Of the 47 tournaments on the PGA Tour in 2017, 53 courses will be used. Tournaments like the RSM Classic, CareerBuilder, Farmers Insurance and AT&T Pebble Beach will use multiple course, with the rest playing on just one course. Each course has it’s own different style and element that sets it apart from each other, but the biggest characteristics of the courses is grass type. The location of each course is the primary reason for type of course as those in the Northeastern part of the country tend to be Bent, while courses in cold regions like those found in the south have Bermuda while some courses in California use Poa Anna. There is a new strain of grass for courses close to a ocean that is able to absorb sea-air and that is paspalum which is only on two courses, El Camaleon in Mexico (site of the OHL Classic and Coco Beach Golf & C.C. in Puerto Rico (site of the Puerto Rico Open).
Tournaments and courses on the PGA Tour that have had Bermuda greens since 2010:
Event Course
Hyundai Tournament of Champions Kapalua Resort Plantation Course
Sony Open in Hawaii Waialae C.C.
CareerBuilder Challenge PGA West/Palmer
CareerBuilder Challenge PGA West TPC Stadium
CareerBuilder Challenge PGA West (Tournament)
CareerBuilder Challenge La Quinta
CareerBuilder Challenge PGA West (Nicklaus)
CareerBuilder Challenge Silver Rock
Waste Management Phoenix Open TPC of Scottsdale (2015 changed from bent)
Honda Classic PGA National Resort (Champion Course)
WGC-Cadillac Championship Trump National Doral
Valspar Championship Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Bay Hill Club
Shell Houston Open Restone G.C. (Tournament Course)
Valero Texas Open TPC San Antonio
WGC-Dell Match Play Championship Austin Country Club
RBC Heritage Harbour Town G.L.
Zurich Classic of New Orleans TPC Louisiana
Wells Fargo Championship Quail Hollow Club (2014 changed from bent)
The Players Championship TPC Sawgrass
FedEx St. Jude Classic TPC at Southwind
Sanderson Farms Championship Annandale G.C.
Sanderson Farms Championship Country Club of Jackson
Barbasol Championship RTJ Trail (Grand National)
PGA Championship Atlanta Athletic Club
Wyndham Championship Sedgefield C.C. (2012 changed from bent)
The RSM Classic Seaside Course
The RSM Classic Plantation Course
Frys.Com Open Silverado C.C. (North)
Children’s Miracle Network Classic Walt Disney (Magnolia)
Children’s Miracle Network Classic Walt Disney (Palm)
Bermuda
Of the three main strains of grass each has different characteristics which takes a different mind and skill sense to putt. The #1 rule of thumb is usually to look were a player was born and grew up. If he was born in say Ohio and grew up learning the game in that area, he would be very strong on playing on bent. The same with players born in say Florida, they grew up playing on bermuda which is a tough weed that has several elements which need lots of knowledge that is hard to adapt. Of course players like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus were able to adapt and the difference in grasses made no difference to them. But for some great players like Hubert Green, they found most of their success on one type of grass. For Hubert, 16 of his 19 PGA wins came on courses with Bermuda greens. On the other end of the specturm Tom Watson won 39 times and only six were on Bermuda. Watson played in 76 PGA Tour events in Florida and didn’t win a single title. So as the saying goes, not only are their courses for horses, but there are green type for players.
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 ten events on Bermuda 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:
Matt Kuchar | 22.54 avg finish |*| 72 Starts |*| 2 wins |*| 28 Top-10s |*| 67 Cuts made |*| $12,461,325 Earnings
* Was born and raised in Florida, he has three runner-ups and four 3rd place finishes. Usually in the money on Bermuda
Bubba Watson | 26.12 avg finish |*| 42 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 15 Top-10s |*| 38 Cuts made |*| $8,809,586 Earnings
* Another Floridan who doesn’t do well in Florida but plays well on Bermuda. Six of his wins, runner-ups outside of Fla.
