With the final tournament of the calendar year on the DP World Tour in the rear view mirror, we review the statistics from the 2022-23 season.
As a 46-event campaign, spanning five continents, reached its climax at the DP World Tour Championship last month, Rory McIlroy celebrated his fifth Race to Dubai title.
It was reward for an incredibly consistent campaign by the Northern Irishman as he won two Rolex Series titles and registered five further top tens, including a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open.
As a result, he will be high up in the thoughts of many for the Seve Ballesteros Award, where professionals on the Tour vote for their Player of the Year.
But he was by no means the only player to impress during the season, which saw 18 first-time winners, while Adrian Meronk had the most wins with three.
Let's take a look at some of the statistical leaders on the DP World Tour for the 2022-23 season. Some will seem obvious, but others might prove surprising.
Driving distance*
(*The average number of yards per drive, measured on two shots per round)
Wilco Nienaber regained the driving distance title he lost to McIlroy in 2022 as he averaged 332.10 yards. That's practically seven yards longer than the next player on the list, Niklas Nørgaard (325.13).
When compared to the field average, South Africa's Nienaber hit the ball 26.37 yards further.
There were 103 players who averaged more than 300 yards.
Driving accuracy*
(*The percentage of fairways found per round)
Nienaber may have topped the driving distance charts, but he was 172nd in driving accuracy.
It was Adrian Otaegui who led the way in this category, hitting 71.29% of fairways during the season. David Horsey was the only other player to be over 70% for the campaign.
In fact, there were four Englishmen in the top ten on this list - the most of any country - with Nathan Kimsey (third), Tommy Fleetwood (fourth) and Daniel Brown (seventh) also faring favourably.
Greens in regulation*
(*The percentage of greens hit in regulation per round, i.e. one for par threes, two for par fours, three for par fives)
Long viewed as a pivotal attribute for any player, Ross Fisher was indebted to his approach play as he just kept his full playing privileges on the number.
The Englishman, a five-time winner on Tour, led the way in GIR at 74.31%. He finished ahead of countrymen Fleetwood (74.19), Jordan Smith (73.86), Tyrrell Hatton (73.33), and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti (73.08).
There were 25 players who finished the season with an average of 70% or more.
Scoring average*
(*The average number of strokes taken per round)
McIlroy stood about above the crowd in this regard, posting 68.88 for the season. He was the only player to finish sub-69.
His Ryder Cup teammate Nicolai Højgaard, winner of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, was the next best with 69.44.
Worth noting, that Højgaard achieved his scoring average having played 66 rounds, almost double McIlroy's 34.
Matt Fitzpatrick (69.52), Tom Kim (69.53) and Matt Wallace (69.55) made up the top five.
Putting average*
(*The average number of putts taken per green in regulation)
Kim and McIlroy both finished the campaign level pegging here, both posting an average of 1.70. Kim achieved his mark over four fewer rounds.
Gavin Green, Hatton and Jeff Winther were right behind as they rounded out the top five.
McIlroy also led the way for Putts per Round, with an average of 27.83.
Green was first in SG: Putting at 0.99.
Most Eagles
Hennie du Plessis led the way with 27 eagles, a remarkable seven more than the next best by Richard Mansell and Marcel Siem.
There were 178 players who made one eagle or more across the season.
Most birdies
Jorge Campillo registered a mammoth 457 birdies, two more than England's Brown, a fellow winner on Tour last season.
Siem (439), Tom McKibbin (431) and Nørgaard (425) round out the top five.
When it comes to Birdies Per Round, that category was topped by McIlroy and Nicolai Højgaard with 4.47.
Scrambling*
(*The average frequency, as a percentage, of a player scoring par or better on holes where they missed the GIR)
Fleetwood led this classification at 67.36%. At the end of the 2021-22 season, he was 24th at 60.78 highlighting the improvement he made.
Kim (67.31) was second to Fleetwood, while Matt Fitzpatrick (66.67) was third.
In terms of scrambles over the campaign, Campillo made a season-high of 389.
Wins
As mentioned earlier, Meronk won titles on three occasions during the season.
Behind him, there were five players – Ockie Strydom, Pablo Larrazábal, Thriston Lawrence, Vincent Norrman, and McIlroy – with two wins each.
