all day long.
Mark Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, saw this flaw. He knew the sport needed a better way to measure performance on the greens. The mathematical foundation he built completely replaced the old counting stats. Broadie used thousands of shots recorded by the PGA Tour’s tracking systems to figure out exactly how many putts an average touring professional takes to hole out from any given distance.
The Core Formula
The math requires a massive database of shots to establish a baseline. The PGA Tour uses its proprietary tracking system to log the exact starting distance of every single putt hit during tournament play. Over time, this data reveals the “expected putts” from any spot on the green.
The actual formula looks like this: You start with the expected putts from the initial distance. You subtract the expected putts from the finishing distance. Finally, you subtract the one stroke the player just took.
Let’s walk through a realistic example from a fairly standard distance. Historical tour averages show an expected number of putts right around one and a half from about eight feet out. If a player steps up and sinks that eight-footer in a single stroke, the math is straightforward. You take the expected one and a half putts, subtract zero for the finishing position (since the ball is in the hole), and subtract the one stroke taken. The player earns roughly half a stroke against the field.
But if the player misses and taps in for a two-putt, the math flips. You start with the expected one and a half putts. The ball is now in the hole, so the finishing expectation is zero. You subtract the two actual strokes taken. The player loses roughly half a stroke to the field. Every single putt during a tournament goes through this exact process, generating a cumulative score for the round.
Why Players and Analysts Use This Metric
Golf coaches and television broadcasters lean heavily on this metric because it isolates putting from approach play. If a player hits a wedge shot to one foot and taps in for birdie, the math rewards the wedge shot, not the putter. The expected number of putts from one foot is basically one. Making a one-footer gives you zero strokes gained putting. The credit goes exactly where it belongs: to the iron play.
This isolation makes it the ultimate diagnostic tool. Many golf organizations now consider this the highest standard of golf performance measurement available to modern players. If a touring professional shoots a poor score, their coach can look at the data and instantly know if the problem was off the tee, hitting into the greens, or rolling the ball on the putting surface.
Building Better Practice Routines
Tour professionals do not practice blindly anymore. They use these baselines to structure their daily drills. Because the math tells them exactly where they lose the most strokes, they can focus their energy on specific distances.
For instance, players know the make percentage drops significantly outside of ten feet. If a player’s data shows they are losing a fraction of a stroke every time they putt from fifteen feet, they will spend hours on the practice green setting up drills specifically from that distance. They stop wasting time practicing flat three-footers that yield almost zero statistical advantage and focus entirely on the ranges that actually move them up the leaderboard.
Famous Examples and Real-World Baselines
To really understand how professionals play, you have to look at the historical baselines. The most famous benchmark in this statistical category sits just under eight feet. Specifically, from seven feet and ten inches, the PGA Tour average is precisely one and a half putts to hole out.
This creates a perfect mathematical tipping point on the golf course. From exactly this distance, a one-putt gives a player a clean positive half-stroke gain. A two-putt gives them a clean half-stroke loss. Television commentators frequently mention this distance during broadcasts to give viewers a sense of how difficult a seemingly short putt actually is. A casual fan might assume a tour pro should make every eight-footer they look at. The data proves that is simply not true. It is a true coin flip.
Live Cutoffs on Tour
The application of this math happens in real time during every professional event. Third-party platforms run live event analytics that establish mathematical cutoffs for what constitutes a great or poor shot on the green based on the daily conditions.
During major championships, these live trackers define a “great shot” as any putt that gains well over half a stroke against the field. A “poor shot” is defined as any stroke that loses half a stroke or more. By aggregating these numbers hole by hole, fans checking the official PGA Tour leaderboard can instantly see who is having a hot day on the greens, completely independent of how well they are striking the golf ball.
Common Misconceptions
While the math is incredibly sound, it does have a few blind spots that confuse casual fans. The most common issue occurs when elite iron players look terrible on the putting stat sheet. This happens because the system fundamentally rewards long putts more than short ones.
The Stuffed Wedge Paradox
Imagine a golfer is having the ball-striking round of their life. They hit eighteen consecutive approach shots to within inches of the cup. They tap in eighteen times for a score of 54. It is the greatest round of golf ever played.
But if you look at their strokes gained putting for the day, the number will sit exactly at zero. Because the expected putts from a few inches away is one, and the player took one stroke every time, they gained absolutely nothing on the greens. The math works perfectly (it assigns all the statistical credit to the approach shots), but fans often look at a score of 54 and wonder why the player is ranked dead last in putting for the day. This paradox makes elite ball-strikers look like average putters on stat sheets when they are hitting their irons close.
Green Reading vs. Execution
Another major debate in the golf world centers around the difficulty of the green itself. The basic formula relies entirely on distance. It does not know if a putt is straight up a hill or sliding quickly down a steep slope.
If a player faces a completely flat, straight ten-footer, the math grades them against the exact same baseline as a player facing a breaking, downhill ten-footer on a lightning-fast green. If the player makes the difficult breaking putt, they gain the exact same amount of strokes as the player who made the easy straight putt. Critics argue this fails to capture the true difficulty of green reading on harder golf courses. The system simply assumes that over the course of a four-day tournament, every player will face an equal number of hard and easy putts, smoothing out the statistical noise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who invented the Strokes Gained stat?
Mark Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, invented the metric. The PGA Tour eventually adopted his data analytics system to replace traditional counting stats like total putts per round.
What is a good Strokes Gained Putting number?
Any positive number indicates a player is performing better than the field average. If a player finishes a round with a positive total, it means they putted better than the average professional that specific day.
Do you figure out Strokes Gained on every putt?
Yes. In professional golf, the math is applied to every single shot taken on the green. A player’s total number for the round is simply the sum of the strokes gained or lost on every putt they attempted over eighteen holes.
How does Strokes Gained differ from Putts Per Round?
Putts Per Round heavily favors players who miss greens, chip the ball close, and one-putt to save par. The modern metric adjusts for the exact distance of the initial putt, ensuring that sinking a long putt is mathematically rewarded far more than tapping in a short one.