We always hear that the easiest way to cut a handicap in half is to focus on your short game and scrambling. Around the greens is where pars turn to double bogeys and, as we often seem to view it in pro golf, where tournaments are won and lost.
But if that’s the case, why did the best player around the greens last year lose his PGA Tour card by a wide margin? And why has leading the Tour in Strokes Gained: Around the Green in the last decade led to so little success in the season standings?
Matteo Manassero easily led the Tour in SG: ARG in 2025 but he finished 150th in the FedEx Cup
The Italian prodigy earned his first PGA Tour card 16 years after he stunned the golf world with a T13 at the Open Championship as a 16-year-old. But Manassero struggled, making just 10 cuts and finishing inside the top 20 twice.
But Manassero impressed with his work around the green. He posted a mark of .611 SG: ARG per round, easily leading the Tour. Over the last 10 seasons, only Kevin Na in 2021 (.702) and Jason Day in 2020 (.632) managed better averages.
The highlight of his year was a T6 at the RBC Canadian Open where Manassero gained 1.6 strokes around the greens but he also had his best week of the season with his approaches, gaining 8.8 strokes.
Overall, Manassero finished 150th in the FedEx Cup rankings. He played in only three of the six fall events to even fight for his card, meaning he’ll now head back to Europe to play on the DP World Tour where he finished 12th in the Race to Dubai in 2024 to win his PGA Tour card.
Despite the dominance around the greens, scrambling led to little success for Manassero.
Scrambling is rarely predictive of success on the PGA Tour
While working on your chipping is a great decision for a 12-handicap trying to cut that number in half, it doesn’t have as much of an impact in professional golf.
In the last 10 seasons, only two players who led the PGA Tour in SG: ARG finished inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup: Hideki Matsuyama in 2024 (T9) and Na in 2021 (3rd).
Consider this: While the average player needs to save shots around the greens to limit double bogeys, a professional player always needs to gain shots to succeed.
Missing greens is already a recipe for disaster on a tour where many tournaments require rounds in the 60s to make the cut and the winning score often eclipses 20 under par.
So while Manassero was better than all of his peers at saving strokes around the greens, he was better than only three of 180 players off the tee. He lost nearly one stroke per round off the tee and while his approach play was solid (50th), it wasn’t enough to counter the damage done with the driver. Marks of 100th in Driving Accuracy and 174th in Driving Distance will lead to plenty of issues.
With all of his misses off the tee, it was inevitable that Manassero struggled to hit greens. He ranked 148th in Greens in Regulation Percentage (64.9%), which created an abundance of opportunities to gain strokes around the greens.
Scottie Scheffler, on the other hand, has hit well over 70 percent of his greens over the last few years while playing the hardest courses. Despite arguably being the most talented scrambler in golf right now, he simply doesn’t give himself as many opportunities around the greens. And even when he does miss greens, it’s rarely in an overly difficult situation.
The data backs that up. Scheffler has finished third and fifth in scrambling percentage in the last two seasons but his SG: ARG rank trailed at 16th and 17th. Easier opportunities can lead to a higher percentage but a lower likelihood of gaining substantial strokes on the field.
Ball striking and balance reign supreme in professional golf
The takeaway for professional golf is that ball striking remains the key to success. We, once again, need look no further than world No. 1 Scheffler. He has been the best iron player since Tiger Woods over the last few years which has led to numerous trophies.
The majority of recent dominant players will obviously back that claim. Rory McIlroy is possibly the best driver of the ball we’ve ever seen and he’s now a career Grand Slam winner despite never being the most consistent with the short game. Jordan Spieth’s breakout was remembered for short-game magic but he was also an elite iron player.
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Balance is what turns the game’s elite into the game’s greats. Scheffler is obviously one of the best we’ve seen with ball striking but he also has some of the best hands we’ll ever see. On tough courses in major championships, Scheffler can, and has, fallen back on his short game to get out of holes.
Some of Tiger’s most memorable moments were chip-ins down the stretch on Sunday afternoons.
Seve Ballesteros inspired generations with his magic around the greens while winning five major championships.
Golf’s best players will always be strong ball strikers. Being good around the greens alone will not translate to much success if it’s not backed up by good iron play or an elite driver. But it will, however, create the gap from being good to being great.
Look no further than why Scheffler has separated himself so much from once deadlocked peers like Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.
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