Players Are Opting To Limit Their Driver Use At The DP World India Championship... So How Far Is The Average Tee Shot Going?

The DP World India Championship isn’t just a new event, it’s also providing a modern rarity thanks to its host course.

Delhi Golf Club's Lodhi Course is known for its tight, narrow fairways and punishing rough, and, as a result, it doesn’t favor big hitting, with accuracy off the tee a crucial component to success.

As a result, per the player stats for the tournament on the official DP World Tour website, the average driving distance for the tournament following three rounds stands at 266.5 yards.

But what are the average driving distances of some of the biggest names in the field and those in contention for the title with one round to play?

The leader after the third round was Keita Nakajima, with the Japanese star’s 65 on Saturday seeing him take a two-shot advantage over Tommy Fleetwood.

Nakajima’s average driving distance for the three rounds of the tournament completed stands at 258.6 yards, whereas his average for the season is almost 40 yards further, at 295.6 yards.

Fleetwood has driven the ball an average of 302.4 yards on the DP World Tour so far this season, and 299.4 on the PGA Tour, but he has only averaged 265.8 yards over the three rounds so far.

Fleetwood’s fellow European Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry begins the final round in third, but he’s had to significantly reduce his driving distances to put himself into contention, too.

On the PGA Tour this season, Lowry averages 298.1 yards off the tee, but this week that’s down to 279.1.

Another big name in the field is Brian Harman. He’s not the longest hitter at the best of times, averaging 294.7 yards on the PGA Tour, but, perhaps sensing a rare opportunity to gain some distance on his opponents this week, he's gone further this week, averaging 296 yards over his three rounds.

It's standing him in good stead, too, as he enters the final round in fourth, just four off the lead.

Another player in contention is Viktor Hovland, who is five back of the lead with a round to play. He has a driving average of 266.5 this week, down from an average of 303.3 on the PGA Tour this season.

Hovland even credits not needing to use his driver as a reason for his neck injury, which saw him miss the last two sessions of the Ryder Cup, remaining under control.

After the third round, he said: "It's been good actually. Since I haven't been hitting any drivers it's holding up."

One of the biggest hitters in the game, of course, never mind just in this week’s field, is Rory McIlroy. He’s second only to Aldrich Potgieter on the PGA Tour this season, with an average of 323 yards, while he is fourth on the DP World Tour at 320.3 yards.

Like Hovland, the five-time Major winner also hasn’t bothered with his driver this week. After the first round, he explained his decision, saying: "The dog was out of the bag, having a sleep in the locker.

“I was thinking about it last night before I went to bed, it was just, like, sometimes if I'm really conservative off a par-five tee I might need a 5-wood into the green, but I'm never going to hit driver.

"So I just thought I've got a 2-iron, 3-iron, 4-iron, all the way through and then I've got a 5-wood in case I need to hit it on an approach shot on a par five, but I just don’t see any hole out there that you need to get it more than 260, 270 off the tee."

“You just have to get the ball in the fairway. The rough is unpredictable. You get a lot of fliers like I did the last two there.”

Because of that, his average driving distance for the tournament is over 40 yards shorter than we’ve come to expect, at 277 yards.