LIV Golf has passed the halfway point of the season. Last week’s tournament in South Korea was the seventh of a total of thirteen individual events. In other words, enough has been played to draw some conclusions about the performance of certain players. In this case, we focus on David Puig, and the first thing that stands out is that he has finished in the top 24 every single week. Seven out of seven. This is very significant considering that last year, throughout the entire season, he finished in the top 24 six times. The conclusion is that Puig’s version 4.0 is working.
And what version is this? It’s the one he set for himself for 2025. Basically, the goal was to be more consistent. Last year he had a great week, finishing third in Houston, and ended up in the top 20 five more times, which isn’t bad. However, he alternated these results with other very discreet performances. He finished five times beyond the 30th position. We could almost say it was one step forward and one step back.
In contrast, this year he has always finished in the top 24, which would be akin to making the cut in all LIV tournaments, as it is the line that separates players who earn ranking points from those who don’t. Additionally, he has finished fourth twice and has five top 15 finishes. Very solid.
“My clear and firm goal this year is to win a tournament in LIV Golf. I am convinced that I have the ability to do it. It’s a matter of everything going well that week. That said, beyond making as few strokes as possible, no matter how the tournament goes, the first goal each week is at least to finish in the top 24 because it indicates it has been a consistent week. This year one of the most coherent goals was to be more solid, and in the first six tournaments, it has gone quite well. This last one in Korea was a bit crazier, I’m not sure what happened, it had been a long time since I made five double bogeys. In general, the theme of having more consistency, hitting more greens in regulation, and not having as much stress is working better this year,” he confessed in statements to Ten Golf.
The way to achieve this consistency has been mainly through long game, especially in approach shots. Puig has notably improved in this aspect. Last year he finished 45th in fairways hit with 52.86%, and this year he is in 34th place with 57.14%. Meanwhile, in greens in regulation, he has moved from 50th place, very low on the table, with 63.47%, to 26th place with 66.67% of greens hit. A great benchmark is that he has the same greens in regulation as his captain Sergio García. The man from Borriol is always a good wheel to follow in this statistic.
Additionally, Puig has improved in recovery statistics, being the third best in LIV; eagles, fourth best, and driving distance, with an average of eight yards more than last year. He is the fourth longest hitter, only behind DeChambeau, Burmester, and Niemann.
Puig’s version 4.0 is paying off as he waits for the week to align and secure his first victory in the Saudi circuit. In the individual standings, he is seventh, fighting for one of the spots allocated for the Open Championship. Next week he will be at the PGA Championship.
