Form Vs. Course History: PGA Review
We are now nine weeks into this study, so things are really starting to shape up and we can draw conclusions about course history vs golfer form. But first, we must talk about this PGA Championship that just took place.
What a tournament that was! Drama-packed all the way to the end, including some extra drama on the 18th thanks to rain delays and darkness. Rory stepped on the 18th tee box with a two-shot lead, meanwhile Phil and Rickie were basically forced to let Rory and Wies play up. They were not so happy about this decision. The Irishman nearly splashed his tee ball as he rushed to finish the round. A mere yard or two away from the water. Meanwhile, up on the green, Phil nearly holes out his chip shot from just off the green but taps in for birdie, forcing Rory to par out for the win. McIlroy hit his second into the greenside bunker to really make things interesting as he proceeded to splash out and then hit a really nice lag putt to secure the tap-in par and a one-stroke victory.
Now let’s see how well we could have predicted these finishes:
Course/Tournament History
PGA Average Finish: 31st place
PGA Money Earned: $2,667,792
9-Week Average Finish: 36th place
9-Week Avg Money Earned: $851,922
Season Form
PGA Average Finish: 24th place
PGA Money Earned: $2,356,609
9-Week Average Finish: 33rd place
9-Week Avg Money Earned: $1,341,319
Recent Form (Last 6 Weeks)
PGA Average Finish: 24th place
PGA Money Earned: $2,308,292
9-Week Average Finish: 36th place
9-Week Avg Money Earned: $756,695
Conclusion
It was a profitable week all-around. Each method of prognosticating netted over $2 million this week. We can give a big thanks to Rory for that, as he checked all the boxes. He had good history at PGA Championships, he had the 2nd best season form and his recent form was sizzling.
Tournament History yielded the only missed cut of the week, Keegan Bradley, but three top 10s out of Rory, Stenson, and Stricker still led the week as far as money earned goes.
Season form takes a rare step-down from 1st place honors as $2,356,609 earned wasn’t enough this week. Hard to complain with that number though, so it was definitely not a disappointment. Season form still leads the way over the nine-week stretch as we’ve proved that sample size is king.
Recent form settles for another last place showing this week, and now sits in the rear as far as money earned per week goes.
