Much is made in golf of the little guys who fly it a long way. They get, we like to say, the most out of their body.
It tends to check out, too, when watching. Those shorter than six feet tall and shy of 160 points dripping wet seem like they launch everything they’ve got into the ball.
However they do it, these players’ efforts add up to plenty of swing speed, a lot of ball speed, and 300 or so yards off the tee. But which of those “little guys” truly gets the most out of their frame? The answer might surprise you. It’s not Justin Thomas, a noted BIG swinger, who hits it furthest given his stature. He’s 12th on the list of distance in yards per weight in pounds.
The No. 1? That belongs to Carlos Ortiz. Yep, the svelte Carlos Ortiz clocks in at 150 lb. and averaged 300.3 yards off the tee last year, good for a 2.002 yards-to-pounds ratio that no one else on Tour could match. Ortiz’s 300 yards off the tee is about 3.5 yards further than the Tour average. Considering the Tour’s average weight is just over 180, 30 pounds north of Ortiz, he certainly is getting a lot of distance from a smaller frame.
Next up was C.T. Pan, who weighs just 145 but hits it 287. Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Joaquin Niemann round out the top five. In terms of players hitting it far and weighing very little, McIlroy is the only player in the top 10 of this whimsical category who weighs 160 lbs. or more. He just hits it so far that his ratio hangs close to the top.
Since the list is definitely weighted, no pun, toward lighter players, Bryson DeChambeau, the current king of distance, ranks very low. As in fourth-worst. (That’s how you know this distance-related stat is a bit flimsy.) Nonetheless, here are the top 10 players who hit the ball a long way despite not weighing much at all.
