Determinants of PGA Tour Success: An Examination of Relationships among Performance, Scoring, and Earnings

Abstract

Professional Golf Association (PGA) statistics for the 2002 season were analyzed to estimate the relationships between performance variables, scoring, and earnings. Two newly considered variables, Scrambling and Bounce Back percentages, showed meaningful correlation to Simple Scoring Average ( rs = –.69 and –.40, respectively), and each made a significant contribution to a regression model. While the full model of performance variables explained most of the variance in Simple Scoring Average ( R2 = .94), an adjusted scoring figure, accounting for the performance of the full field of players in each round, better correlated with Earnings over a PGA Tour season ( r = .77).