BOGEYBREAKERS ^TM

At the end of the third round of the World Golf Championship (August 25, 2002)
Craig Parry was tied for the lead with Robert Allenby at 10 under par. An announcer
asked Parry what his strategy had been thus far. Parry answered that he had
been going for the middle of the greens. The announcer asked what his strategy
would be for the final round and Parry answered “Well, it’s worked so far
so why change it?”

Parry won by four shots over Allenby and his win was typical of what happens
week in and week out on the pro tour. Parry’s Gross Negative Score (GNS) was
-20. Allenby’s GNS was -23. Eight golfers in the top 12 finishers had a GNS
equal to or better than Parry’s (see chart below). So how did Parry win by 4
strokes? By making fewer mistakes, that’s how. Parry had only four bogeys in
72 holes. Allenby had 7 bogeys and two double bogeys to go with his -23 GNS,
for a final -12.

Phil Mickelson who finished at -7 to tie for ninth had a -20 GNS to tie Parry
in that category, but he had nine bogeys and two double bogeys for a Gross Positive Score (GPS) of +13 and a net minus seven. Note that Phil did finish first in one category. He had the most eagles,
three. So what? As, discussed elsewhere, this is typical Mickelson and is the
reason why he may never win a major championship.

Note that the most significant column in the above table in terms of final standing is the Gross Positive Score column.

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