Best and Worst of Adjusted Short Game Play

Adjusted Short Game Play is a formula I used to determine the quality of play by a PGA Tour player from 0-20 yards off the green. I’ve found that as far as short game goes, this is the distance range that is most important for Tour players in shooting good scores. I believe that a distance of 20-30 yards tends to revolve a little more around luck because that is a larger miss and a more skilled short game player may hit worse shots due to having worse misses from this distance.

The PGA Tour leader in Short Game play in 2011 was Brian Gay.





First, I would like to go into Gay’s bag setup.

I believe the setup is still the same as the pic below, I think the actual equipment models have changed.


So, Gay utilizes a 3 wedge setup, going PW (58*), SW (55*) and LW (60*)

This is a setup that I personally recommend for good players because in order to get better, the golfer will need to improve their Danger Zone play (shots from 175-225 yards) and you want the yardage gaps to be spread evenly there. You won’t be able to do it as effectively if you carry more than 3 wedges in your bag.

The worst short game player on Tour in 2011 was Billy Hosrchel.


The only thing I could find on Horschel’s bag setup was that he actually carried 4 wedges, a PW, Gap Wedge (52*) a SW (56*) and a LW (60*). Horschel’s bounce angles appear to be 12* and 10*. I’m not sure what the bounce angles are on Gay’s clubs, but I think they are about the same. If there’s one thing I’ve found by looking at PGA Tour player bags, they tend to carry wedge bounce angles that are in the 8-12* range.

What’s a bit unique is that outside of clubhead speed, both Horschel and Gay have very similar driver radar statistics.

Statistic……………………..Gay…………………Horschel
Clubhead Speed……………103.5………………….111.6
Launch Angle………………11.79………………….11.49
Spin Rate…………………...2,461………………….2,517
Distance Eff. Rank………….33………………………13

What I’ve typically found is that the best short game players tend to carry 4 wedges in their bag. I think Horschel understands that his short game is weak and is trying to rectify it. However, he might be better suited by working on his technique over the equipment. It’s not like he can get any worse (he was not only last, but dead last in short game). If he can get better in the Danger Zone, he can still be last in Short Game and actually be more successful.






3JACK