Mar
Perspectives on the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play
NEW This Month
I love this place!
Entrants ranked on history in the event. The value reflects the player’s success and number of years competed within the last eight years, weighted in favor of more recent seasons. A value of 1.000 would mean the player appeared every year and won every time. A value of about .715 puts the player in the top 1 percent of all players who have played the event at least once in the last eight seasons, a value of .335 puts a player in the top 10 percent.
| Player | History |
|---|---|
| Sergio Garcia | 0.844 |
| Kevin Kisner | 0.832 |
| Bubba Watson | 0.766 |
| Jordan Spieth | 0.696 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 0.683 |
| Ian Poulter | 0.668 |
| Paul Casey | 0.663 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 0.651 |
Top of the heap
The top eight players (per the Hawley Ratings) among this week’s entries.
| Player | Rank | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Rahm | 1 | 1484.8 |
| Justin Thomas | 2 | 1380.3 |
| Patrick Cantlay | 3 | 1257.5 |
| Xander Schauffele | 5 | 1227.0 |
| Viktor Hovland | 6 | 1204.2 |
| Scottie Scheffler | 7 | 1181.7 |
| Dustin Johnson | 8 | 1180.2 |
| Daniel Berger | 9 | 1178.5 |
Sorry, can’t make it
The top four players (per the Hawley Ratings) who are not playing this week.
| Player | Rank | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Cameron Smith | 4 | 1237.8 |
| Rory McIlroy | 10 | 1157.4 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 22 | 886.9 |
| Harris English | 44 | 707.8 |
Ooh, that’s hot
Players are ranked by performance in their last four appearances in comparison with their current Hawley Rating.
| Player | Upward change |
|---|---|
| Viktor Hovland | 2234.4 |
| Sepp Straka | 1913.0 |
| Scottie Scheffler | 1824.6 |
| Max Homa | 1720.7 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 1382.1 |
| Shane Lowry | 1362.4 |
| Keith Mitchell | 1340.8 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | 1236.6 |
Brr, that’s cold
Players are ranked by performance in their last four appearances in comparison with their current Hawley Rating.
| Player | Downward change |
|---|---|
| Bryson DeChambeau | -853.0 |
| Webb Simpson | -828.5 |
| Seamus Power | -599.6 |
| Mac Hughes | -518.4 |
| Tony Finau | -493.2 |
| Matthew Wolff | -465.7 |
| Luke List | -459.4 |
| Patrick Reed | -439.7 |
Certain skills required
Among a set of 10 PGA Tour and DP World Tour statistics that reflect physical characteristics of the course, this table shows the four that have the highest unique correlation with player performance. Events on this week’s course within the last eight years are considered, and the minimum is 80 player appearances. In mathematical terms, the number shown is the partial correlation coefficient.
| Stat value | Statistic |
|---|---|
| 0.07 | Putting |
| 0.06 | Sand saves |
| 0.02 | Driving distance |
| 0.01 | Shots gained in approach |
In the neighborhood
Exempt entrants ranked by miles between their listed residence as of January 2022 and the event venue.
| Player | Residence | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Abraham Ancer | San Antonio TX | 75 |
| Patrick Reed | Spring TX | 150 |
| Si Woo Kim | Dallas TX | 175 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | Dallas TX | 175 |
| Jordan Spieth | Dallas TX | 175 |
| Scottie Scheffler | Dallas TX | 175 |
| Will Zalatoris | Dallas TX | 175 |
| Talor Gooch | Midwest City OK | 350 |
Ending with a little more math
The following table shows the correlations between player ranking in the above tables and their actual finish positions. In other words, to what extent does the ordering of players in the table correspond to the order of finish.
| Statistic | Correlation to results |
|---|---|
| I love this place | 0.117 |
| Top of the heap | 0.243 |
| Ooh, that’s hot | 0.181 |
| Location, location, location | 0.103 |
