So who, over the course of the 2012 season was better statistically; Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods? We painstakingly compared both players’...
So who, over the course of the 2012 season was better statistically; Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods?
We painstakingly compared both players’ performances over 100 different stat categories spanning the entire gamut of the game to see just who comes out on top.
2012 Season Rory Vs Tiger Stat Table
We put each player head to head over each stat, declaring either Rory (R) or Tiger (T) the winner. The final score is shown under the table.
| Rory (R) | Tiger (T) | Winner | |||
| Driving Distance | 310.1 | 5th | 297.4 | 32nd | R |
| Driving Accuracy Percentage | 56.61% | 156th | 63.93% | 55th | T |
| Greens in Regulation Percentage | 66.36% | 60th | 67.58% | 29th | T |
| Strokes Gained - Putting | .087 | 82nd | .332 | 35th | T |
| Eagles (Holes per) | 108.0 | 5th | 301.5 | 134th | R |
| Birdie Average | 4.20 | 1st | 3.97 | 4th | R |
| Scoring Average | 68.873 | 1st | 68.904 | 2nd | R |
| Sand Save Percentage | 56.16% | 22nd | 49.00% | 83rd | R |
| Total Driving | 161 | 54th | 87 | 6th | T |
| All-Around Ranking | 256 | 2nd | 381 | 10th | R |
| FedExCup Regular Season Points | 2,092 | 3rd | 2,269 | 1st | T |
| Playoffs Points for the FedExCup | 2,827 | 2nd | 2,663 | 3rd | R |
| Money Leaders | $8,047,952 | 1st | $6,133,158 | 2nd | R |
| Par Breakers | 24.28% | 1st | 22.39% | 9th | R |
| GIR Pct. - Fairway Bunker | 28.0% | 190th | 46.9% | 120th | T |
| Par 3 Birdie or Better Leaders | 17.59% | 4th | 17.47% | 6th | R |
| Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders | 18.75% | 9th | 16.67% | 51st | R |
| Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders | 53.05% | 1st | 48.34% | 14th | R |
| Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage | 34.68% | 1st | 31.66% | 20th | R |
| Scoring Average (Actual) | 69.63 | 1st | 69.78 | 2nd | R |
| Scoring Average Before Cut | 69.87 | 6th | 69.24 | 2nd | T |
| Round 3 Scoring Average | 68.83 | 3rd | 70.25 | 45th | R |
| Final Round Scoring Average | 69.83 | 11th | 70.40 | 32nd | R |
| Total Eagles | 9 | 30th | 4 | 132nd | R |
| Total Birdies | 227 | 132nd | 266 | 91st | T |
| Career Money Leaders | $13,357,560 | 88th | $100,950,700 | 1st | n/a |
| Consecutive Cuts | 7 | 20th | 7 | 20th | - |
| Top 10 Finishes | 10 | 1st | 9 | 3rd | R |
| Ball Striking | 114 | 51st | 35 | 12th | T |
| Longest Drives | 409 | 30th | 387 | 166th | R |
| Scrambling | 60.24% | 33rd | 63.17% | 4th | T |
| Bounce Back | 21.23% | 58th | 18.90% | 117th | R |
| Par 3 Performance | -2 | 5th | +5 | 13th | R |
| Par 4 Performance | +10 | 14th | -4 | 3rd | T |
| Par 5 Performance | -84 | 66th | -92 | 43rd | T |
| Left Tendency | 47.3 | 67th | 54.9 | 168th | R |
| Right Tendency | 52.7 | 123rd | 45.1 | 24th | T |
| Average Going for it Shot Distance Yards | 238.0 | 2nd | 239.3 | 3rd | R |
| Total Putting | 164.8 | 65th | 115.3 | 28th | T |
| Approaches from > 200 yards | 42' 2" | 2nd | 42' 3" | 3rd | R |
| Scrambling from > 30 yards | 34.29% | 31st | 37.21% | 10th | T |
| GIR Percentage - 100-125 yards | 75.53% | 114th | 76.14% | 100th | T |
| GIR Percentage - 75-100 yards | 66.67% | 189th | 76.92% | 140th | T |
| GIR Percentage - < 75 yards | 90.91% | 32nd | 92.04% | 15th | T |
| GIR Percentage - 200+ yards | 46.67% | 73rd | 50.42% | 32nd | T |
| GIR Percentage - 175-200 yards | 62.61% | 7th | 65.13% | 1st | T |
| GIR Percentage - 150-175 yards | 60.14% | 159th | 69.27% | 12th | T |
| GIR Percentage - 125-150 yards | 73.61% | 46th | 70.00% | 111th | R |
| GIR Percentage - < 125 yards | 81.82% | 103rd | 84.14% | 48th | T |
| GIR Percentage - < 100 yards | 86.13% | 88th | 89.21% | 23rd | T |
| Approaches from 100-125 yards | 18' 0" | 24th | 19' 5" | 75th | R |
| Approaches from 75-100 yards | 17' 7" | 102nd | 17' 1" | 86th | T |
| Approaches from 50-75 yards | 17' 10" | 139th | 15' 2" | 83rd | T |
| Approaches from 175-200 yards | 30' 2" | 3rd | 30' 1" | 2nd | T |
