Poa Annua is a type of grass that isn’t seen much of. It mostly exists in California on course that are close to the Ocean. The one exception is Oakmont Country Club which has used the grass for over 100 years. The grass is a weed and something that can’t be avoided, you could plant Bent Greens on a course and within five years Poa will take over. What makes Poa Annua in California hard is the growth of it and the greens will get bumpy late in the afternoon. For players, it takes a lot to learn how to read and putt on Poa greens. That is one of the reasons you see a lot of California born and raised winners on the Farmers, AT&T Pebble Beach and Genesis Open.
Tournaments and courses on the PGA Tour that have had Poa greens since 201:
Event Course
Farmers Insurance Open Torrey Pines (North)
Farmers Insurance Open Torrey Pines (South)
AT&T Pebble Beach Pebble Beach Golf Links
AT&T Pebble Beach Spyglass Hill
AT&T Pebble Beach Monterey Peninsula C.C.
Genesis Open Riviera C.C.
U.S. Open Pebble Beach Golf Links
U.S. Open Oakmont C.C.
How we did our search?
We took all the tournament results between the 2010 Tournament of Champions and ended it with the 2017 RSM Classic. We took the finish of each player from each tournament. For those that missed the cut, we ranked them per score, so those that played terrible were someplace between 140th and 156th. We also didn’t include those players that either withdrew or were disqualified.
So we added up the places for each player and divided it among the events they played in. We then ranked them based on who had the lowest average finish. A player had to play in seven events on Poa Annua to be a part of the rankings.
So who was the best and who was the worst?
Here is a look at the top players in our rankings:
Jim Furyk | 28.07 avg finish |*| 14 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 13 Cuts made |*| $1,729,545 Earnings
* Gets the top spot because he makes a lot of cuts, almost won U.S. Open at Oakmont
Sergio Garcia | 29.71 avg finish |*| 7 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 3 Top-10s |*| 6 Cuts made |*| $1,123,856 Earnings
* Loves Riviera and plays good most of the time
Dustin Johnson | 30.73 avg finish |*| 22 Starts |*| 2 wins |*| 12 Top-10s |*| 17 Cuts made |*| $6,954,525 Earnings
* Wins at both Pebble and Oakmont, been in contention a lot at Pebble and Riviera
K.J. Choi | 32.33 avg finish |*| 18 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 5 Top-10s |*| 16 Cuts made |*| $2,223,136 Earnings
* Three top-tens at Torrey including a pair of runner-up finishes
Jimmy Walker | 33.73 avg finish |*| 22 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 10 Top-10s |*| 17 Cuts made |*| $3,750,125 Earnings
* Been in the top-10 in almost half of his starts, can count on him on this grass
Justin Rose | 35.67 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 9 Cuts made |*| $819,794 Earnings
* Shows that he plays well on any kind of grass
Phil Mickelson | 36.22 avg finish |*| 18 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 7 Top-10s |*| 14 Cuts made |*| $4,057,631 Earnings
* Grew up playing on courses with Poa, has lost his touch at Torrey but plays well at Pebble and Riviera
Freddie Jacobson | 36.67 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 4 Top-10s |*| 9 Cuts made |*| $1,412,560 Earnings
* Bit of a surprise but has good record on all three courses
Patrick Reed | 37.00 avg finish |*| 7 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 5 Cuts made |*| $638,685 Earnings
* Plays well at Pebble
Brandt Snedeker | 37.63 avg finish |*| 19 Starts |*| 4 wins |*| 8 Top-10s |*| 14 Cuts made |*| $6,242,971 Earnings
* Plays well at both Torrey and Pebble with two wins at each course
Hunter Mahan | 37.95 avg finish |*| 21 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 5 Top-10s |*| 18 Cuts made |*| $2,088,773 Earnings
* Could always be relied on playing well at Torrey and Pebble, but hasn’t done well in last three years
Matt Kuchar | 38.63 avg finish |*| 8 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 7 Cuts made |*| $641,105 Earnings
* Record a bit deceiving because he has made a lot of cuts
Bill Haas | 38.81 avg finish |*| 16 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 6 Top-10s |*| 12 Cuts made |*| $2,614,662 Earnings
* Good Karma at both Riviera and Torrey
Adam Scott | 39.29 avg finish |*| 7 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 5 Cuts made |*| $985,283 Earnings
* Plays well at Riviera
Bubba Watson | 40.67 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 3 wins |*| 3 Top-10s |*| 9 Cuts made |*| $3,900,251 Earnings
* Winner at both Torrey and Riviera
More top players
J.B. Holmes | 41.18 avg finish |*| 22 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 6 Top-10s |*| 17 Cuts made |*| $2,679,197 Earnings
Sangmoon Bae | 41.56 avg finish |*| 9 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 8 Cuts made |*| $636,721 Earnings
Seung-Yul Noh | 43.58 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 10 Cuts made |*| $582,950 Earnings
Jason Day | 44.07 avg finish |*| 14 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 6 Top-10s |*| 10 Cuts made |*| $2,597,542 Earnings
Keegan Bradley | 44.14 avg finish |*| 14 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 9 Cuts made |*| $1,347,504 Earnings
Paul Casey | 45.00 avg finish |*| 7 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 4 Cuts made |*| $764,189 Earnings
Kevin Stadler | 45.17 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 9 Cuts made |*| $813,299 Earnings
Jordan Spieth | 45.58 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 3 Top-10s |*| 8 Cuts made |*| $1,153,971 Earnings
Hideki Matsuyama | 45.71 avg finish |*| 7 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 4 Cuts made |*| $563,528 Earnings
Harris English | 45.91 avg finish |*| 11 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 10 Cuts made |*| $856,839 Earnings
Those that don’t do well on Poa
You should have these names in the back of your mind as players not to back on Poa courses.
Harrison Frazar | 85.00 avg finish |*| 7 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 4 Cuts made |*| $56,484 Earnings
Steven Bowditch | 85.13 avg finish |*| 15 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 6 Cuts made |*| $382,993 Earnings
David Lingmerth | 85.89 avg finish |*| 9 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 4 Cuts made |*| $285,136 Earnings
Ben Martin | 86.33 avg finish |*| 9 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 2 Cuts made |*| $151,655 Earnings
Fabian Gomez | 86.64 avg finish |*| 11 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 4 Cuts made |*| $59,497 Earnings
Greg Chalmers | 87.79 avg finish |*| 14 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 6 Cuts made |*| $262,320 Earnings
Kevin Kisner | 88.89 avg finish |*| 9 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 3 Cuts made |*| $66,751 Earnings
Cameron Percy | 89.33 avg finish |*| 9 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 4 Cuts made |*| $60,841 Earnings
David Hearn | 89.42 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 3 Cuts made |*| $128,798 Earnings
Scott Brown | 89.50 avg finish |*| 12 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 5 Cuts made |*| $112,400 Earnings
Billy Hurley III | 90.00 avg finish |*| 9 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 3 Cuts made |*| $51,295 Earnings
Charlie Beljan | 90.79 avg finish |*| 14 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 4 Cuts made |*| $1,315,900 Earnings
Andres Gonzales | 92.27 avg finish |*| 11 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 2 Cuts made |*| $185,830 Earnings
Here is a link to all of the players that had enough starts since 2010
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