LPGA Vs PGA Tour Pros - How The Stats Compare

The world of pro golf is littered with stats, almost every aspect of the game can now be measured in some way, and it makes interesting reading to compare the figures on the PGA and LPGA Tours.

With the upcoming golf ball rollback as reference as well, let's see what the main differences are in the stats categories for the main tours in the men's and women's games.

Driving distance

Breaking news, PGA Tour players hit it further than LPGA players do - I know, not exactly new information but a few little takeaways from the stats.

LPGA big hitter Polly Mack averages 10 yards further than the last placed Brian Stuard on the PGA Tour, and is within 20 yards of the PGA Tour average off the tee.

The top 10 in the women's game all managed to outdrive Staurd, with Lexi Thompson almost identical at just over 271 yards for her average off the tee.

And as Thompson showed playing on the PGA Tour that distance is almost good enough to make a cut, as she came agonisingly close to making the weekend.

Driving accuracy

Maybe due to slower swing speeds having more control, or more thought about placement off the tee with longer second shots, we've known for a while that finding fairways is a much bigger deal on the LPGA than the PGA Tour.

It's a criticism of the men's game at times, the 'bomb and gouge' argument that PGA Tour players just smash it as far as they can and then worry about it from there, and there certainly seems to be less emphasis on finding the short stuff.

Remarkably, the player finishing in dead last in the LPGA fairways found stats is only just below the PGA Tour average, while men's leader Russell Henley would rank exactly 100th in the women's game with his fairways found percentage.

Greens in regulation

Not much to split them here which is interesting, with LPGA stars playing from the fairway more often but likely further away than their PGA Tour counterparts - the women's leader Olivia Cowan only just edges out Scottie Scheffler.

There's a slightly lower floor on the LPGA but all in all similar numbers, so despite differences off the tee the men and women are both finding the dancefloor at around about the same rate.

Sand Saves

So who's the best at getting out of the sand? Well, Matt Kuchar is head and shoulder above everyone really, as second-placed Justin Rose isn't too far ahead of Mi Hyang Lee.

From the LPGA list 31 players would be above average on the PGA Tour, and while again the floor is lower in terms of the bottom number in the women's game, only the top three in the men's ranks have a better sand save percentage than women's leader Lee.

Putting

Pretty close in the overall average number of putts taken per round, but only the top five on the LPGA list duck under the PGA Tour average.

There's a similar gap between top to bottom as well interestingly, with about three shots separating the top spot and last place in each standings.

Scoring average

Scottie Scheffler unsurprisingly leading the way after his ultra consistent season, and Ludvig Aberg showcased his ability by finishing ahead of Jon Rahm in the PGA tour standings.

There's a shot and a quarter between Scheffler and LPGA leader Atthaya Thitikul, while 24 players in the women's standings dip below the PGA Tour average. 

Overall, there are 72 players in the PGA Tour list who average under under 70 compared to seven on the LPGA.

Birdie average

We've put a 50-round minimum on the LPGA to match-up to the PGA Tour standings, and we see that there's not much at all between the leaders on their respective tours.

Ludvig Aberg again leads the way on the PGA Tour with less than half a birdie per round between him and women's leader Atthaya Thitikul.

There are 13 LPGA players who average over four birdies a round compared to 46 on the PGA Tour.