Those numbers tell a different story from the current perception of golf. I cannot disagree. Theres good reason to believe that Nicklaus record will never be approached again. Francesco is the owner of My Golf Heaven and manages the team of experts writers on the site. In 2000, Karrie Webb won by 10 strokes at 14 under par. Money Trending Examples . But what effect did this have on scorecards? Added together, you get a total driving number the lower that number, the better you are overall driving the ball (i.e. With the driver, he observed a 25-30 yard difference on well-struck shots. Tavatanakit is playing the course in a way that Rankin, the winner of the 1976 ANA Inspiration, has never seen before. Join InsideGOLF for only $20 - includes instant $20 Fairway Jockey credit! Nicklaus ranked 10th in driving distance and won two majors during that 1980 campaign, but his 269 yards off the tee would have been dead last on Tour in 2019. The PGA of America is one of the world's largest sports organizations, composed of PGA Professionals who work daily to grow interest and participation in the game of golf. Having said that, the bunker 35 yards in front of the 15th green at Muirfield GC was put there after Nicklaus twice drove the green in the 1959 Walker Cup, as a chubby 19 year old BEST TOTAL DRIVING SEASONS ON THE PGA TOUR, BEST DRIVING ACCURACY RANK AMONG PLAYERS IN TOP 10 OF DRIVING DISTANCE, Average Accuracy Rank of Top 10 in Distance, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. [quote name='titleistfan14' timestamp='1302833449' post='3154660'] Jack was very long, a very powerful swing. In his words, via a Golf Digest article from 2015: First time I ever had my swing speed checked was 98. But the endorsement climate was hardly as lucrative (or as mature) as it is today. At the same time, driving distance turns on the jets, making huge strides into the high 280s, and finally breaking 290 for the first time ever in 2011. RELATED: The 15 longest drives on the PGA Tour since 2010. A few years ago as the Golden Bears 80th birthday approached, we got to thinking: What would Nicklaus career have looked like if he came to prominence today, in this age of eight-figure purses and TrackMan and Twitter? All it takes is one person, at one tournament, to post one swing video and post it into the Instagram/Twitter vortex. GOLF.com and GOLF Magazine are published by EB GOLF MEDIA LLC, a division of 8AM GOLF. He was very, very long early in his career but decided that scaling back the distance and being more precise was a better way to play. But with equipment overall, and relative to distance, I'm not so sure. Half of the high handicappers could barely get off the tee with the old persimmon, and 200 yards on average was pretty good back then (especially when they topped ever 3rd or 4th drive). And that further adds to Tavatanakits challenge of winning a first major title. He was never featured on Golf Digests Instagram account at age 16 because Instagram wasnt created until Nicklaus was 70. IBM recorded driving distance data at 11 PGA Tour events in 1968. John Daly, by the way, became the first golfer to average 300 yards off the tee in 1997, last person to win a major with a persimmon driver was Bernhard Langer, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The golf ball goes so far, Augusta National is about the only place, the only golf course in the world that financially can afford to make the changes that they have to make to keep up with the golf ball. PGA Tour Victories: 73. PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. [/b] Golf's distance dilemma has been debated for years. In 2021, the average driving distance was 295.3 yards, second to only 2020 as the longest average driving distance in PGA Tour history. Nicklaus needed a birdie, but the hole was framed by tall fescue rough, and was playing downwind with very firm turf conditions. However, they tend not to be as accurate, and not as accurate means they miss about one more fairway per round. And, the legends from the past wouldve loved to tee up their graphite/titanium beauty and swing away. [/size] 1979-80 Nicklaus 1980-81 Nicklaus 1981-82 Nicklaus 1982-83 Nicklaus 1983-84 Nicklaus 1984-85 Nicklaus 1985-86 Nicklaus 1986-87 Nicklaus 1987-88 Nicklaus 1988-89 Nicklaus 1989-90 Nicklaus 1990-91 Nicklaus 1991-92 Nicklaus 1992-93 Nicklaus 1993-94 Nicklaus 1994-95 Nicklaus 1995-96 Nicklaus 1996-97 Nicklaus . [quote name='tElihu' timestamp='1306158032' post='3255647'] But with the huge size, perimeter weighting and launch