Strokes gained

Everyone believes they play the first hole badly. Your hole-by-hole data can tell you whether that is true, how much it costs, and whether the problem is your nerves or your warm-up.

Aiming at the center of the green is the right default. Pin position tells you which center, and how far you are allowed to shift from it. Here is the data behind that decision.

The stock benchmarks tell you how you compare to a 10-handicap. They do not tell you whether you are better than you were in May. Here is how to build a baseline from your own data.

Before 2003, nobody knew where tour players actually hit the ball. ShotLink turned every shot on the PGA Tour into a coordinate, and within a decade it had overturned most of the received wisdom about what separates good golfers from great ones.

You do not need a sports psychologist to spot your mental patterns. First-tee nerves, tentative putting, and post-disaster spirals all leave a signature in your shot data.

Golf advice tells you two opposite things about laying up: get as close as you can, and leave yourself a full wedge. Both are right, and the tracked data tells you which one applies to you.