Speed · Tour data

How often do tour pros hole it?

Tour players hole fewer putts than most golfers think. Move the slider to see the tour make rate from 1 to 50 feet.

Pick a distance

Make zone

1 ft1020304050 ft

50%

Tour make rate

1.50

Expected putts

±1.27°

Start-line tolerance

At die speed, 4.25" cup.

018 feet is 50/50

From 8 feet, tour players hole half their putts. From 20 feet it is about 1 in 8. From 30 feet it is about 1 in 14.

The biggest drop is between 3 and 10 feet.

Tour make rate · 1–50 ft

On tour, half of all 8-footers miss.

02Why the odds drop

The hole stays the same size. The further away you are, the smaller the start line you have to hit.

At 30 feet, the putt has to start within 0.34 degrees either side of the line to go in. At 8 feet it is 1.27 degrees.

From long range, the aim is to get it close. Sometimes two putts is a good result.

03Two putts from 32 feet

At about 32 feet, the tour average is two putts. Further away, tour players three-putt more often than they one-putt.

Expected putts to hole out

04How to use this

Inside 8 feet: line. Work on starting the ball on line.
8 to 20 feet: speed. Aim to finish just past the hole.
Over 20 feet: lag. Aim to leave a tap-in.

So if you miss a 12-footer, don't worry. Tour players miss two out of three.

05The full table

Start-line tolerance · degrees either side · log scale

Dist	1-Putt	Expected	Tolerance	Window @12"	Zone

Source: Mark Broadie, "Putts Gained: Measuring Putting on the PGA Tour", Columbia University, 2011.Expected = average PGA Tour putts to hole out from that distance (Broadie Figure 1). Two-putt break-even ≈ 32–33 ft.Start-line tolerance = arctan(hole radius / distance), assuming die-at-the-hole speed and a 4.25" cup.Window @12" = the gap either side of the target line, 12 inches in front of the ball (hole radius 54 mm ÷ distance in feet).