PGA Tour Data Analysis Project in R

Table of Contents

• Description
• What it Does
• Project Objectives
• Key Findings
• Installation
• License

Description

A data analysis project from my final year of university at the Univeristy of Nottingham, Computer Science.

What it does

This project delves into the world of professional golf through a comprehensive analysis of PGA tour data spanning the 2015-2022 seasons. Leveraging R programming, the analysis focuses on key performance indicators, strokes gained metrics, and various facets of player success in elite-level tournaments.

Project Objectives

• Understand Player Performance: Explore and understand the performance of players on the PGA tour, unraveling insights into their strengths and weaknesses.

• Evaluate Strokes Gained: Assess the effectiveness of the widely-used strokes gained metric as a measure of player performance and its correlation with finishing positions.

• Impact of Purse Size: Investigate the relationship between tournament purse sizes and player performance, uncovering patterns in higher-stake tournaments.

• Seasonal Trends: Identify trends in player scoring across seasons, shedding light on variations in performance over the years.

• Scoring Categories: Analyze the proportion of players scoring under par, even par, and over par, providing a holistic view of scoring trends.

Key Findings

• Strokes Gained Validity: Strokes gained proves to be a reliable metric for evaluating player performance, with a clear correlation with finishing positions.

• Purse Size Impact: Higher purse sizes do not necessarily translate to better player performance, with a notable drop in results in the highest-stake tournaments.

• Seasonal Variations: Seasons exhibit different player scoring trends, with variations in average scores and notable performance disparities.

• Scoring Categories Overview: The proportion of players scoring under par, even par, and over par provides a comprehensive snapshot of player performance trends.

• Importance of "Tee to Green": For tournament champions, the most critical aspect contributing to strokes gained is the "tee to green" performance.

Installation

To run the R projcet, follow these installation steps:

1. Clone the repository to your local machine.

   git clone https://github.com/oliv11111/PGATour-Data-Analysis-Project.git

2. Navigate to the project directory.

   cd PGATour-Data-Analysis-Project

3. Run the R Script.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. You can find more details in the LICENSE file.