Procore Championship Key Fantasy Stats

Procore Championship

September 12th – 15th, 2024

Silverado C.C. (North)

Napa, CA

Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,123

Purse: $6 million

with $1,080,000 to the winner

Defending Champion:
Sahith Theegala

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

This is based on the most vital stats from Silverado Resort, North course based on data from last year’s Fortinet Open and using data from all the players in the field with stats from 2023. Now, in 2023, because of the change in the schedule, the Fortinet was played twice in September of 2202, which we call the 2023-1 event, and last year, which we call the 2023-2. Another confusing item: they will have a new sponsor for the third time in three years, so the tournament will be called the Procore Championship.

This is the 11th year that the Procore Championship is being played at Silverado, which has a history of holding PGA Tour events from the 60s. So, the resort has a deep relationship with professional golf. Ten years ago, Johnny Miller assembled an investment group to buy the Napa resort and its two golf courses built in the 1960s. Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed both courses, and they are good, but they were never updated with the advent of new equipment. So when Miller came in, he wanted to rework the two courses and bring them up to date. He started first on the North Course by revamping all of the greens, putting in new bunkering, realigning the fairways, and trimming the trees that were too cumbersome. The most important item in the alteration was changing the greens by adding some undulation and making them very fast. Miller also added 300 yards so that it will play at a par 72 and at 7,166 yards. Since those changes, the course is now playing at 7,123 yards.
Last year (2023-2), the course played to a 71.16 average, just over three-quarters of a shot under par, and was the 30th hardest course on the PGA Tour in 2023. The year before (2023-1), the course played to a 71.52 scoring average, just about a half shot under par, and was the 22nd hardest course on the PGA Tour in 2023. The previous year, Silverado played to a 71.04 scoring average, just about a shot under par, and was the 32nd hardest course on the PGA Tour in 2022. It played almost a shot above the 2021 scoring average of 70.21, which is the same as it played in 2020 (71.24, 19th hardest course that year). Historically, the lack of wind makes the course play harder and easier.

For the pros, the hardest aspect of the course was hitting fairways; in 2023-2, 46.55% of the fairways were hit, as it was the 2nd hardest fairways to hit on the PGA Tour. The year before, 2023-1, 46.77% of the fairways were hit as it was the 3rd hardest fairways to hit on the PGA Tour. The hardest on tour was Oak Hill C.C., which held the PGA Championship, as 45.04% of the fairways were hit. In 2022, 47.10% of the fairways were hit as it was again the 2nd hardest fairways to hit on the PGA Tour in 2022; only Wilmington C.C., which held the BMW Championship, was harder to hit. Again, hitting fairways is critical; in 2021, 51.64% were hit as it was the 6th hardest. In 2020, the field hit 50.03% of the fairways as it was the 2nd hardest fairways to hit in 2020. Only Olympia Fields, the site of the BMW Championship, were harder to hit. This is the norm for Silverado in 2019; 53.65% of the fairways were hit as it ranked the 4th hardest course in 2019. So yes, Silverado has some of the hardest fairways to hit on the PGA Tour.

Even with the tight fairways, the players hit 68.78% of the greens in 2023-2, ranking 38th on the PGA Tour in 2023. In the 2023-1 version of the event, players hit 66.44% of the greens, ranking 27th on the PGA Tour in 2023. The previous year, the players hit 67.05% of the greens as it ranked 28th hardest on the PGA Tour in 2022. Because the course only plays at a short 7,123 yards, it only means that despite missing a fairway, the player has a short iron that is easily maneuverable from rough. So, in previous years, the rough was harder than in other years, but with the drought, that is different. In 2021, the players hit 71.72% of the greens, making it the 43rd hardest course to hit in regulation. This was the record for Silverado; in past years, it was harder to hit. In 2020, 65.73% of the greens were hit, making it the 16th hardest course to hit in regulation.

One of the things that keeps scoring low is the total amount of birdies made; last year, for the 2023-2 event, 1,660 birdies were made, which ranked 40th on tour for 2023. In 2023-1, 1.632 were made, as only 18 other courses saw more birdies made. In 2022, 1,688 were made, as only 11 other courses saw more birdies made. In 2021, 1,891 birdies were made, and only two different courses in 2021 saw more birdies made, so hitting fairways and greens does lead to making a lot of birdies.
As for the greens, for the 2023-2 event, the average distance of putts made was 71 feet, 2 inches, ranked 11th. In the previous year, 2023-1, the average distance of putts made was 73 feet, 1 inch; it ranked T-17th. They were the 6th hardest greens to score on the previous year as players made 70.0 feet of putts. The year before, in 2021, it was the 3rd hardest greens to score on as the players made 68 feet and 9 inches of putts per round.

