Sentry Tournament of Champions: Inside the numbers as stars fall short

By Bill Felber | Jan 9, 2019

LAHAINA, HI - JANUARY 05: Bryson DeChambeau of the United States plays his shot from the 18th tee during the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club on January 5, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

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Cameron Champ of the United States plays a shot on the fourth hole during the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club on January 5, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

A rookie, Cameron Champ was the breakout star of the fall tour, winning his way into the Tournament Of Champions by a victory at the Sanderson Farms. His average 323.7 yard driving distance has set off virtual smoke alarms across the tour, as has his practice of averaging nearly six birdies per round to date.

The only thing missing has been the ability to perform consistently. Champ may be long, but he ranks 164th on tour in driving accuracy and 148th in sand save percentage. At Kapalua, those inconsistencies caught up with him.

Champ still gained about a quarter stroke per round off the tee…but that was fatally off his 1.48 average to date. His touch around the greens continued to founder, netting -0.32 Strokes Gained per round. That’s also worse than his -0.24 tour average thus far.

Where Champ showed real progress was in his putting game. Normally picking up about eight-tenths of a stroke per round on the greens, Champ’s Strokes Gained Putting registered 4.68 strokes this weekend, a net of about 1.2 strokes per round. Among the 32 players in the field, only deChambeau, Andrew Putnam and Xander Schauffele did better on the greens.

In other words, Kapalua illustrated both where Champ has an advantage over his competitors and where he needs to work. His growth will be interesting to watch.

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