– What would have happened in the bizarre case of a DP World Tour player signing all their scorecards for the season with a result of PAR? And if the record had been -1 in each and every round?
– The first conclusions come naturally if we consider a standard schedule (SEE APPENDIX AT THE END OF THE TEXT) for a player who hasn’t played the Majors and with 28 participations, which is an average number of tournaments for a full member of the tour. It’s important to note that many players have played many more tournaments compared to the proposed schedule, which, for example, does not include the mini summer tour of two tournaments in the United States (ISCO and Barracuda). Let’s go with those conclusions:
– PAR is no longer a reliable friend. It stopped being so a while ago with the evolution of materials and the comprehensive improvement of players, who arrive on the tour better prepared. Both circumstances have advanced all the averages.
– The scorecard of -1, however, remains a loyal and reliable travel companion. Probably much more than one might initially think.
– A player who would have signed PAR on all scorecards would have made the cut in only eleven of the 28 selected tournaments, accumulating a total of 280 points, which would have placed them in the 150th position of the Race to Dubai and with earnings around 195,000 euros. It’s not a disastrous haul, it must be said, as such a final position in the ranking still grants a category for next season on the DP World Tour (category 20). Very poor, agreed, but it can get you into a good handful of tournaments.
– A player who would have signed -1 on all scorecards would have missed only four cuts and would currently be in Dubai, ready to play the Final. In fact, before reaching Abu Dhabi, the first playoff in which they would have comfortably entered, they would already have 1,157 points and earnings around 750,000 euros.
– Miguel Ángel Jiménez, regardless of the tournament, used to repeat that “under par is always good,” referring precisely to those days when he had ‘only’ achieved a score of -1. A statement as simple as it is wise, which these data corroborate.
– Logically, the value of a score has much to do with playing conditions: the weather and the difficulty of the course. There are days throughout the year when a score of one under can be a treasure, we all agree. In fact, according to the study conducted with the list of tournaments provided in the APPENDIX, there were two tournaments this year where the total of -4 (-1 each day) granted a second place (Nexo Championship) and a third (KLM Open). Nevertheless, we can and should continue to consider the result of -1 as a guarantee of consistency. Especially because this year the total of -2 after two rounds (one under each day) has guaranteed the cut in 85 percent of the cases (24/28).
– If we eliminate in the studied scenario the point gain from the two mentioned tournaments (Nexo Championship and KLM Open), we would still obtain a remarkable figure of 656 points, which would have left our virtual player in the 83rd position of the Race to Dubai, out of the playoffs, but far from any stress.
– The matter can have numerous and varied morals. Here is one of them: how many times throughout a season does a player feel that the PAR score they have over twelve holes (just an assumption), or even -1, is very poor and leads nowhere? And how many times does such a feeling cause alterations and haste that end in the worst way? A global view of the situation shows that the simple act of beating the course by the minimum is a guarantee in the medium and long term.
APPENDIX: The assumption of this report has been made on the following schedule of 28 tournaments for the 2024/25 season, which is about to close with this week’s Dubai Final: Australian PGA, Australian Open, Afrasia, Dubai Desert Classic, Ras Al Khaimah, Bahrain, Qatar, Kenya, South African Open, Joburg, Singapore, Volvo China, Hainan, Turkey, Soudal, Austria, KLM Open, Italian Open, BMW International, Nexo Championship, British Masters, Omega, Irish Open, Wentworth, Spanish Open, Alfred Dunhill Links, India, and Korea.
In this series of 28 tournaments, the result of -1 in each round would only have missed the cut in the South African Open, BMW International, Omega, and Alfred Dunhill Links.