conditions programmed into the head and shaft, average joe's can now hit the clubface with consistency. [size=5] The longest average driving distance to date by a golfer who led the tour is 323.7 yards, set by Bryson DeChambeau in 2020 and breaking his own record of 322.1 yards he set one year earlier. Copyright 2023 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved. There, nestled between David Peoples and Nicloas Thompson, youll find the name Jack Nicklaus, ranking No. [size="5"]Sand wedge: Up to 100 yards[/size] Here are 7 of the most interesting. He hit many documented drives well over 300 in favourable conditions, but, yes, in terms of average driving distance throughout the season, somewhere around 265 would be about right 10 important takeaways from the USGA/R&As Distance Insights Project, Jack Nicklaus responds to USGA and R&As long-awaited Distance Insights project, 2023 Mexico Open money: Total purse, payout breakdown, winners share, How to watch the 2023 Mexico Open on Sunday: Round 4 live coverage, 2023 Mexico Open tee times: Round 4 groupings for Sunday, 2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta: How to watch, TV schedule, streaming, tee times, Meet the new GOLF Top 100 Teachers of America, These floral golf shoes are gorgeous *and* packed with performance features. [quote name='tembolo1284' timestamp='1302780024' post='3152485'] "He plays a game with which I am not familiar,'' Jones famously said about Nicklaus. . Ping G430 MAX 9* Ventus BLUE TR 7 STIFF That would have ranked 188th on Tour in 2019. In perfect conditions, see the table below. [/quote] Jack held the record for quite a while with a drive of 340 some odd yards. [/quote] [size="5"]1-iron: 215-235 yards[/size] RBZ 25* hb; RBZstage 2 19* hb. According to Golf.com, golfers with a handicap between 13 and 20 average about 200 yards of driving. Your previous content has been restored. (Nicklaus did four years at Ohio State but finished a few courses short of a degree; he was granted an honorary one in 1972). Jack Nicklaus had 49 top ten finishes with 5 wins and won $2,325,208 in his career. This chart shows you the average distances per skill level for male golfers. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. Todays era benefits from lighter shafts, larger clubheads with springy faces and a solid core multi-layered golf ball. Exactly. He swung the 150-gram steel shaft in the persimmon at 106 miles per hour. The year before, in the throes of a St. Louis summer, Bryson DeChambeau, armed with his optimized launch angle and state-of-the-art driver and ground-force maximizing swing, hit one 331 yards to win. How much money has Jack Nicklaus won in his career? Here are some other notable golfers and their average driving distance in 2023. It's all relative. So, I think that's the pressure that she has to deal with tomorrow.. If we had (the new) golf ball in my day," Lee Trevino told USA Today in 2007, The best of us would have hit it 300 yards and Jack Nicklaus would have hit it 360.. You'll discover it's more than just a golf lesson. Wedges now are 43 to 47 degrees, in jacks day they were 50 and 52. Luckily for us (and somewhat randomly) IBM did, for whatever reason, decide to measure driving distances for 11 tournaments in 1967, when Nicklaus was 27 and in his physical prime. Tavatanakit took a one-stroke lead into the weekend and on moving day extended her lead to as many as six. and he was one of the longest hitters of his dayimagine what your average joe hit the ball then? I was 58, and I was out at either Titleist or Callaway and I was 118 miles an hour. The victory takes him to No. McIlroy finished second on the money list in 2019 with a total of $7,785,28652.9 percent more than that total is $11,903,702, which serves as a ballpark estimate for what Nicklaus could have earned if he had a 1972-like season in 2019. crazy to think how good he would have been with new equipment and balls. I have collected all the essential club distance charts for you in this article. Who has the biggest driving distance average this season? [quote name='golfbum9' timestamp='1304264564' post='3199669'] If we translate that advantage to last season, hed have averaged 318.71 yards, which would have led the tour. Now they can bust it out 240-250 with relative ease. [size=5]From Golf My Way p. 31[/size] Both hit towering shots with the Tourney ball, noticeably different ball flight than the rest of the field. and he was one of the longest hitters of his dayimagine what your average joe hit the ball