| Approaches from 150-175 yards | 27' 1" | 65th | 24' 8" | 6th | T |
| Approaches from 125-150 yards | 19' 9" | 5th | 22' 6" | 67th | R |
| Approaches from 50-125 yards | 17' 11" | 53rd | 18' 5" | 84th | R |
| Approaches from 200-225 yards | 34' 0" | 2nd | 35' 10" | 6th | R |
| Approaches from 225-250 yards | 46' 8" | 24th | 48' 2" | 41st | R |
| Approaches from > 275 yards | 71' 0" | 16th | 63' 4" | 6th | T |
| Approaches from 250-275 yards | 54' 7" | 13th | 53' 5" | 9th | T |
| Putting from Inside 5' | 96.86% | 44th | 97.07% | 31st | T |
| Putting from 5-10' | 57.32% | 71st | 55.79% | 92nd | R |
| Putting from - 10-15' | 31.90% | 59th | 30.99% | 73rd | R |
| Putting from - 15-20' | 21.79% | 35th | 17.71% | 104th | R |
| Putting from - 20-25' | 14.29% | 39th | 20.00% | 3rd | T |
| Putting from - > 25' | 2.44% | 191st | 6.60% | 49th | T |
| Putting from 5-15' | 46.52% | 76th | 45.18% | 98th | R |
| Putting from 15-25' | 18.90% | 22nd | 18.67% | 25th | R |
| Putting from 3-5' | 86.67% | 103rd | 91.67% | 13th | T |
| Left Rough Tendency | 17.99% | 180th | 17.27% | 170th | T |
| Right Rough Tendency | 19.42% | 183rd | 13.66% | 59th | T |
| Driving Pct. 300+ (All Drives) | 51.79% | 4th | 39.58% | 17th | R |
| GIR Percentage from Other than Fairway | 54.27% | 29th | 51.78% | 80th | R |
| Going for the Green | 75.38% | 2nd | 63.58% | 21st | R |
| Proximity to Hole | 33' 0" | 5th | 33' 6" | 11th | R |
| Fairway Proximity | 28' 1" | 1st | 28' 7" | 5th | R |
| Rough Proximity | 41' 9" | 29th | 48' 7" | 182nd | R |
| Proximity to Hole from Sand | 7' 0" | 2nd | 10' 1" | 125th | R |
| Scrambling from the Rough | 59.60% | 27th | 61.32% | 16th | T |
| Average Distance of Putts made | 71' 7" | 119th | 76' 4" | 34th | T |
| 3-Putt Avoidance | 3.09% | 96th | 2.82% | 71st | T |
| Front 9 Scoring Average | 34.85 | 11th | 34.69 | 1st | T |
| Back 9 Scoring Average | 34.78 | 1st | 35.09 | 6th | R |
| Lowest Round | 64 | 67th | 62 | 10th | T |
| GIR Percentage - 100+ yards | 64.76% | 26th | 66.30% | 8th | T |
| Average Distance to Hole After Tee Shot | 163.3 | 11th | 174.6 | 88th | R |
| Average Distance after Going for it Shot | 19.8 | 3rd | 19.6 | 2nd | T |
| Driving Pct. 300-320 (All Drives) | 29.46% | 4th | 25.15% | 21st | R |
| Driving Pct. 320+ (All Drives) | 22.32% | 7th | 14.43% | 19th | R |
| Rough Tendency | 37.41% | 190th | 30.93% | 133rd | T |
| Club Head Speed | 120.21 | 10th | 120.94 | 8th | T |
| Ball Speed | 178.07 | 8th | 177.69 | 10th | R |
| Smash Factor | 1.481 | 100th | 1.469 | 173rd | R |
| Launch Angle | 11.25 | 75th | 10.67 | 114th | R |
| Spin Rate | 2,770.4 | 68th | 2,391.5 | 175th | R |
| Distance to Apex | 197.3 | 13th | 198.4 | 8th | T |
| Apex Height | 110' 11" | 21st | 102' 1" | 62nd | R |
| Hang Time | 6.4 | 30th | 6.3 | 47th | R |
| Carry Distance | 296.0 | 8th | 296.7 | 7th | T |
| Carry Efficiency | 2.463 | 50th | 2.457 | 57th | R |
| Total Distance Efficiency | 2.601 | 45th | 2.554 | 125th | T |
Final Score
Rory: 53, Tiger 47
Conclusion
Despite being shared over many categories, the stats do throw up an alarming fact. Equipment matters everywhere. If you consider that Tiger generates 0.73 mph more clubhead speed than Rory, yet Rory achieves 0.38 mph more ball speed than Tiger and drives on average 12.7 yards further, it all points to the difference in equipment both men were using.
Off the tee, the difference in spin rates, the height both men drive the ball and the fact that Tiger actually carried the ball through the air longer than Rory this year would suggest a highly likely tapering back of Rory’s distance stats with his new Nike equipment. Unless that is, that Nike can bridge the technology and performance gap to Titleist by the start of next season.
On the green, from 5 to 20 feet Rory clearly has the upper hand. His birdie conversion rate is the best on Tour, especially on par 5’s. It seems unthinkable that he would not bring his Scotty Cameron putter with him into his Nike bag.
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