The Loop

Here are last season's 10 best drivers on the PGA Tour (No. 5 might surprise you)

October 15, 2015

It turns out, golf also has a "Big 3" when it comes to driving the ball. You won't be shocked to learn that Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson make up that triumvirate, but you might be surprised to see how much better those three players are off the tee than anyone else.

Columbia professor Mark Broadie, the creator of the strokes-gained statistic, shared this chart detailing that powerful trio's prowess. Notice the gap between No. 3 Dustin Johnson and No. 4, Jason Day:

Of course, those figures are for the entire season, and not the summer when it seemed like Day piped 360-yard drives down the middle on every hole during his red-hot stretch to ascend to World No. 1. But as you can see, when it comes to No. 1 in driving, Watson is the clear leader.

The first real surprise comes at No. 5 with Charl Schwartzel. Keep in mind, this is a guy who was listed as weighing 140 pounds when he won the 2011 Masters. Now listed at 5' 11" and 160 pounds in the PGA Tour media guide, Schwartzel still isn't a big guy, but he makes a big impact with the big stick.