With the PGA Tour moving back to a calendar-year schedule, every player’s official stats reset when the calendar flipped to 2024. So, now that the Masters Tournament is done and we have more than a handful of events to draw on, statistics become more meaningful and start to reveal who is playing well and who is struggling.
The stat coveted above all others is wins, and Scottie Scheffler is dominating that one with four, including a major. The next stat players really want to lead is money earned, and Scheffler leads that one, too, with a jaw-dropping $18,693,235.
Shifting to on-course stats that help golfers excel at winning tournaments and money, Strokes Gained: Approach the Green is critical. It compares how well a golfer is performing on shots hit from the fairway and off the tee on par 3s, and it does it measured in fractions of a stroke. A positive number means you are better than the tour average, while a negative number means you are giving away strokes. Golfers who are near the top of Strokes Gained: Approach the Green tend to have lots of birdie chances while avoiding big numbers on their scorecards.
Below is a list of the players who lead the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green heading into the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, along with the irons they typically have in their bag.
10. Lucas Glover, 0.676
Lucas Glover’s Srixon irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Srixon ZX5 MkII (4), ZX 7 MkII (5-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
9. Will Zalatoris, 0.694
The Titleist T150 irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Titleist T350 (3), with Nippon NS Pro shaft, T150 (4-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
8. Justin Thomas, 0.713
Justin Thomas’ Titleist 621.JT irons (Titleist)
IRONS: Titleist T200 (4), T100 (5), 621 JT prototype (5-9), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
7. Akshay Bhatia, 0.727
Akshay Bhatia’s Callaway iron. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Callaway X Forged UT (3), Apex TCB (5-PW), with KBS Tour $-Taper shafts
6. Tony Finau, 0.773
Tony Finau Ping Blueprint S irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Nike Vapor Fly Pro (3), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-105 X shaft, Ping Blueprint S (5-PW), with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 120 TX shafts
5. Corey Conners, 0.798
Ping Blueprint T irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Ping Blueprint S (4-5), Blueprint T (6-PW), with Project X 6.0 shafts
4. Ryan Moore, 0.802
Ryan Moore (Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
IRONS: New Level 623-MB (5-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Lite X100 shafts
3. Shane Lowry, 0.87
Shane Lowry (Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)
IRONS: Srixon ZX U Mk II (3), Srixon ZX5 MkII (4), with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 120 X shafts, Srixon ZX5 MkII (5), ZX 7 MkII (6-9), with KBS Tour shafts
2. Tom Hoge, 1.035
Titleist T100 irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Srixon ZX U Mk II (2), with Fujikura Ventus Blue HB 10 X shaft, Titleist T100 (4), Titleist 620 MB (5-9), with Project X 6.5 shafts
1. Scottie Scheffler, 1.398
Scottie Scheffler’s TayorMade irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Srixon ZU85 (3), with Nippon Pro Modus3 Hybrid Tour X shaft, (4), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft, TaylorMade P-7TW (5-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts.
