Golf is one of those sports where data can give you a huge edge. Nowadays, technology allows us to check out a golfers’ strokes gained on a specific course over the course of their whole career. This information can help you achieve success across golf betting and PGA DFS.
Perhaps you’re not into golf betting or playing fantasy golf – and that’s perfectly okay. The remainder of this article will serve as a guide for using the popular website data golf. We hope this information helps you in your endeavors, regardless of what you’re using the statistics for.
Contents
An Introduction to Data Golf
Data Golf, as the name suggests, is a website where you can access a plethora of data that pertains solely to the sport of golf. Regardless of whether it’s PGA, amateur, international, or LIV, this website will give you all the information you need. The possibilities are endless with this platform, but it can most notably be used for live tournament stats, model predictions, and trends.
When you arrive at the website, the first thing you’ll see is a comprehensive homepage. It’s easy to get overwhelmed here, but it’s a lot simpler than it looks. You can click on any of these widgets and they’ll redirect you to what you’re looking for. I suggest checking out the entirety of the homepage in detail prior to jumping to other pages.
So why is Data Golf so great? Well, in simple terms, they do the hard work for you. All data is arranged in a fashion that’s easy to visualize so you don’t have to reference multiple resources.
Here are a few of the many possibilities with this website:
- You can access a golfers strokes gained metrics for a given round or full event.
- Tournament winning probabilities are available based on DGs model.
- You can create your own custom model with their premium features.
- They have an option to log/track all your golf related bets.
- You can access golfer rankings across all different skills (putting, driving, short game, etc…)
Understanding the Live Tournament Model
One of the most useful tools on the site is the live tournament model. Essentially, this model gives a data-based prediction for how the rest of the tournament should play out.
Luckily, you can access the model for free. It will be the first clickable element on the upper left hand of your screen, as shown below. Keep in mind that this picture was taken during the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but the model will reflect whatever tournament is ongoing.
Clicking on the live model will bring you to a page where you’ll see a graph, cutline probabilities, the hourly weather, and winning score probabilities. These are all extremely helpful for various reasons, but there’s plenty more to dive into.
Below the modules, you’ll see a table that outlines every golfer in the field, as well as their current position in the tournament. This is essentially a leaderboard that also includes finishing probabilities and live trends.
If you click on any golfer’s name, you’ll get a rundown of their performance for the day. This is an easy way to visualize each player’s scorecard and what their strengths and weaknesses might be.
On the far right of the table, you’ll notice a column containing stars. By selecting or de-selecting these stars, you can keep track of the finishing probabilities for each player you’re interested in. This allows you to keep an eye on several golfers with ease.
It’s important to understand that the model is subject to change in a matter of minutes. The platform uses live statistics to generate potential outcomes, and as you can imagine, these outcomes change when 150+ golfers are all posting different scores.
All things considered, the live predictive model is a very powerful tool. It helps you understand how a tournament is progressing while also hinting at the most likely outcomes. We’ll further discuss how to use this for DFS and gambling purposes later in the article.
Live Tournament Stats
The live tournament stats found on data golf are probably the best in the industry. They’re completely free, and they allow you to see and round-by-round breakdown of a player’s stats for the tournament.
Live stats are beneficial because the strokes gained categories tell us how a golfer is really playing. Ideally, a golfer who’s playing extremely well will gain strokes across the board, or in all major categories.
- Off the Tee (SG:OTT)
- Approach the Green (SG:APP)
- Around the Green: (SG:ARG)
- Strokes gained Putting (SG:PUTT)
- Strokes gained Tee to Green (SG:T2G)
- Strokes gained Total (SG:TOT)
It’s entirely possible for a golfer to have positive strokes gained in a few categories but still lose strokes overall. Vice versa, a golfer can gain strokes overall while losing in any of the above categories.
If you’re looking to single out the best golfers after a round or two in a tournament, it’s best to look for guys who are gaining across the board. It might be tempting to side with the 36-hole leader, but if the leader is carried strictly by their putter, there’s probably going to be issues.
The process is largely the same if you’re trying to weed out the subpar golfers after a round or two. Look for guys who are losing across the board or being carried by strokes gained in one category. These indicators can foreshadow negative regression if a golfer’s score is high amidst below average performance.
