Here’s what pro golfers’ handicap indexes would be if they kept score

We all know pros are good at golf. Really good, actually. But sometimes, it’s hard to put into perspective exactly how much better than us these players really are.

Enter Lou Stagner, one of the minds behind DECADE Golf, who crunched the numbers on pros’ scores and came up with a list of what players’ USGA indexes would be if they reported their scores.

The metric tracked players’ rounds between 2016 and 2020 based on the scores they shot relative to rating and slope on the course’s scorecard. As you can see, this doesn’t account for other factors, like the greens being firmer and faster when the PGA Tour rolls into town, but it’s still a pretty fascinating look into how good these players are.

You can see the full table below, but what are some quick takeaways? The average Tour pro has a handicap index of +5.4.

1. Rickie Fowler at one point reached the lowest index at +8.4.

2. Dustin Johnson has the best average index, at +6.5.

3. Brooks Koepka at one point had the second-worst index of any player in the top 25.

4. Tiger Woods has one of the five best indexes.

Fascinating stuff. Check it out:

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Luke Kerr-Dineen

Golf.com Contributor

Luke Kerr-Dineen is the Game Improvement Editor at GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. In his role he oversees the brand’s game improvement content spanning instruction, equipment, health and fitness, across all of GOLF’s multimedia platforms.

An alumni of the International Junior Golf Academy and the University of South Carolina–Beaufort golf team, where he helped them to No. 1 in the national NAIA rankings, Luke moved to New York in 2012 to pursue his Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Golf Digest, Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

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