Steve Stricker | 28.84 avg finish |*| 38 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 14 Top-10s |*| 33 Cuts made |*| $7,356,894 Earnings
* Despite being from Wisconsin, not great on Florida courses but rules on those Bermuda courses outside of Florida
Adam Scott | 29.14 avg finish |*| 42 Starts |*| 3 wins |*| 13 Top-10s |*| 37 Cuts made |*| $8,643,914 Earnings
* Grew up playing on Bermuda in Australia. Five of his top-5 finishes come in Florida
Luke Donald | 29.42 avg finish |*| 52 Starts |*| 2 wins |*| 24 Top-10s |*| 45 Cuts made |*| $10,994,696 Earnings
* Of his top-10 finishes only 3 have come since the start of 2015
Jim Furyk | 29.70 avg finish |*| 46 Starts |*| 4 wins |*| 19 Top-10s |*| 40 Cuts made |*| $10,939,454 Earnings
* Despite being born and raised in Pennsylvania, has always played well on Bermuda
Jordan Spieth | 29.85 avg finish |*| 33 Starts |*| 3 wins |*| 14 Top-10s |*| 26 Cuts made |*| $9,268,693 Earnings
* Key to his game is being able to putt well on all type of grasses including Bermuda
Rory McIlroy | 29.92 avg finish |*| 38 Starts |*| 3 wins |*| 20 Top-10s |*| 32 Cuts made |*| $10,350,753 Earnings
* Good players adapt to all type of grasses and conditions
Sergio Garcia | 32.18 avg finish |*| 38 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 12 Top-10s |*| 35 Cuts made |*| $6,634,151 Earnings
* Key is making a lot of cuts on Bermuda courses, with 20 of his 38 starts finishing in the top-25
Justin Rose | 32.32 avg finish |*| 53 Starts |*| 2 wins |*| 21 Top-10s |*| 41 Cuts made |*| $10,652,479 Earnings
* Another consistent finisher who does well in any condition
Phil Mickelson | 32.62 avg finish |*| 52 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 12 Top-10s |*| 43 Cuts made |*| $7,287,444 Earnings
* Has played well in the FedEx St. Jude and Wells Fargo, only two top-10s on Florida courses
Bill Haas | 33.55 avg finish |*| 67 Starts |*| 4 wins |*| 20 Top-10s |*| 56 Cuts made |*| $10,802,755 Earnings
* Has spent his life learning the game in North and South Carolina, 4 of his 6 wins are on Bermuda courses
Jason Day | 34.60 avg finish |*| 43 Starts |*| 3 wins |*| 13 Top-10s |*| 35 Cuts made |*| $8,455,924 Earnings
* Makes sense with his Australian upbringing
Jason Dufner | 34.82 avg finish |*| 65 Starts |*| 2 wins |*| 14 Top-10s |*| 57 Cuts made |*| $7,700,227 Earnings
* Born in Cleveland, Ohio and family moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. when he was 14. Did not start playing golf until age 15
Lee Westwood | 34.86 avg finish |*| 35 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 10 Top-10s |*| 29 Cuts made |*| $4,367,508 Earnings
* Another of those good players that travel around the world and adjust easily to any type of course
More top players:
Brooks Koepka | 35.38 avg finish |*| 26 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 7| Top-10s |*| 21 Cuts made |*| $3,652,885 Earnings
Kevin Na | 36.18 avg finish |*| 60 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 19 Top-10s |*| 49 Cuts made |*| $6,922,388 Earnings
Zach Johnson | 39.10 avg finish |*| 79 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 17 Top-10s |*| 65 Cuts made |*| $8,284,806 Earnings
Charley Hoffman | 39.44 avg finish |*| 63 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 10 Top-10s |*| 50 Cuts made |*| $6,055,690 Earnings
Daniel Berger | 39.50 avg finish |*| 30 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 6 Top-10s |*| 23 Cuts made |*| $3,997,250 Earnings
Charl Schwartzel | 40.44 avg finish |*| 39 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 10 Top-10s |*| 32 Cuts made |*| $5,351,197 Earnings
