Players drive for show and putt for dough, but scrambling may embody the best of both traits. Think about the most memorable -- and maybe most important -- shots in 2005. Tiger Woods’ chip-in at the Masters on Sunday or Phil Mickelson’s up and down on the 72nd hole at the PGA Championship are two that probably come to mind before any of the 19 monster 400-yard drives hit on the PGA TOUR in 2005.

In 2005, the PGA TOUR average for Greens in Regulation percentage was 65.1 percent, meaning that there was an average of six holes per round where a player was scrambling to save par. The scrambling success rate in 2005 was 57.5 percent, meaning, on average, players saved an estimated three to four strokes per round using their skills around the greens this season.

Scrambling success alone cannot guarantee a successful season, as this season’s scrambling leader, Mathias Gronberg, converted 64.5 percent of his attempts, but finished 160th on the money list. However, as a key component of a greater collection of skills, scrambling is a very important tool for success on TOUR. It cannot be considered a coincidence that the top four players on the money list in 2005 all ranked in the top 15 on the PGA TOUR in scrambling, with the further understanding this skill was teamed with finishing at or near the top of many other statistical categories.

It may be that scrambling success has a greater impact on the outcome of a single event than it does over the course of a season. In 2005, the winners of 28 tournaments finished in the top 10 in both Greens in Regulation and Putting Average, while 23 winners finished in the top 10 in scrambling success for the event. Additionally, only two winners in 2005, Peter Lonard at the MCI Classic and Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship, had less than a 50 percent scrambling success rate in the event that they were victorious.

Mickelson is often credited as having one of the best short games on the PGA TOUR, and his win at the FBR and numerous highlight reel shots from a fantastic career are used as evidence to back up this point. However, Jim Furyk’s short game prowess is rarely addressed, and since the 2000 season, Furyk has finished in the top 25 in scrambling five times, only missing in 2004 due to injury. Meanwhile, Mickelson has finished in the top 25 in three of the same six seasons. This is not to say that Mickelson’s skills are not spectacular, but that there are other players on TOUR getting it done around the greens.

With the advent of ShotLink, scrambling statistics can now be examined way beyond the usual success or non-success measurement. Distance from the green and location are now tracked, as well as the proximity to the hole on scrambling attempts. These new statistics can be used to separate the players who may be good from around the greens from those who may rely more on their skill on the greens.

A great example of two types of successful scramblers who may have opposite approaches is Loren Roberts and Jose Maria Olazabal. Both players finished in the top 10 in scrambling, and both had exactly 330 scrambling attempts. Roberts converted on 207 of his attempts with an average proximity to the hole of 7 feet, 7 inches; Olazabal converted on 208 attempts (only one more than Roberts), but led the TOUR in proximity to the hole on scrambling attempts with an average of 6 feet -- over a foot closer than Roberts.