More Than 70,000 Hit So Far In 2025… But How Many Fairways Does The Average PGA Tour Player Miss?

As amateur golfers, we often place emphasis on the importance of hitting fairways in order to setup scoring opportunities and shoot lower scores.

But, if you actually compared your driving accuracy to the PGA Tour average, you will realise that the gulf between the best players in the world and the average amateur isn't that wide - perhaps indicating a relatively low level of importance on outcomes.

Despite finding the short grass more than 70,000 times combined, in 2025 so far, I was still surprised to learn just how many fairways PGA Tour players miss. So, I decided to do a little digging...

How Many Fairways Does The Average PGA Tour Player Miss?

The PGA Tour average for fairways hit is currently 59%, meaning these top professionals are only hitting the fairway a smidge over half of the time.

With this being an average, there are some clear outliers - one of which left me feeling a little bamboozled.

Rory McIlroy, the recent Career Grand Slam winner and 2025 Masters Champion, currently ranks 157th in this measure - hitting only 52% of fairways.

For reference, according to Shot Scope data, that's around 1% higher than the average 5-handicapper.

That seems a little ludicrous, considering the quality that Rory McIlroy possesses off the tee, but that startling statistic seems to add further weight to the rationale around fairways being slightly overrated.

At the other end of the spectrum, the likes of Aaron Rai and Collin Morikawa are hitting north of 73% of fairway - a figure way above the leading amateur averages.

This hasn't necessarily translated into wins, however, as the top-20 in this measure contains just three winners in 2025 - and there aren't any in the top-5.

Winning machines like Scottie Scheffler come in around 63%, which is only good enough for a top-35 place in this table, so what is it that allows players to be successful without hitting fairways?

With the power, speed and strength that most top tour professionals now possess, and the advancements in technology, missing the fairway is less of a penalty than it might have been in years gone by.

Still, it's always nice to see some numbers that make you realise these golfing juggernauts are human after all.

In total, PGA Tour professionals have missed 47,333 fairways - which is an average of around 280 per player in the first half of the 2025.

If nothing else, you might be able to boast in the clubhouse that you hit more fairways on average than Rory McIlroy - you just need six per round! Good luck.