Short stuff: Who’s best on courses under 7,100 yards?
Charles Howell III on his success at Waialae before Sony Open
Waialae Country Club hosts the Sony Open in Hawaii this week, as it has every year since 1965. At just under 7,050 yards on the scorecard, Waialae is one of the shortest courses players tackle on TOUR. Last season, only eight courses had shorter listed yardages than the Seth Raynor-designed Honolulu layout.
About 25% of PGA TOUR courses are listed under 7,100 yards. Do these shorter venues introduce more opportunities for players who don’t drive the ball as far? The numbers suggest that the players themselves may think so. Shorter players seem to flock to shorter courses. Over the last five seasons, there are eight players with 90 or more rounds on courses listed at 7,100 yards or fewer. All eight of those players ranked outside the top-100 in driving distance in the 2019-2020 season. Brian Stuard, who ranked 190th in distance last