Dustin Johnson | 41.18 avg finish |*| 44 Starts |*| 3 wins |*| 18 Top-10s |*| 35 Cuts made |*| $9,310,696 Earnings
Emiliano Grillo | 41.79 avg finish |*| 14 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 3 Top-10s |*| 12 Cuts made |*| $1,808,132 Earnings
Francesco Molinari | 41.86 avg finish |*| 35 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 7 Top-10s |*| 28 Cuts made |*| $2,953,230 Earnings
Hideki Matsuyama | 41.90 avg finish |*| 31 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 8 Top-10s |*| 23 Cuts made |*| $4,852,817 Earnings
Webb Simpson | 42.17 avg finish |*| 78 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 17 Top-10s |*| 61 Cuts made |*| $8,558,021 Earnings
Keegan Bradley | 42.48 avg finish |*| 56 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 13 Top-10s |*| 41 Cuts made |*| $6,257,973 Earnings
Rickie Fowler | 42.78 avg finish |*| 58 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 17 Top-10s |*| 44 Cuts made |*| $7,641,464 Earnings
Henrik Stenson | 42.83 avg finish |*| 42 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 11 Top-10s |*| 31 Cuts made |*| $7,031,971 Earnings
Those that don’t do well on Bermuda
You should have these names in the back of your head as players not to back on Bermuda courses.
Jamie Lovemark | 71.68 avg finish |*| 40 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 6 Top-10s |*| 19 Cuts made |*| $1,914,539 Earnings
Jonas Blixt | 72.10 avg finish |*| 51 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 25 Cuts made |*| $1,115,579 Earnings
Matt Every | 72.39 avg finish |*| 71 Starts |*| 2 wins |*| 11 Top-10s |*| 36 Cuts made |*| $5,510,564 Earnings
Ryo Ishikawa | 73.18 avg finish |*| 44 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 22 Cuts made |*| $1,096,969 Earnings
Jim Herman | 73.22 avg finish |*| 51 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 4 Top-10s |*| 28 Cuts made |*| $2,589,563 Earnings
Troy Merritt | 73.32 avg finish |*| 59 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 5 Top-10s |*| 32 Cuts made |*| $2,766,368 Earnings
J.J. Henry | 73.61 avg finish |*| 79 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 44 Cuts made |*| $1,313,247 Earnings
Derek Fathauer | 73.94 avg finish |*| 33 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 16 Cuts made |*| $640,379 Earnings
Morgan Hoffmann | 74.08 avg finish |*| 49 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 25 Cuts made |*| $1,443,949 Earnings
Chad Collins | 76.10 avg finish |*| 69 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 3 Top-10s |*| 29 Cuts made |*| $1,584,134 Earnings
Steven Bowditch | 76.91 avg finish |*| 68 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 3 Top-10s |*| 35 Cuts made |*| $2,945,766 Earnings
Andrew Loupe | 77.78 avg finish |*| 32 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 6 Top-10s |*| 13 Cuts made |*| $1,435,423 Earnings
Billy Hurley III | 78.18 avg finish |*| 44 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 18 Cuts made |*| $665,021 Earnings
Peter Malnati | 78.69 avg finish |*| 29 Starts |*| 1 wins |*| 2 Top-10s |*| 11 Cuts made |*| $1,220,422 Earnings
Tyrone Van Aswegen | 79.90 avg finish |*| 39 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 1 Top-10s |*| 19 Cuts made |*| $738,268 Earnings
Rod Pampling | 80.83 avg finish |*| 46 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 0 Top-10s |*| 18 Cuts made |*| $437,055 Earnings
Steve Marino | 80.96 avg finish |*| 45 Starts |*| 0 wins |*| 3 Top-10s |*| 20 Cuts made |*| $2,000,291 Earnings
Here is a link to all of the players that had enough starts since 2010
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