What Percentage Of 10ft Putts Do Pros Make?

Whenever you watch a professional tournament, it can be easy to take for granted the apparent regularity with which players make their putts from 10 feet or less. 

However, while that is borne out to an extent by the PGA Tour statistics, 10 feet is close to a threshold after which holing a putt in one attempt becomes considerably less likely.

The PGA Tour website has a section dedicated to the percentage of 10ft putts its members make. Through the 2021/22 season, the average was less than half, at 41.11% and that figure includes plenty of putts that were marginally less than 10 feet. That’s because the putts meeting that threshold are greater than nine feet but less than or equal to 10 feet from the hole.

For the record, New Zealander Danny Lee (who once six-putted from only four feet) took the honour of the most reliable player from 10ft in 2022, making 65.52% from that range (19 from 29 attempts). At the bottom of the list was - remarkably - former World No.1 Justin Rose, who holed just 16.67% of his 24 putts (four). Meanwhile, other high-profile players including Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff, languished not much higher. Even four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy could only manage 28.57% of 10ft putts, with 10 from his 35 attempts.

While those stats may not seem too impressive, 2022 was one of the better years for golfers holing 10ft putts since 2002, when the figures were first recorded. In fact, it was the only the second year it had reached over 41% since 2006 (the other year being 2021).

As to which PGA Tour pros have enjoyed the best 10ft putt percentages since 2002, Brad Elder’s 76.19% in 2003 will take some beating. He made 16 of 21 10ft putts in that year. The only player to run him even relatively close since then is Brian Bateman four years later, whose 72.73% included the same number of 10ft putts made as Elder, albeit from one more attempt.   

As for the women’s game, stats from KMPG performance insights tell us that in 2021, Inbee Park outperformed almost everyone in the world in the 10-15ft range, making putts a remarkable 64% of the time. That's far ahead of the 28% average on the LPGA Tour over the same range.  

But how does the average percentage of successful 10ft putts compare with lower distances? In 2021/22 PGA Tour pros made an average 99% of 3ft putts or less. The number drops slightly 4ft putts, to 92%, while 81% of 5ft putts were successful, and 70% of 6ft putts were holed. That falls to around 61% of 7ft putts, 54% of 8ft putts and 45% from 9 feet. 

While data isn't available for all pros, there's enough to make it clear that any pro looking to one-putt more often than not needs to get the ball eight feet or less from the flag. After that, the odds are against them. So, while pros may appear to hole 10ft putts more often than they miss, the reality is quite different.