Fairways are overrated: How this ‘deadly combo’ is redefining off-the-tee success
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We’re aware of his monster distance with the big stick in hand, but how is Bryson DeChambeau so far ahead in the driving statistics when he hits 10% fewer fairways than the most accurate pros?
Bryson DeChambeau sits tied 12th for fairways hit on the LIV Tour this season – 261 from 420 to be precise, or 62%.
A performance that puts him just outside the top 50 on the PGA Tour, comfortably above the tour average of 59%, yet well below the accuracy aces who lead the way on just shy of 75%.
The most household of those names include Collin Morikawa, Aaron Rai, and LIV’s dead-eye driver king – Henrik Stenson.
So why is DeChambeau on track for what expert statisticians DataGolf describe as “the best off-the-tee season on record?”
We know he’s as long as they get, averaging 331 yards, but can superior distance alone override the consequence of missing four out of every 10 fairways?
The answer, it seems, a resounding: ‘Yes.’
Even when adjusted for field strength, DeChambeau is a country mile ahead in the rankings, gaining +1.64 on the average tour pro Off-The-Tee (OTT) and +0.58 shots clear of the next best.
Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm sit fourth and fifth on +0.84, with Tee-To-Green supremo Scottie Scheffler eighth on +0.74.
Driving accuracy – a fresh angle
Attempting to make some sense of DeChambeau’s unrivalled performance from the tee box, DataGolf hypothesized that fairways hit might not be the most appropriate measure of accuracy of the tee.
The rationale being that if two drives leave the clubface at the same angle, the longer drive will end up further from the center of the fairway due to the longer time that the ball has in flight.
It partially explains why longer drivers are typically perceived as being less accurate, even though their offline angle may not be any wider.
To test this, DataGolf plotted the average driving distance against average offline angle from 260 players with a minimum of 60 measured drives in 2025.
The positive slope line supports conventional thinking about accuracy in that longer players don’t just miss more fairways because of their power, but because they hit the ball at wider angles, too.
However.
A lonely data point stands out in the far southeast quadrant.
Bryson.
Despite his unspectacular fairways hit percentage, the two-time US Open Champion finds himself with the 10th narrowest angle of the lot, sitting furthest below the line of best fit, and making him the biggest accuracy outlier in the men’s game relative to distance.
It demonstrates a “deadly combo” of driving credentials, according to the authors, and certainly helps explain his unassailable lead atop the OTT rankings.
He might miss a good handful of fairways per round, but he’s amongst the best at missing them in the right spots.
Spots that are still closer to the pin than anyone else!
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It’s just a shame for Bryson that the rest of his game isn’t up to the same dizzying heights this year, falling well outside the top-100 for SG: Approach and SG: Putting.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. DeChambeau has already amassed almost $10 million alone in LIV prize money this year, plus another $3 million from his T5, T2, and T10 finishes at the Masters, PGA Championship, and the Open.
Hardly Scottie Scheffler-level fortunes, but not too shabby.
Spare a thought for poor Nick Dunlap and Frankie Capan (the third), though, who both have struggled to hit a barn door with a driver in hand this season.
That is from 305 yards, mind.
I couldn’t hit five barn doors from 205, and funnily enough, I never miss in the right spot.
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Bryson DeChambeau has been in a league of his own with driver in hand in 2025.
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Average driving distance versus average offline angle (from DataGolf, 2025).
