Summary of Mark Broadie's Every Shot Counts

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The importance of putting is as old as golf itself. For more than two centuries, the mistaken idea that putting is the key to scoring has been the settled wisdom of experts and nonexperts alike.

#2 The observation that a missed putt can’t be made up for with a good putt is literally true, but it is wrong to attribute each golfer’s score to a single shot. The final score on a hole typically results from the accumulation of fractional gains and losses on each stroke.

#3 The effects of one shot on another are not limited to putting. Some golfers may gain confidence from booming a drive down the middle of the fairway, while knocking an approach shot to within one foot of the hole takes the pressure off the putt.

#4 Anecdotal evidence abounds that history revolves around the putt. The list of important off-green shots is just as impressive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822524859

IRB Media

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Insights on Mark Broadie's Every Shot Counts

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The importance of putting is as old as golf itself. For more than two centuries, the mistaken idea that putting is the key to scoring has been the settled wisdom of experts and nonexperts alike.

#2

The observation that a missed putt can’t be made up for with a good putt is literally true, but it is wrong to attribute each golfer’s score to a single shot. The final score on a hole typically results from the accumulation of fractional gains and losses on each stroke.

#3

The effects of one shot on another are not limited to putting. Some golfers may gain confidence from booming a drive down the middle of the fairway, while knocking an approach shot to within one foot of the hole takes the pressure off the putt.

#4

Anecdotal evidence abounds that history revolves around the putt. The list of important off-green shots is just as impressive.

#5

The importance of putting can’t be judged by looking only at putting, or only at winners, or by examining anecdotal evidence that focuses on a handful of shots. To determine the relative importance of putting, you must look at all shots that compose a golfer’s score.

#6

The putter is the one club that every golfer uses on virtually every hole. PGA Tour pros average 29 putts per round, with an average score of 71, so putts represent about 40 percent of their strokes. The number of strokes and the importance of strokes can be very different.

#7

In the real world, putting isn't any more important than other parts of the game. In Driver-Fairyland, driving doesn't matter, and in Putter-Fairyland, putting doesn't matter.

#8

Putting is not the only shot that counts in the game of golf. We need to look at data from a large number of tournaments to see what patterns emerge.

#9

The PGA Tour’s main putting stat, strokes gained putting, is a good measure of how well a golfer putst. It is a measure of ball striking, not putting. Tournament winners were ranked in the top 10 in putting in about 60 percent of tournaments, but in the top 10