Players hitting it longer than ever on Nationwide Tour

text size

Cox/Getty Images

Kyle Stanley leads the Nationwide Tour in driving distance with a 320-yard average.

Looking for the long hitters has never been easier than on the Nationwide Tour.

With just three more tournaments left there has been a resurgence of players consistently driving it more than 300 yards. Leading the charge is Kyle Stanley, a former standout at Clemson who heads into this week averaging a hefty 320 yards a poke. He's one of 52 players averaging 300 yards or better -- significantly more than on the PGA TOUR where only 12 players average 300 yards or better.

RELATED

Driving distance leaders
Power Rankings: Miccosukee
The field: Miccosukee
THE 25: Standings

Stanley, who is in his first full season on the Nationwide Tour, has some experience on the TOUR after playing in 12 tournaments. He wasn't that surprised about the discrepancy between the two Tours.

"I think a lot of it has to do with course conditions and maybe there's a little more emphasis on getting it in the fairways on the PGA TOUR," Stanley said.

Stanley says his strength is driving the ball and that's what has helped him make 14 cuts in 23 Nationwide Tour events this year. He says he hasn't dialed it back much by hitting 3-woods or hybrids off the tee.

Stanley pointed out that at TOUR stops with shorter layouts the driver isn't the key club in the bag. Hartford and Greensboro, for example, are courses where players don't need to hit too many drivers.

"You can almost play Hartford without hitting a driver at all," Stanley said. "So like I said it's all about the conditions, but here on the Nationwide Tour I feel pretty comfortable hitting my driver a lot."

In 2005, when the current record was set, there were 42 players who averaged more than 300 yards off the tee. Last year, there were just 18 who averaged 300 yards or better. This year, that record has a chance to be broken.

If Tag Ridings was playing on TOUR this season, his average of 314 yards would place him second. The veteran says most of the young guns on the Nationwide Tour are big hitters but he has more than held his own.

And here's some evidence: Ridings is sitting comfortably at No. 14 on the money list on the Nationwide Tour.

"There are some really long hitters out here," Ridings said. "As for those numbers I think they might be a little different because a lot of it depends on which holes Tour officials pick to measure the drives."

The Tours measure two drives per round for each player and the two holes must go in different directions because of the wind.

Ridings says there are some very good driving holes that don't get measured. "Sometimes it's just a matter of which holes are being picked," he said.

Ridings also says that the Nationwide Tour has played in a lot of conditions where the fairways have been firm and fast. With those kinds of conditions balls will roll a lot further in the fairways.

"When it's fast and firm driving stats go up," Ridings said.

And then there's the equipment, something Ridings says has helped him. The 36-year-old put a lighter shaft in his Cleveland driver that's "added about 10 to 15 yards in the last month or so."

Ridings is one of the longer hitters on the Nationwide Tour at No. 7 and that should help him this week at the Miccosukee Championship in Miami. The par-71 at the Miccosukee Golf & Country Club will play around 7,200 yards.

"We can hit driver a lot this week so that's good to know," Ridings said.

Jarrod Lyle, a 29-year-old Australian, has played in 64 TOUR events and 63 Nationwide Tour tournaments. He ranks 19th in driving distance this season on the TOUR at 296.2 yards. He was tied for 40th in 2008 -- his last year on the Nationwide Tour -- at 297 yards.

Lyle has played in 10 Nationwide tournaments as well this year and 17 on the TOUR. He says that there probably aren't more 300-yard hitters on the TOUR because the courses are set up a little tougher.

"On the PGA TOUR the fairways are tighter so you want to maybe play for better position off the tee," he said. "And on the Nationwide Tour I would say the rough isn't as bad and you can maybe afford to hit it off line a little bit."

Lyle agreed Ridings about how long the younger players on the Nationwide Tour can drive the ball.

"I'm only 29 and I'm still pretty nimble and can hit it pretty far and straight for the most part but these young guys who are 21 and 22 are flying it past me," Lyle said.

Even though Lyle has split his season on both Tours he has hit driver most of the time.

"Oh, I'm going to hit driver," he said. "As long as I can continue to hit it straight I use that strategy and it doesn't matter if it's Nationwide (Tour) or PGA (TOUR)."

Big hitters: Nationwide Tour vs. PGA TOUR

Here's a look at the number of players averaging 300 or more yards in driving distance since 2000. The only year that the PGA TOUR has had more 300-yard drivers was in 2006.