Sony Open Recap: How eight of the PGA TOUR’s best fell short
By Bill Felber
Coming out of Waialae, DeChambeau has the fifth best scoring average on tour this season, at 68.95. Measured by Strokes Gained, he has the seventh best driving game on tour, and the 29th best game approaching the greens.
By that resume, he ought to be a contender every week. At Waialae, he was – until Sunday, when a three-under 67 failed to gain any ground on the field and left him in a tie for 10th.
Tee-to-green, DeChambeau was as good as advertised. He made up 1.2 strokes on the field off the tee, another 1.2 approaching the greens and another fraction around the greens. Those are all normally DeChambeau strengths; he can count on them generating about a 1.87 stroke advantage week-to-week. That they provided a 2.63 stroke per round advantage in Hawaii should have positioned him to contend, which was what happened.
In the end, it all came down to DeChambeau’s putting game. Statistically, he is a good if not great putter, normally gaining about a half stroke per round on the field. Had he done that in Hawaii, he likely still wouldn’t have won, but he might have managed a top 5.
Instead, DeChambeau flailed through a sub-par putting week, giving the field about one-third of a stroke back.