Straight Talk

It’s now a bomb-and-gouge game, right? Bomb it? Sure. Gouge it? Let’s dig into a discussion of driving accuracy.

OF THE 74 PLAYERS who made the cut at the Honda Classic in February, Justin Thomas ended the tournament ranked T60 in driving accuracy, having hit just 31 of 56 fairways. And he won the event. Was this an anomaly or, as an indicator of Tour pro prowess, has driving accuracy become irrelevant?

Some numbers: All of the top ten players in the world are ranked inside the top 60 in strokes gained driving, yet nine of them are ranked outside the top 100 in driving accuracy. (The exception? Rickie Fowler, who’s ranked 39.) Despite the implication, this doesn’t definitively mean that driving accuracy is unimportant. It’s just less important than driving distance.