Two-thirds of your score is the long game

For years the saying was that putting weighs most on your score ('drive for show, putt for dough'). The data says the opposite. When you measure every shot with strokes gained —the real value of each shot versus players at your level— a pattern shows up that holds for pros and weekend players alike: about two-thirds of the difference between one golfer and another comes from the long game, meaning tee shots and approaches (everything beyond 100 yards).