then? Just like Nicklauss victory in 1965, a win by Tavatanakit would signal a new era in the womens game. [size=5] The 21-year-old from Thailand has led the way since Day 1 at the ANA Inspiration, using her distance to overwhelm the golf course. [size=5]9-iron:105-135 yards[/size] JN was a real strong young buck and he had a huge distance advantage over his contemporaries. See What Members Are Saying! He swung the 75-gram graphite shaft in his driver at 113 miles per hour. [size=5]3-wood: 235 yards and up[/size] A member of golf's. 338 in career earnings with $5,734,031. I was shocked at Jack's height, definitely below 6 feet. But it isnt the first time Tavatankit has opened up a large lead on a field. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. The leader in distance, Bubba Watson at 315.5 yards, was 9.1 percent longer. Still, the question lingers, how far would golfs legends hit the ball with todays equipment? Forty years ago, the TOUR started compiling reliable data to calculate this metric. Considering their length off the tee wouldve put them in the top 10 in 1980, its fair to assume theyd rank at least as high today. 1. Drives exceeding 350 yards are seemingly routine for Dustin Johnson. So if we average those two figures307 yards and 318.71 yardswe get 312.9 yards. He played one round with his clubs and the next with steel-shafted persimmon woods and irons and a balata ball from the mid-80s. There have been other changes to the game as well more advanced balls and more physically fit players none of which have effects that are simple to quantify, but a change in drivers seems the most directly related. In the end, nobody cares if you placed the ball 3 feet from the hole with a 6 iron or a 9 iron. Jack Nicklaus had 49 top ten finishes in his career. If he was having the success he was having in this day and age, hes in that super-high echelon. At the Byron Nelson Classic that year, he hit Titleist Balata 100 balls on the driving range with a persimmon driver supplied by noted golf author Curt Sampson, according to a blog post published at GolfDigest.com. Dent's feat was highly publicized in the local media. [/quote] Clay Long Personal Edition SW 58* TTDyn Gold X100 8i shaft crazy to think how good he would have been with new equipment and balls Amateur and a few elite college tournaments. Nicklaus was consistently among the longest and straightest hitters on the PGA Tour during his prime.One early example was winning the official long drive contest at the 1963 PGA Championsip with a belt of 341 yards, 17 inches (312 meters). Wishon 919 THI 11* 0.5* Open Jack was able to hit 2,3,4 irons sky high and land them soft. A golfer would hope to achieve a smash factor near 1.50 on driver shots. Wishon 929 HS 14.5*, 19* 0.5 Open The pro who was markedly longer was Jim Dent. Courses were shorter and he would hit his tee shots to a target. For those of us who grew up in the 2000s, our image of Jack Nicklaus is, well, that of an older gentleman. Two decades later, hed gained 13 yards. You must remember that a 7i loft was 1.5 to 2 iron weaker than the irons today, perhaps more. RELATED: Jack at 80: 'I've still got a lot of things I want to do'. The long ball is a double-edged sword. Ping G425 6-PW DGS 105 A recent study also sheds light on the subject. Seems like hes a pretty big deal. You can see this by looking at the top drivers on the PGA Tour, who tend to hit roughly 20 yards further on average. Before the ShotLink era ushered in countless metrics to quantify ball-striking performance, a statistic called total driving was the best way to measure a players combined acumen in distance and accuracy off the tee. Jack Nicklaus "never 3 putted or missed a putt inside 5 feet on the last hole of a tournament" and we never drive less than 300 yards. I remember him saying that he didn't believe that at sea level with no wind, anyone could [i]fly[/i] a ball more than 260 yards through the air Phil Mickelson averaged 299.8 yards per drive in 2011, while Adam Scott was just behind at 299.8. Tavatanakit has a chance to write history on Sunday. [size=5]7-iron: 140-155 yards[/size] Weiskopf's driver seemed to be higher and flatter, more like current trajectory. He played more like 6-2. [/size] Seventeen straight PGA TOUR seasons with a win, tied with Arnold Palmer for most all-time. [size=5]4-iron:185-200 yards[/size] Jack would have been the best player in any era he played, regardless of the equipment he used. In 2017, with drives travelling an average of 293 yards, precise placement isn't as