Evaluating the performance of professional golfers on the PGA, LPGA and SPGA tours

Data envelopment analysis is used to evaluate the performance of golfers on the three tours in the United States-the Professional Golf Association, the Ladies Professional Golf Association and the Senior Professional Golf Association (SPGA). The decision making unit is the individual golfer. The data is for the 1998 season. Two indexes are obtained for the golfers-a performance under pressure index and an athletic ability performance index. In addition, the inputs of the golfers are evaluated using several different techniques to determine the relative importance of each. Sam Snead asserted, "drive for show, putt for dough." This issue is investigated and resolved. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.