Distance off the tee

The women’s game is witnessing an explosion in driving distance – but will the ability to bomb it off the tee be the deciding factor at this year’s AIG Women’s Open?

Tight fairways and thick rough mean Muirfield demands accuracy just as much as raw power

The powerand the glory

Words: Rob McGarr

In 1997, John Daly became the first man to maintain an average driving distance of more than 300 yards for an entire season. At the time, the prospect of a female golfer doing the same seemed absurd. The average driving distance on the LPGA Tour that year was just 237 yards, and only two players – Simi Mehra and Jane Geddes – managed an average of more than 260 yards.

Fast forward 25 years and we have a different story. Anne van Dam averaged 290.8 yards on the LPGA Tour last season and 297.7 yards on the Ladies European Tour (LET). Two players – Pia Babnik and Emma Cabrera-Bello – are currently maintaining averages above 300 yards for the 2022 season. The average driving distance for all players on the LPGA Tour exceeded 250 yards in 2016 and has been steadily increasing ever since, while the LET average broke the 250-yard barrier for the first time last season.

With yardages in the women’s game increasing year after year, it is now a question of when, not if, a female golfer will break that 300-yard season average barrier – and the answer is likely to be sooner rather than later.

The 26-year-old van Dam is an obvious candidate to be the first to achieve the feat, but she faces competition from Babnik and Cabrera-Bello, as well as Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who was only a yard behind van Dam’s LET average last year, and Bianca Pagdanganan, who topped the LPGA Tour for driving distance the previous year, edging out van Dam by one yard.

Whoever it is, when one player does it, expect the floodgates to open. Nowadays, around a third of PGA Tour players boast an average driving distance above 300 yards. Daly’s landmark feat quickly became commonplace, much like Roger Bannister’s formerly “impossible” four-minute mile.

But what do the ever-increasing distances in the women’s game mean for this year’s AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield? Should we write off the chances of any player who does not bomb it miles off the tee? Not necessarily. Four of the women’s Majors last year were won by big-hitting players who ranked

Anne van Dam of the Netherlands: one of those who is leading the way in terms of driving distance

Nelly Korda: the American’s combination of accuracy, power and creativity may well put her in contention

in the top 50 for driving distance throughout the season. The one exception? Anna Nordqvist’s AIG Women’s Open victory at Carnoustie. The Swede’s average drive of 253.5 yards saw her rank 97th for driving distance, but did not stop her picking up her third Major title.

While Muirfield has never hosted the AIG Women’s Open before, it has hosted the Open Championship 16 times, which gives us plenty of comparable information to digest. The records suggest that Muirfield, like Carnoustie, requires more than just booming drives.

Phil Mickelson won the most recent Open Championship played at Muirfield, in 2013, and was far from one of the game’s biggest hitters; his average of 288 yards ranked him 93rd on the PGA Tour during that season. Muirfield’s previous Open champion, Ernie Els, had a season average drive of 281 yards, ranking him tied-84th for distance on the PGA Tour the year of his 2002 victory. Sir Nick Faldo was something of a Muirfield specialist, having secured two of his three Open Championship victories at the East Lothian course, and was never a particularly big hitter either.

Muirfield’s tight fairways and thick rough demand accuracy off the tee just as much as power. “You are unlikely to win an Open Championship at Muirfield from the rough,” said Peter Dawson, then R&A Chief Executive, ahead of the 2013 Open, a sentiment that will ring true in 2022.

Anne van Dam hit just 57.1 per cent of fairways on the LPGA Tour last year, ranking her 153rd of 156 players for driving accuracy. Bianca Pagdanganan fared only slightly better, ranking 147th with 61.7 per cent of fairways hit. There is a chance they will be able to overpower the course by hitting wedges from the rough, but there is an equal likelihood that Muirfield’s defences will punish any repeated lack of accuracy.

Muirfield has hosted The Open nine times since the Second World War and seen eight different winners, all of whom were genuine world-class players. Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Faldo (twice), Els and Mickelson have all lifted the Claret Jug here. The octet have 57 Major titles between them, proving that this course tends to see the cream rise to the top, rather than unearthing surprise winners and hidden gems.

Muirfield tends to see the cream rise to the top, rather than unearthing surprise winners and hidden gems

If we accept we are looking for a top-20 player with good driving distance, accuracy and excellent sand saves, two names shine brightest...

Trevino, Nicklaus, Watson, Els and Mickelson had all won multiple Majors before they added to their tally at Muirfield, but hope is not lost for players coming into the AIG Women’s Open without a trophy cabinet already bulging with Major silverware; it is worth noting that Player and Faldo both won their first Major title at Muirfield.

Three Open Championships have been held at the course since the advent of the Official World Golf Rankings; the winners were ranked fifth, third and second in the world at the start of the week, further evidence that we should not be looking too far from the big names for our likely winner.

One other facet the victor’s game will require is excellent bunker play, as there are no fewer than 150 sand traps lurking at Muirfield.

If we accept we are looking for a top-20 player with good driving distance, accuracy and excellent sand saves, two names shine brightest.

Nelly Korda ranks seventh on the LPGA Tour for driving distance (275 yards), 45th for driving accuracy (76.2 per cent), and 43rd for sand saves (47.69 per cent). Last year’s Women’s PGA Championship winner underwent surgery in the spring for a blood clot in her arm, but if she can get back to good health in time for the AIG, she is one to watch out for at Muirfield.

The other player ticking all the boxes is Japan’s Yuka Saso. The 20-year-old only turned pro at the end of 2019, but already has three professional wins to her name, including last year’s US Women’s Open. Saso ranks 12th for driving distance with an average of 271.9 yards, 52nd for driving accuracy, hitting 75.2 per cent of fairways, and gets up and down from the sand more than anyone else on tour, saving par 63.64 per cent of the time.

Jennifer Kupcho would be another warranting attention thanks to her distance and accuracy off the tee – 265.9 yards, rank 26th; 77.5 per cent of fairways hit, rank 32nd – but her sand save success of 43.24 per cent ranks her 76th and will need to improve if she is to triumph over four days at Muirfield.

Whoever comes out on top, this year’s AIG Women’s Open promises to deliver four days of fascinating viewing.

Yuka Saso: her ability from the sand could be key at a course that includes more than 150 bunkers