Kirk Triplett went from barely making the cut to shooting 17-under on the weekend to win the Chrysler Classic of Tucson. Before the cut, Triplett made eight birdies, no eagles and three bogeys, but after the cut he recorded 16 birdies, one eagle, and just one bogey. The difference? His play on and around the greens. Triplett's ShotLink statistics for ball striking show no major differences before and after the cut. His average driving distance for all drives was identical, and while Triplett did hit two more fairways on the weekend, he hit two more greens in rounds 1 and 2 and his proximity to the hole on approach was almost two feet closer before the cup.
But look at what he did on or around the greens over the weekend. While he missed two more greens on the weekend to give him two more scrambling attempts in the later rounds, Triplett's average distance of his par putt was 2 feet closer on the weekend. Also, on the weekend Triplett holed out from off the green four different times to record a score below par -- three for birdie and one for an eagle on the par-5 10th hole. Triplett was hitting his approach shots close all week, but on the weekend he was able to take advantage of them. In the first two rounds, Triplett was only able to convert on 27 percent of his birdie opportunities, but that all changed on the weekend where he turned 50 percent of his chances into birdies and led the field in putting average in the final round.
One interesting note to Triplett's victory is that he may have clinched it with his play on the par-3 holes. Triplett played the par-3 holes at 4 under for the week, two better than his nearest competitor, Jerry Kelly. The only other player to finish in the top-10 that played the par 3s at 4 under was rookie Bubba Watson.
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