How Many Putts Per Round Did Tiger Woods Have In His Prime?

Throughout an iconic career, Tiger Woods has always been one for the big occasion. Having scooped 15 Major titles and 82 PGA Tour trophies, Woods always knew when to turn on the style and blow his competition away.

A naturally-gifted ball striker, the California-born great rarely struggled with the longer clubs, produced one of the most famous golfing moments ever with a wedge, and was revered for his putting abilities as well. In short, he had it all.

But as the old saying goes, it's "drive for show, putt for dough" - and Tiger Woods has an awful lot of prize money in the bank, often as a result of his shortest club. Something around $120,954,766, just in terms of PGA Tour winnings, to be exact.

Once you discover how many greens in regulation Woods hit during his prime years of 1997-2008 (and 2013), the surprise at his putting prowess is dimmed somewhat. But it wasn't always about the sheer number of putts Woods hit, instead, it was his ability to sink 'clutch putts' at the right time that often won him that week's tournament.

While it is difficult to quantify how many significant strokes Woods made with his putter, the total number of putts per round (PPR) is a far easier metric to study. And it proves just how consistent one of the most iconic golfers of all time really was with his putter.

Woods' best season for the average number of putts per round, ironically, arrived in 2004. He finished the year at 28.44 PPR (20th on the PGA Tour) but claimed just one victory all season - the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship after beating Davis Love III 3&2. The only other season between 1996 and 2009 where Woods failed to lift two or more titles was 1998, where his PPR statistic was relatively close to 30.

At the other end of the scale, the Californian reached the end of 2002 with an average of 29.41 putts per round (163rd on the PGA Tour). That was the same year that Woods claimed five wins - two of which were Majors. He landed his third Green Jacket at the Masters, two months before lifting the US Open title for a second time at Bethpage.

But what about all of the other years while Woods was in his prime? And where did he rank against the PGA Tour field between 1997 and 2008 - plus 2013 when he won five times and returned to World No.1? We've detailed the key statistics below...

How Many Putts Per Round Did Tiger Woods Have In His Prime?

Average Putts Per Round: 28.98

Average PGA Tour Ranking: 78th

Source: PGA Tour