What would Jack Nicklaus'average driving distance have been if he played 1968?



What would Jack Nicklaus’average driving distance have been if he played 1968?

IBM recorded driving distance data at 11 PGA Tour events in 1968. The top 10 players averaged 270.2 yards, the average was 264.0 yards and Nicklaus led the Tour at 276.0 yards. Adding 35 yards for increased speed, hotter driver and better ball, Nicklaus would’ve averaged 311.0 last season.

What would Jack Nicklaus’ average have been if he played in 2019?

Extrapolate that 4.5 percent advantage to the 2018-’19 season, when the average was roughly 293.8 yards, and a player with Nicklaus’ advantage would have averaged 307 yards. But there’s another relevant data point here, and it paints a slightly different picture.

How fast did Jack Nicklaus swing his club?

A 118-mph clubhead speed would have ranked around 38th on the PGA Tour in 2019, and Nicklaus was nearing Social Security retirement age when he swung it that fast. You have to think he would have had a few extra MPHs when he was a younger man.

How long was Jack Nicklaus’s long-drive at the PGA Championship?

Consider this: In 1963, Nicklaus won the long-drive contest at the PGA Championship with a 341-yard blast. “That drive was 341 yards, 17 inches. I do remember that, too,” he told Golf Channel in 2013.