On the Telephone With Brian Gay

[Yoda]

Was on the phone earlier this evening with PGA TOUR player Brian Gay, and I congratulated him on his recent fine play. The conversation went something like this...



Brian: Well, thanks there, Yoda. This TGM stuff is making a lot of sense, and I'll admit I have been hitting the ball better. Just haven't been making the putts.

Yoda: Brian, I must share something with you.

Brian: What's that, Green Thing?

Yoda: The latest stats are out and the jig is up: With an average of 27.37 Putts per Round, you now are officially ranked the #1 Putter on the PGA TOUR.

Brian: Really!

Yoda: Yep. 520 putts divided by 19 rounds equals 27.27 per round. Can't argue with the math.

Brian: Well, yeah, but that's just because I'm a good scrambler. How about my Putts per Green in Regulation?

Yoda: More bad news, Brian. At 1.677 per GIR, you're #2 in that category. And that 4th round at the Chrysler? The number was 1.429. You didn't miss anything under 10 feet. Outside that distance, you made one-third from 10-15 feet, half from 15-20 feet and two-thirds from 20-25 feet. Let's face facts, Brian: You're a good putter.

Brian: You think?

Yoda: You've made 75 birdies so far this year, one for every third green you've hit. That's better than David Toms, Davis Love, Stuart Appleby and Sergio Garcia, to name a few.

Brian: Okay, I guess I shouldn't be complaining about my putting. But, seriously, I do seem to be missing more lately.

Yoda: Brian, please. You shot 30 on the back nine Sunday on your way to a 66. Passed a lot of fine TOUR folk on your way to the pay window, too. You don't do that without making putts. But...I know your problem.

Brian: What's that?

Yoda: Did you look at your GIR stats at the Chrysler Tuscon?

Brian: Not yet. I got in from Tuscon about 1:30 AM, logged onto LBG to check the latest, then hit the sack.

Yoda: You're sitting down, right?

Brian: Of course, I'm in the car headed to Doral.

Yoda: Good. At Tuscon, you averaged 14 greens per round. The final round was even better, 77.8 percent.

Brian: Really! My average last year was 62.3 percent.

Yoda: That was last year, Brian...last year.

Brian: So, I'm hitting more greens, and that makes me feel like I'm missing more putts, even though I'm making more than anybody else?

Yoda: Something like that. But it gets worse.

Brian: Whazzupp?

Yoda: Your Driving stats.

Brian: Naah, I'm short.

Yoda: Not any more. Your 4th round average was 316 yards.

Brian: Really! You know, now that you mention it, I have been hitting it further.

Yoda: Yes you have, and that has had more than a little something to do with the four eagles you've made on the 5-pars this year. Not to mention last week's double eagle at the Nissan, the first on the PGA TOUR this year. But...I have more bad news.

Brian: I can hardly wait.

Yoda: You hit 85.7 percent of the fairways.

Brian: Really!

Yoda: Yeah, it's a nightmare: You're long and straight off the tee. You hit a ton of greens. And statistically, you're the best putter on the PGA TOUR.

Brian: Hmmm...that's pretty interesting stuff there, Yoda. I've been out here eight years. Maybe things are starting to turn my way.

Yoda: It's you, Brian. You've put in the time. You've done the work. Now comes the reward.

Brian: Hey, gotta go, Green Thing...I'm turning into the parking lot and the Blue Monster's waiting. Anything else I should be doing?

Yoda: Deltoid exercises, Brian. You gotta start working the right delts. Those trophies are heavy. And you never want the guys behind the cameras see you sweat.

[FL-John]

Green thing:

Gotta love it...thanks for the quick snipet! I know we'll all be wishing Brian the best of luck and will monitor his progress this year!!

If I might ask, what was the focus of your and Brian's work together? Usually at the PGA Tour level, there is some minor tweaking that happens...any insight in which you (and Brian) would mind sharing would be great!

Thanks in advance!

FL-John

[Delaware Golf]

The Laptop and the PGA Tour Player....

If I was on Tour...I would be spreadsheeting my stats...then slicing and dicing them in all kinds of ways....daily stats, stats relating to a particular course, looking for problem areas, etc....getting creative with the stats and building a game plan from them. Possibly seperate the stats according stroke execution versus more course strategy stats....then after that I would take the stats of the 5 to 10 best players and analyze them the same way. I bet if a player did that they would come up with some interesting insights...in the world of business we do that, the world of professional golf is no different, it's a business.

In a lot fields, to get ahead in that particular field one needs a real edge over the other participants...being a professional golfer is one of those fields. I say get stat happy!!!

DG BBA 05' Wharton School

[6bmike]

Nice to share that with us Lynn, ahh Green Thing ! Lots of new Tour guys to cheer for. Can't wait to see JR and BG holding the big cardboard check some Sunday afternoon.

Deltoid exercises? Not the Bertholoy dumbells?

Of course, Yoda, you can hold the trophy as their hold the big check !

[tongzilla]

For those who are interested:

http://pgatour.com/players/stats/149707/2006

[Delaware Golf]

One of the most common strong points for the top pros is GIR "Greens in Regulation" and Power....accuracy takes a back seat to those two stats. Interesting...

No wonder Tomasello placed an emphasis on POWER...I didn't get to study with Tomasello long enough... but I know from other students that Tommy had his students track each of their rounds with a unique tracking method...

DG

[birdie_man]

So his 4th rd. driving distance average was 316...

For 2006 overall it's 278...

Any idea why he was pumpin em last week?

[Yoda]

So his 4th rd. driving distance average was 316...

For 2006 overall it's 278...

Any idea why he was pumpin em last week?

Brian Gay's driving distance for the four rounds at the Chrysler Classic of Tuscon:

1st 276.4
2nd 265.5
3rd 285.2
4th 316.0

Average for the week: 285.8.

Brian tells me he is strongly sensing the Lag Pressure in the Right Forefinger (#3 Pressure Point) -- even more at the Nissan than last week -- and he is using the Magic of his Right Forearm to drive that Pressure directly toward the Ball. In his room after his rounds he drills with the dowels and a club, checking, for example, his On Plane alignmens, Flying Wedges and Extensor Action. As his Golf Stroke has become more and more precise, less energy is consumed fighting conflicting forces and more goes into the Clubhead Lag Pressure. And that is the name of the game.

[12 piece bucket]

Brian tells me he is strongly sensing the Lag Pressure in the Right Forefinger (#3 Pressure Point) -- even more at the Nissan than last week -- and he is using the Magic of his Right Forearm to drive that Pressure directly toward the Ball. In his room after his rounds he drills with the dowels and a club, checking, for example, his On Plane alignmens, Flying Wedges and Extensor Action. As his Golf Stroke has become more and more precise, less energy is consumed fighting conflicting forces and more goes into the Clubhead Lag Pressure. And that is the name of the game.

Based on the above is he a Hitter?

[6bmike]

And BG has the best "hang time" for a putt too. But a flag was thrown. BG sounds hooked.