It’s no secret that Tour professionals hit the ball a long way. You only have to watch a few minutes of PGA Tour coverage to see players hitting drives well over 300 yards, time and time again.
We have a tendency to wax lyrical when the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy knock one past the 350-yard marker – often longer – and hit short irons straight at the flag from 180 yards. This is the modern game: smash it long and wedge it close.
They play a different game to the mere mortals like us, and the amateur golfer who is happy to hit a drive somewhere in the region of 250 yards. In fact, Arccos data via the USGA and R&A in March 2022 revealed that the average male golfer – with a handicap – hits their total drive around 215 yards.
Even though we might play a different game to the pros, it’s always interesting to look at the stats to see how we compare. The latest numbers released by Trackman are actually quite alarming. For example, the average carry distance for a PGA Tour pro with a driver in their hand in 2023 was 282 yards.
PGA Tour player hit’s huge drive – it’s old news. How about their irons? Well, unsurprisingly, they hit those quite long, too. Sure, lofts might have become stronger – so today’s 7-iron might be more like an old 5-iron in certain cases – but the stats are still quite astonishing.
Updated PGA Tour Averages released by @TrackManGolf It’s been a while since they have released updated CHS, distances, AOA, launch angles etcBookmark for future reference and see how you compare 👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/iyySMw41xZMay 2, 2024
So, how far do you hit your 7-iron, that trusty club that you can find a nice soft fade with? 130 yards? Longer? Maybe it’s more like somewhere between 140 and 150 yards?
A closer look at the 2023 stats, according to Trackman, reveals that the total carry distance for a 7-iron on the PGA Tour was 176 yards, with 92mph club speed and 123mph ball speed.
The idea of this article is not to encourage you to get down the range so you can start trying to crunch your 7-iron close to 180 yards – it’s merely a bit of insight.
That said, we can offer plenty of tips on how to improve your iron shots, and you can always learn a few iron play secrets from the best players in the world.