So, a combination of hitting it far and straight is important, and that is why our first category is Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green. In looking at the last champion from the 2023-2 event, Sahith Theegala was T-6th in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green as he was 23rd in driving distance and T-46th in driving accuracy. In 2023-1, the champion Max Homa was 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green as he was 34th in driving distance and T-7th in Driving accuracy. The previous year, Homa won, as he was 2nd in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, 45th in driving distance, and 15th in driving accuracy. The 2021 champion, Stewart Cink, was 3rd in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green as he was 17th in driving distance and was T-51st in driving accuracy. In 2020, Cameron Champ was 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-green, leading in driving distance, and was T-21st in driving accuracy. In 2019, Kevin Tway won, and he was T-40th in Driving Accuracy and T-14th in driving distance, so he was 3rd in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green. Comparing this with Brendan Steele, who won back to back in 2018 and 2017, Steele was 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-green in 2018 and 11th in 2017, so we can see the importance of this stat.

Our second most important category is Strokes Gained Around-the-Green. That is because last year, 2023-2, the course ranked 38th in greens hit as Theegala ranked 3rd in Strokes Gained Gained Around-the-Green, and T-25th in greens hit. For the 2023-1 event, the course ranked 26th in greens hit, champion Homa ranked 7th in Strokes Gained Around-the-Green, and T-17th in greens hit. The previous year, Silverado ranked 28th in greens hit. In 2021, the course ranked 43rd in greens hit. It drastically differed in 2020 when the course ranked 16th in greens hit. So those who miss greens have to get it up and down to score well.
Last year, 2023-2, the players got it up and down from off the green 60.67% of the time and ranked 35th for the year. As for Theegala, he ranked 7th in Scrambling, getting it up and down 73.88%. In 2023-1, the players got it up and down from off the green 59.42% of the time and ranked 32nd for courses in 2023. Homa ranked 3rd in scrambling, getting it up and down 85.71%. In the previous year, Silverado got it up and down 60.79% of the time, T-29th for all courses in 2022. In 2021, the players got it up and down from off the green at 61.99%, making it the 36th course in scrambling. In 2020, it was 60.89%, making it the 28th course in scrambling.
As for bunkering, the 18 greens have 36 bunkers around them, so many players will have to get up and down from the sand. Last year, in 2023-2, Silverado ranked 41st in the Sand Save Percentage, while Theegala was T-9th in his wind. For the 2023-1 event, Silverado ranked 32nd in Sand Save Percentage, while Max Homa was T-36th in his win. In 2022, the course ranked T-21st in Sand Save percentage; in 2021, it ranked 35th; in 2020, it ranked 25th. As for the champions, in 2022, Max Homa was 24th in Strokes Gained Around-the-Green, with a T-75th in scrambling and a T-60th in Sand Save percentage. He wasn’t imposing in this category, but in 2021, Stewart Cink was 8th in Strokes Gained around the green as he was 2nd in Scrambling and T-68th in Sand Save Percentage. In 2020, the winner, Cameron Champ, was 19th in Strokes Gained Around the Green as he was 1st in scrambling and 11th in Sand Save percentage. In 2019, Kevin Tway was 7th in Strokes Gained Around the Green as he was first in scrambling.

Our third category was Strokes Gained Putting. The greens are a combination of Poa annua and Bent, so we all know it takes a special person to be able to putt well on Poa annua greens. Last year, 2023-3, Sahith Thee ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained Putting. The previous year, 2023-1, Max Homa ranked 15th in Strokes Gained Putting; in the year before 2022, Homa was 22nd in Strokes Gained Putting. In 2021, Stewart Cink ranked 16th in strokes Gained Putting. In 2020, Cameron Champ ranked 28th in Strokes Gained putting, while 2019 champion Kevin Tway was 18th, 2018 winner Brendan Steele was 29th, and in 2017 he was 6th.

Our last category is Par Breakers because to win, you have to make a lot of birdies, along with some eagles. Last year, 2023-2, Silverado ranked 29th hardest on tour in Par Breakers as winner Sahith Thee ranked 1st as he made 24 birdies and one eagle. The year before, 2023-1, Silverado was 21st in Par Breakers as winner Max Homa was T-10th as he made 18 birdies, which was T-10th and made one eagle. The previous year, 2022, Silverado was 28th in Par Breakers as winner Max Homa was T-1st as he made 24 birdies, which was T-1st and made two eagles. In 2021, Silverado was 43rd in Par Breakers, while Stewart Cink was T-6th and made 23 birdies, finishing T-5th. In 2020, the course played much harder as it was 15th in Par Breakers as Cameron Champ was T-4th as he made 21 birdies, which also finished T-4th. In 2019, Kevin Tway was T-10th, making 19 birdies. Brendan Steele was 5th in Par Breakers in 2018 and T-1st in 2017 when he made 24 birdies.

So we can see that Silverado, despite playing short under modern standards and despite being played in the fall, is one of the most demanding courses on the PGA Tour.

*Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green: Looks at the combination of length off the tee and accuracy, then getting the ball on the green so it determines who is best at all of these items.

*Strokes Gained Around-the-Green: Looks at the combination of gaining strokes by getting up and down after missing a green.

*Strokes Gained Putting: The number of putts a player takes from a specific distance is measured against a statistical baseline to determine the player’s strokes gained or lost on a hole.

*Par Breakers: Combination of birdies and eagles made to show under-par scoring.

Of the 144 players in the field, 88 have stats on the PGA Tour for 2024:

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.