Putting
Pros miss more putts than you think
You watch tour coverage and see putts pouring in. The tape watched every putt, and it tells a different story.
If you came for your own benchmark first: amateurs average between 29.4 (scratch) and 33.8 (25-handicap) putts per round in Shot Scope's data, so for most golfers anything around 31 or 32 is normal. Notice how narrow that spread is; the reason why is the most useful thing on this page, and it's further down.
Every amateur who lips out an 8-footer reacts like he blew a gimme. Here's what the best players in the world actually do from short range, per PGA Tour ShotLink data:
Source: PGA Tour data via Golf.com
View as table
| Distance | Tour make % |
|---|---|
| 3 ft | 99.4% |
| 5 ft | 80.7% |
| 8 ft | 52.9% |
| 10 ft | 41.3% |
| 11-15 ft | 30.1% |
| 15-20 ft | 18.3% |
| 20-25 ft | 12.5% |
| 25+ ft | 5.5% |
An 8-footer is a coin flip for a tour pro. From 15 to 20 feet they make fewer than 1 in 5. Recalibrate your self-talk accordingly.
How amateurs compare
Shot Scope's data by handicap shows amateurs holding up surprisingly well from close range and falling off fast after that. Inside 6 feet, everyone from scratch (92.8%) to a 25-handicap (82.5%) makes most of them. From 6 to 12 feet, scratch golfers make 42.8% and 25-handicaps make 35%, which brackets the tour's own 41% from 10 feet closer than you'd guess. Putting is the one part of golf where amateurs are least far from the pros.
The stat that hides in plain sight
Here's the twist in the putts-per-round numbers. Shot Scope's benchmarks show scratch golfers take 29.4 putts per round and 25-handicaps take 33.8. A 25-stroke handicap gap, and only 4.4 putts of it shows up on the greens.
Partly that's real skill overlap. Partly it's an accounting trick: high handicappers miss most greens, chip up close, and tap in. One putt, terrible hole. Shot Scope's analysts note that putts per round has a lot to do with how many greens you hit. So if your putting stat looks tour-quality while you shoot 95, the tape suggests looking at how you're getting to the green, not what happens on it.
Where high handicaps really bleed is the three-putt. Golfers who shoot in the 100s average 3.2 three-putts per round and miss 4.6 putts inside 5 feet; 70s-shooters average 0.9 and 1.9. A 5-handicap three-putts about once a round, a 25-handicap about every 7.6 holes.
| Typical score | 3-putts per round | Missed putts inside 5 ft |
|---|---|---|
| 100s | 3.2 | 4.6 |
| 90s | 2.3 | 3.6 |
| 80s | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| 70s | 0.9 | 1.9 |
| 60s | 0.5 | 1.6 |
What the tape says
- Tour pros make 41% from 10 feet and 53% from 8. Stop treating your 8-footers as makeable-or-failure.
- Putting is where amateurs are closest to pros. From 6 to 12 feet, even a 25-handicap makes 35%.
- The scratch-to-25 gap is only 4.4 putts per round, and part of that is high handicappers chipping close after missed greens.
- Three-putts and short misses are the real leak: 100s-shooters waste roughly 8 strokes a round on them versus 3 for 70s-shooters.
Sources
Related: why your putting stats depend on your approach play.
Your tape don't lie either.
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