‘300.2 yards (about 275 m).’
The average drive distance on the PGA Tour exceeded 300 yards in 2024. This is the first time since 1987 that the PGA Tour office began compiling official records. In particular, 102 of the 184 players who participated in PGA Tour competitions in the 2024 season hit tee shots over 300 yards. In the case of short par 4 holes, the total distance of the course is sometimes around 350 yards, so the era of ‘ultra long shots’ has arrived, where it is common to see ‘one on’ shots in par 4 holes.
The most noteworthy player in the era of ultra-long hit competition is An Byeong-hun (34). Ahn Byeong-hoon, the son of the ‘Korean-Chinese table tennis couple’ Ahn Jae-hyung (60) and Zhao Zhimin (62), lost his PGA Tour seed in 2021. He returned the following year and used cough medicine containing ingredients banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). He is a golfer with a ‘lot of stories’, including being banned from playing for three months after testing positive for doping. However, last season, he hit an average drive distance of 317.1 yards (about 290m), becoming the third player on the PGA Tour to hit tee shots the furthest. Among ultra-long hitters, the most competitive Korean player has emerged. Byeong-Hoon An is the only Korean player within the ‘top 10’ average drive distance.
In particular, An Byeong-Hoon’s strength is not simply his ability to throw the ball far away. Byung-Hoon An ranked third among all players last season in drive efficiency index. This means that you can hit it accurately while flying it far away. Cameron Champ (30, USA, 322.8 yards), whose average drive distance is farther than Byung-Hoon An, ranked first in average drive distance, but ranked 145th in efficiency index, and Rory McIlroy (36, Northern Ireland) ranked second in distance (320.2 yards). ) was ranked 118th.
Starting with The Sentry, the opening match of the 2025 PGA Tour held on the 2nd, Byeong-Hoon An will challenge for his first win on the PGA Tour with a ‘stable ultra-long hit’ as a weapon. Byung-Hoon An, who debuted on the PGA Tour in 2016, has yet to win. In particular, at the Kapalua Plantation Course (par 73), where The Sentry is held, 3 out of 10 par 4 holes are longer than 500 yards, and in the case of the 18th hole (par 5), the total length of the course is 677 yards. This course is advantageous for ultra-long hitters. Last year, Byeong-Hoon An took 4th place in this tournament thanks to his ultra-long shots, such as hitting 429 yards with a tee shot in the 7th hole (par 4), which is 522 yards away. For this reason, the PGA Tour office also placed An Byeong-Hoon in 10th place in the ‘Power Rankings’ (ranking probability of winning).
However, in this opening game, we will not be able to see the ‘Top 3’ average drive distances of the 2024 season face off. The Sentry, the opening event of the PGA Tour, is open to only the previous year’s champion and players in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup. In this competition, 60 players, including 31 last year’s winners and 29 players in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup, will compete for four days without missing the cut. Champ did not win last year and was ranked 164th in the FedEx Cup, so he was not eligible to participate. McIlroy, who won twice last year, will participate in the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) Hero Dubai Desert Classic instead of this tournament. It is reported that McIlroy will not participate in this competition again this year, as he did last year, to avoid the hot weather in Hawaii.
Among Korean players, along with An Byeong-hun, Im Seong-jae (27) and Kim Si-woo (30) qualified to participate in the opening match. Kim Joo-hyung (23), who was ranked 51st in the FedEx Cup without winning last year, will not be able to participate in this tournament by one point. Expectations are high for Seongjae Lim, who tied for 5th place in this competition last year. Seongjae Lim also had an average drive distance of 298.8 yards last year. In particular, the PGA Tour office placed Seongjae Lim at 4th place in the power rankings and explained, “He has ranked in the top 10 three out of four times in Maui and has been on the rise since last year.”
In addition, Xander Chopley (32, USA), who won the major tournament twice last season, and Colin Morikawa (28, USA), who is from Maui, where his grandparents are the competition venue, will participate and compete for the championship. World No. 1 Scotty Scheffler (29, USA) will not participate due to a right palm injury.
Reporter Kim Jeong-hoon [email protected]
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