Stat Dude: "Long game is more important than short game."

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The inevitable re-interpretation of the amazing ShotLink treasure trove is about to start becoming a major topic in the game as Tim Rosaforte recently noted.

Jason Sobel delves into Mark Broadie's view on golf stats and mentions Broadie's upcoming book, “Every Shot Counts.” His message: "Long game is more important than short game."

“When I compare the top players on the PGA Tour, I find that the long game contributes about two-thirds to their success while the short game and putting contributes about one-third,” Broadie said. “Initially I was surprised, so I analyzed the data in different ways and found that all roads led to the same conclusion.”

For example, in any given year if you looked at the scoring average of the top 10 on the money list compared with those ranking 116-125, the scoring average differential would be about two strokes. Based on Broadie’s comparative analysis, about 1.4 of those strokes gained would come from the long game, while only 0.6 would be attributable to short game and putting.

Larry Dorman also takes a look at Broadie's book and offers a similarly positive review, though he focuses on several different elements, including this about Tiger's putting prowess getting too much love:

As the author points out, “applying math to settled wisdom,” putting accounted for an average of 28 percent of the strokes Woods gained in his 24 victories.

“This is significantly less than the winners overall average of 35 percent,” Broadie writes. “In his victories, Tiger gained 1.14 putts per round on the field, but he gained 2.94 strokes per round with his tee-to-green play.”

Reminder: Asia-Pacific Amateur On ESPN2 Starting Thursday

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A spot in the Masters is on the line and last year for the golfer named Tianlang Guan or Guan Tianlang captured the title.

All four rounds of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship will be carried by ESPN2 starting Thursday. All times ET:
 

Thursday, Oct. 24  2:30 a.m.  First Round  ESPN2, WatchESPN

Sunday, Oct. 27 4 a.m. Final Round ESPN2, WatchESPN

4:30 p.m. Final Round Highlights ESPN2, WatchESPN

Friday, Oct. 25 2:30 a.m. Second Round  ESPN2, WatchESPN

Saturday, Oct. 26 4 a.m. Third Round ESPN2, WatchESPN

Nanshan International Golf Club in China hosts the 2013 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, and in 2014 Royal Melbourne is the host.

Will Tiger Boycott Golf Channel Interviews Over Brandel?

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Ed Sherman has a roundup of the Brandel-Tiger-cavalier-with-the-rules situation and wonders if this could mean a Tiger boycott of Golf Channel interviews in lieu of the hoped-for trial.

This, even though the original offense appeared on golf.com, where they still have not acknowledged Mark Steinberg's rebuttal to the Chamblee column suggesting possible legal action.

Woods, though, will be looking to get even, and that could put the Golf Channel in the line of fire. There’s not much he can do to get back at Golf.com. The magazine and site weren’t getting any exclusive interviews anyway.

Woods, though, does appear regularly on interviews during tournaments with the Golf Channel. Chamblee’s main work is with the Golf Channel.

I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Woods might pull an interview boycott with the Golf Channel–at least at the events where Chamblee is on site as an analyst, which are quite a few. It would be a way for the Woods camp to make Chamblee feel the heat.

The World Challenge at Sherwood should provide an opportunity to find out, as NBC/Golf Channel is the tournament's longtime partner. Would he not do an interview Thursday and Friday, and then sit in the NBC booth as he traditionally does on the weekend?

Or perhaps this will be an opportunity for Tiger Marching And Chowder Society Co-Chairs Kelly Tilghman and Notah Begay to intervene?