Season Stats Updated with Non-finishing Players Round Data

Famous last words at the end of the post about the prediction updates! A (hopefully!) final ramification of the recent changes in policy for handling scores for non-finishers was that some completed season statistics were also rendered incorrect. Originally Golf Predictor did not include the round scores for players who had withdrew or been disqualified from a tournament. However, since we included such scores, scoring averages, round counts and round averages became slightly incorrect for golfers who had not finished tournaments (but had recorded round scores) in the same season.

Therefore, we have updated all season statistics records for the completed seasons 2003-2008 (Golf Predictor has records for the 2003 season on) to correct these slight issues. These should definitely be the final tweaks because of the policy change and ensures that Golf Predictor is even more accurate than ever before!

Rounds Played Charts Added to Golf Predictor

We have added four new charts to Golf Predictor to show which golfers have played the most rounds in a season. These are similar to (but not the same as, as outlined below) the charts for most tournaments played. This charts are available from the "Season History" and "Season Stats" pages on the "Stats Analysis" menu in the member section. The chart on the former page shows the golfers who have played the most rounds in the current season up to the selected event. The three new charts on the "Season Stats" page show the golfers who have played the most rounds with at least event on the US PGA Tour, the European PGA Tour or any tour in any completed season since 2003.

The screenshot above shows the chart for the competitors who played the most rounds in the 2009 season leading up to the AT&T National. Of all the players, Michael Letzig has played the most golf, although he has not played the most tournaments (thanks to fewer missed cuts). As usual, hovering over a bar gives more information, as shown above for Rjuji Imada. This brings the total number of charts on the site up to 229. These 4 new charts are only available to subscribers so sign up today to get the most out of Golf Predictor, the premier US & European PGA Tour statistics site.

Cut Streak Stats Amended

We have updated the cut streak information on Golf Predictor. One of the reasons was due to a slight inaccuracy in the processing of one stroke play event with no cut (the 2009 WGC CA Championship). A small number of players whose cut streak encompassed this event (e.g. Tiger Woods) were not getting the credit for this tournament*. This has now been addressed.

As a consequence of fixing this small discrepancy, we have been able to make the cut streak chart and information available for every tournament that we have predicted (since March 2008). Previously, this was only available on the "Tourn Predictions" page ('Stats Analysis' menu) for all tournaments from the 2009 Masters on.

Finally, we have added the name, year, week and date of the last tournament where the golfer missed a cut on his 'Prediction Data' page. Note that you may have to refresh/reload some pages to see the new/updated information. All of these changes ensure that Golf Predictor is even better than ever before!


*Nowadays, players are deemed to have made the cut if they get paid. Therefore, stroke play tournaments that have no cut are counted in cut streaks. We do not count match play events.

Predictions Updated with Non-finishing Players Round Data

Another ramification of the recent changes in policy for handling scores for non-finishers (see here and here) was that some statistics were rendered incorrect on golfer 'Prediction Data' pages. Originally Golf Predictor did not include the round scores for players who had withdrew or been disqualified from a tournament. However, since we included such scores, scoring averages, round counts and round averages became slightly incorrect for golfers who had not finished related tournaments (e.g. events earlier in the same season or in the same event in previous years).

Therefore, we have updated all tournament prediction records since Golf Predictor began to correct these slight issues. We have also added a round counter on the 'Prediction Data' page for each golfer to display the number of first rounds played in similar tournaments (a number less than or equal to twelve, the maximum amount of similar tournaments that we analyse for a golfer). These should be the final tweaks because of the policy change and ensures that Golf Predictor is even more accurate than ever before!

2009 - Week 30 Winners

Despite a blistering finish from Rafa Echenique, Nick Dougherty (ranked 17th by Golf Predictor) won the BMW International Open on the European PGA Tour. Echenique came home in a record equalling 27 (including an albatross from 243 yards out at the last), but had to settle for second as Dougherty safely negotiated the last three holes to win by a shot. Our top ranked player, Henrik Stenson, finished in a tie for 35th place and we had seven of the top nineteen plus ties (7/20).

On the US PGA Tour, nice guy Kenny Perry went some way to putting his Masters disappointment behind him with a three shot win at Travelers Championship. Perry (ranked 1st by Golf Predictor) finished strongly with a 63 (-7) for a record breaking 258 total (-22). In a good tournament for Golf Predictor, including forecasting the winner, we had six of the top eleven plus ties (6/13).

More Statistics for Non-finishing Players

Further to the recent post on the change in policy for handling scores for non-finishers, we have updated the rounds played and scoring average statistics for such golfers. Originally Golf Predictor did not include the round scores for players who had withdrew or been disqualified from a tournament. However, since we started including such scores, it became apparent that the rounds played and scoring average needed to be calculated for these golfers also.

In addition, these newly recorded rounds meant that the scoring averages for all players in tournaments with non-finishers (who played at least one round) were slightly inaccurate. Therefore, we have updated all tournament results since 2003 again to correct these slight issues.

Travelers Championship - Memorable Moments

Here are the memorable moments for this week's Travelers Championship (covered by Golf Predictor). These moments include another sudden death defeat for Greg Norman (plus a bounce back the following year), a victory by local boy J.J. Henry, repeat wins for Phil and a maiden triumph for Hunter Mahan after a tremendous approach in the play-off.

2009 - Week 30 Prediction Update (BMW International Open)

After his exploits in the US Open, Ross Fisher has withdrawn from the BMW International Open. Fisher was ranked third but we have now removed him from the predictions for this tournament on Golf Predictor and re-ranked the field. There has been no other change to the rankings.

The up to date predictions are now available on the site. Note that you may have to refresh/reload the page to see the change.

2009 - Week 30 Predictions

We have published the predictions for week 30, the Travelers Championship (US PGA Tour) and the BMW International Open (European PGA Tour). For the European event, some players have had to leg it across the Atlantic to Germany after the late finish to the US Open, so that might have to be factored in to your decisions. In the US, the players just had the short trip from Long Island, New York to Cromwell, Connecticut to contend with.

The list of pre-2004 champions in the Travelers Championship (Golf Predictor uses the results from the previous 5 years) includes Notah Begay III (2000), Brent Geiberger (1999), Olin Browne (1998) and Stewart Cink (1997). The corresponding list for the BMW International Open comprises of Colin Montgomerie (1999) and Marc Farry (1996).

2009 - Week 29 Winners

Lucas Glover (ranked 57th by Golf Predictor) took advantage of a meltdown by Ricky Barnes to win the protracted 109th US Open at Bethpage Black in New York. Co-leading with Barnes at the start of play today, a 73 was good enough for Glover to grab his first major as Barnes leaked shot after shot. In an exciting final day's play, both Phil Mickelson and David Duval had great chances to make fairytale endings. However, both finished poorly to leave Glover under no real pressure to secure the title on the eighteenth. Our top pick, Tiger Woods, never really recovered from a sloppy finish to his opening round but still managed to finish tied sixth. In a tournament heavily disrupted by the weather, we had four of the top ten plus ties (4/15).

On the European PGA Tour, Christian Nilsson (ranked 15th by Golf Predictor) comfortably closed out the lottery that is the weak fielded Saint Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC with a blemish free 69 for a two shot victory. Our top ranked player, Robert Coles, finished poorly with an 80 to tie for 75th place and we had four of the top fifteen plus ties (4/22).