The photo above is just an example, but this type of data is available for every golfer in every notable tournament. You can see strokes gained on a particular hole which is great for matchup purposes. More importantly, you’re able to sort strokes gained from high to low for an entire round.
Sorting strokes gained can give you a huge edge depending on the golf course. If a golf course historically calls for good approach play, we can identify the best ball strikers early and monitor how they play. We can employ the same strategy for golf courses that favor bombers or long drivers of the golf ball.
Usage for Fantasy Golf
It’s only right that we talk about how to use Data Golf for PGA DFS, considering we focus primarily on fantasy sports. Although subjective, there’s no better statistical tool to help you succeed on Draftkings and Fanduel.
I’ll start out by talking about how you can use the platform for a full tournament. The simplest way to do this is to analyze the course and key stats that positively correlate with success. Once you figure out what the course calls for, you can do a deeper dive on the golfers who fit the bill.
You can combine this information with recent form, course history, and game theory to decide who’s most likely to do well. From here, you can generate a list of players with which you can easily build lineups.
We also have to talk about PGA showdown contests as they’re becoming more popular recently. A showdown contest covers one round of golf, and there’s plenty of big prize pools just like a normal tournament. Luckily, we can use stats to see who the best showdown plays are.
These are all just ideas, so feel free to use your own methods, but a good place to start is looking for golfers who are scoring bonuses. On Draftkings, bonus points are awarded to golfers when they have a 3+ birdie streak or finish the round bogey-free. The bonuses are similar on Fanduel, but they award points for bounce backs and extending the birdie streak further.
Another good strategy for PGA showdown is to sort the best approach players and then look for guys who lost strokes putting. This will give you an idea as to who is getting it close to the hole but failing to capitalize with their putter. Theoretically, these golfers offer the best chance of a breakout round assuming their approach play stays consistent and they find their putter.
There are so many ways to utilize the data available to you. The main idea is to think about what a course requires and then look for the data that indicates solid play. In terms of showdown research, it’s best to focus on the live tournament stats as opposed to the predictive model.
If you’re betting outrights, round leaders, or matchups, the live model is likely the way to go. You can use both the model and live stats and compare it to the winning odds for each golfer to find a potential advantage.
Key Takeaways
There’s a lot to take in on Data Golf, so we’ve decided to highlight the most helpful aspects of the platform.
- You can use their live predictive model to see what golfer is most likely to win a tournament at any given time.
- The live tournament stats allow you to see a golfer’s strokes gained statistics on each hole and for all rounds.
- A membership allows you to build your own models and track your bets.
- You can sort players based on various skill rankings.
- Data is available for all skill levels of golf, including the PGA tour and amateur.
- They have their own player rankings system which differs from the OWGR and FedEx Cup rankings.
- You can use the platform to your advantage for PGA DFS and betting purposes.
- There is a blog if you’d like to combine statistics with written research.
- They offer course rankings which you can sort by strokes gained categories or overall difficulty.
- Their scratch tools do the easy work for you, specifically when it comes to analyzing matchups.
Overall, this website is one that caters to a stats fanatic. If you appreciate the game of golf, this website is a constant reminder that there’s so many variables at play when you step on the course.
Maybe you’re doing independent research, or maybe you’re getting started in the world of fantasy golf. Data Golf likely has the info you need, regardless of what purposes you’re using it for.
The last point to mention is that you should really take the time to explore the database and see what it’s capable of. Navigating the site is pretty easy, so you’ll figure out what’s most useful for you in no time. Give yourself a few days of browsing before you start employing new strategies based on the data.
Conclusion
Data Golf is a website that serves as a golf database. Although there’s not much known about the history of the website, it’s been a helpful resource to golf fans for quite some time. Throughout this article, we’ve primarily touched on the free perks of the platform, but there’s more available with a membership.
As we’ve discussed, DG can be used for a lot of different purposes. It’s extremely helpful for PGA DFS and golf betting, but that’s not to say you can’t use it for your own research. All in all, the website is worth checking out if you’re a golf fan.
Thank you for reading this guide! Remember to check out the rest of our articles for all things sports. Feel free to share this with your network if you think it’ll benefit them!
