For those who are coming to the Greenbrier Classic or watching on the tube this week, we know what you want to see: the long ball.
My fellow public-course hackers would love to see some of these guys on the PGA Tour take on, say the par-4 18th at Big Bend. And go for the green.
Wouldn't that be a hoot?
As it is, some of these guys really, really let it loose. Dustin Johnson is the leading average driver on the Tour (312.1) and has the longest drive of the season (428 yards, Tournament of Champions). He's not coming, but you can still see some tape-measure bombs at the Old White TPC.
The longest shot in the six editions of the Classic is 419 yards, belted by Derek Lamely in 2011 on the seventh hole. Steve Flesch went 404 in the same year at the same hole, and D.J. Trahan went 405 on the sixth hole in the 2010 Classic.
Rounding out the top five is a pair of 2010 drives of 395 yards, by John Daly on No. 6 and J.B. Holmes on No. 4.
The best hole to see the biggest blasts? For my money, the seventh.
I don't recall much tinkering with that hole when the good folks at The Greenbrier gave me a tour of the redone course in May. The premise is simple: With an elevated tee and a wide landing area, the pros have free reign to cut lose.
The right side of No. 7 is one of the course's best spectator areas. You're near the par-3 eighth hole and adjacent to the ninth tee, convenient to a concession stand and restrooms. The electronic video boards near the hole will occasionally list the longest drives.
For fans new to the event, you'll see a laser measuring stand on one side of the fairway, and that's generally placed at the 300-yard mark. That provides an excellent perspective on length.
For players coming to the Classic, here are the longest drives of their season:
n Jimmy Walker, 408 yards, No. 7, Tournament of Champions (Hawaii).
n Tony Finau, 406 yards, No. 12, Tournament of Champions.
n Holmes, 405 yards, No. 14, The Players Championship (Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida).
n Finau, 403 yards, No. 18, Memorial Tournament (Dublin, Ohio).
n Gary Woodland, 403 yards, No. 15, Phoenix Open.
n Brandon Hagy, 403 yards, Byron Nelson tournament (Irving, Texas).
n Bubba Watson, 400, the Memorial Tournament.
You can follow Watson and his pink driver around the course, which is a great layout to walk anyway.
We're due for some launches this time around. The PGA Tour lists the longest 200 drives every season, and a rain-softened Old White didn't yield one long enough to make the cut.
Then again, it took a 375-yard rip to do it. Such is modern golf.
nnn
Since last this event was played in 2015, the PGA Tour has gotten more comprehensive (or more full of itself) with stats. This sport makes baseball sabermetrics child's play.
The Tour already had the strokes gained-putting category. Essentially, this computes a zillion factors to determine how many strokes you gained/lost on the rest of the field. If you make a 15-footer on a difficult green, that's a plus; if you blow a 3-footer, you're penalized harshly. And so on.
In 2012, Ted Potter Jr. stole 8.064 strokes on the field with a lights-out putting performance. In a more traditional stat, he took just 24 putts each in the third and fourth rounds.
So if you're rolling your eyes by now, brace yourself. Since 2015, the Tour has added strokes gained-off the tee, strokes gained-approach the green, strokes gained-around the green and strokes gained-tee to green.
Really?
I'll skip the numbers and just tell you the best Classic entrants in each category. This won't include the Quicken Loans National, which finished Sunday.
Off the tee (remember, accuracy no small part): Watson (fourth on Tour), Finau, Boo Weekley, Luke List.
Approach the green (iron play, basically): Kevin Kisner (seventh on Tour), Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Webb Simpson, Walker.
Around the green: Tim Wilkinson (third on Tour), Luke Donald, Matt Jones, Seung-Yul Noh, Steven Alker. If you knew two of those guys, you know more about the game than you think.
Putting: Donald (fourth on Tour), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Mackenzie Hughes, Steve Wheatcroft, Brian Gay.
Personally, some of my favorite numbers are scrambling (I love a good par save), total distance of putts made and longest putts. One Classic entrant, Robert Streb, has hit a 95-foot putt this season.
Streb was the one who had to putt with a sand wedge in the finishing holes at the 2015 Classic, birdieing his way into the four-way playoff.
OK, those are enough nerdy numbers. Just watch the guys bomb off the tee.
Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.