You may have heard the phrase 'I had to scramble on a few holes...' or 'I scrambled round today...' but what does it actually mean?
What is scrambling golf?
Scrambling in golf is the ability to save par after missing the green in regulation. You may think this just means making an up and down from the bunker, or chipping it close and tapping it in. But you can scramble from anywhere.
An example of an impressive scramble is missing the green on a par-3 hole. You then fluff your chip and are still not on the green but you manage to chip in with your next shot to save par. At no point were you in a position to make par and you didn't even get your putter out!
That's a prime example of scrambling in golf.
Is scrambling in golf important?
In short, yes!
The ability to scramble can turn a good score into a great one, a top 10 finish into a 1st place!
In every golf round, no matter your ability, there will be a stray shot somewhere and the better you are at recovering from this, the more likely you'll shoot a low score.
This is highlighted when your hear that when Tiger Woods won PGA player of the year in 2001, his scrambling score was 69%. That means for every 100 greens he missed, he made par on 69 of them.
The list of PGA Tour Scrambling leaders by year
Since records began:
2022 — Matt Fitzpatrick, 69.62 percent
2021 — Patrick Cantlay, 67.30
2020 — Daniel Berger, 67.45
2019 — Tommy Fleetwood, 67.98
2018 — Webb Simpson, 66.10
2017 — Ian Poulter, 67.36
2016 — Steve Stricker, 66.01
2015 — Chad Collins, 66.18
2014 — Jim Furyk, 69.33
2013 — Bob Estes, 66.19
2012 — Brian Gay, 64.38
2011 — Greg Chalmers, 65.17
2010 — Dean Wilson, 67.16
2009 — Tiger Woods, 68.18
2008 — Brian Gay, 64.82
2007 — Chris Riley, 65.33
2006 — Corey Pavin, 66.45
2005 — Mathias Gronberg, 64.48
2004 — Retief Goosen, 66.13
2003 — Arron Oberholser, 67.28
2002 — Tiger Woods, 69.67
2001 — Tiger Woods, 69.78
2000 — Ernie Els, 67.62
1999 — Mike Reid, 68.84
1998 — Payne Stewart, 66.22
1997 — Bob Estes, 68.84
1996 — Corey Pavin, 67.14
1995 — Bob Estes, 66.34
1994 — Mark McCumber, 68.70
1993 — Greg Norman, 72.80
1992 — Nick Price, 68.26
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