vital thus, the 60 percent driving accuracy across the Tour. We appreciate his 18 professional major championships, but we never watched the golfer who won those tournaments. This year at age 52, Love was one of the eight golfers who had a 400-plus drive. American Jennifer Kupcho started fast and kept on going Saturday in The Chevron Championship to take a six-stroke lead. So how much ish, could an in-his-prime Nicklaus have earned as a brand ambassador in the 2020s? Weiskopf drove it past Jack and outplayed him all day, but Jack holed out three times during the final round. Chad Campbell averaged 291 yards off the tee in 2009, ranking 70th on the PGA Tour. He used brute force (those awesome legs) to hit those long irons high. That would rank as the third-highest single-season total in PGA Tour history, behind only Scottie Scheffler's 2021-22 and Jordan Spieths 2014-15. Golf Channel, All Rights Reserved. . A driver two inches longer and two ounces lighter enabled Campbell to generate more speed. Today, the country will likely see it. Ted P. If the distances reported above are accurate, and irons were two clubs weaker, then he's about right on with most tour players today right, with the exception of the quality and technology of the equipment he was playing with, right? I was getting excited and I know that. We charted the average scoring per round during the same time periods: In the late 1980s, average scoring on PGA Tour events plummeted by more than one stroke per round, but that drop seems to have no correlation with a change in driving distances. He averaged 297.5 yards in driving distance, which was 24th on the PGA Tour. [size=5]2-iron: 205-220 yards[/size] [size=5] If you're leading by one or two, anything can happen in golf, Park said. What impact does swing speed have on distance? I do remember that, too, he told Golf Channel in 2013. The U.S. Eighteen majors, yes but an unreachable nineteen runner-up finishes, too. What year was it? [/size] Ping G400 Testing G410. Consider this: In 1963, Nicklaus won the long-drive contest at the PGA Championship with a 341-yard blast. I don't think he's fat in those photos. "They say the game has become Bomb and Gouge. You just take out a driver, hit as far as you want, its going to be in the rough, and then you hack it out. Was there a Jack Nicklaus Whats in the bag article back in the 70s or 80s??? Peete did it nine times. Jack Nicklaus driving average by year. Nicklaus supportive stance comes as no surprise after some of his past comments on distance in golf. He wrote that advancements in golf equipment account for at best, 25 percent of the distance increase. That would have ranked 188th on Tour in 2019. Golf Digest estimates that the average driving distance has increased by 15.5 yards over the past 10 years, a. [size="5"]7-iron: 140-155 yards[/size] But larger metal driver heads and lighter graphite shafts became the norm, and by the late 90s, virtually no one had a persimmon driver in the bag. "Each of those extra 20 yards contributes one tenth of a stroke (gained)," Broadie said. In 1995, when drives averaged just 264 yards, landing on the fairway was paramount, and pros averaged a 69 percent driving accuracy. Wishon 54, 59 Micro-Groove HM Wolff did two years at Oklahoma State, Bhatia turned pro at 17, Jordan Spieth spent one season at Texas, Justin Thomas was at Alabama for two years, Tiger Woods two years at Stanford. Jack was great because he his driver long, but more importantly he hit his irons high. Pasted as rich text. Nicklaus was 2.15 percent longer than the rest of the top 10, meaning there was a bit of a gap between he and the next-longest players. "If they do that on roughly 14 Par 4s and 5s in a round, theyve gained 1.4 strokes on the field based on their 20 yards extra distance. Back in those days, golf was not really considered a big time sport and most guys stuck with baseball, football etc. Maltby KE4 14* 3w , Axe Excaliber R flex tipped 1". Nicklaus had an endorsement deal with MacGregor Golf, and he played the manufacturers clubs and balls during all 18 of his major victories. Since 2010, the average driving accuracy rank for players to be in the top 10 on TOUR in driving distance is 152.9. Only two players since 2000 have replicated that feat: Tiger Woods in 2000 and Henrik Stenson in 2015. . [size=5] [/quote] Now add in a longer liteweight graphite shaft, hugmongous titanium head, the 20+ yards - longer balls andlet's just say he'd be tough to beat today.

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