Regardless of whether you are aiming to win a Major for the fifth time in your career, or playing your first tournament as a pro, there isn’t a golfer on the planet who doesn’t want to hit their drives farther.
But is there a particular country which produces golfers that can hit the longest drives?
Interested in this, PGATour.2k.com investigated PGA Tour Driving Data statistics in nine of the most popular golfing tournaments from 2010-2021, to uncover which country produces golfers who can drive the farthest. To accurately calculate distance, PGATour.2k.com used the Bayesian average, which considers both the average driving distance and the number of golfers, to create an overall evenly weighted score.
Here’s what the study revealed:
| Top Country by average | |||||
| Country | Number of contributions | Avg (avg) | Total distance (avg) | Number of players | Bayesian Avg |
| Belgium | 19 | 308.11 | 2464.68 | 3 | 298.65 |
| Northern Ireland | 124 | 299.95 | 2385.60 | 4 | 298.53 |
| Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 22 | 303.53 | 2428.18 | 1 | 297.24 |
| Chile | 13 | 305.67 | 2445.31 | 1 | 296.55 |
| Spain | 175 | 296.57 | 2370.77 | 14 | 295.98 |
| Ireland | 60 | 297.04 | 2376.20 | 7 | 295.54 |
| Australia | 464 | 295.52 | 2358.60 | 45 | 295.34 |
| Norway | 17 | 299.47 | 2395.71 | 2 | 295.05 |
| China | 21 | 297.65 | 2381.14 | 5 | 294.64 |
| South Africa | 334 | 294.78 | 2351.19 | 32 | 294.59 |
| Austria | 25 | 296.41 | 2371.08 | 2 | 294.29 |
| Malaysia | 2 | 317.20 | 2537.50 | 2 | 294.06 |
| Argentina | 65 | 294.37 | 2354.83 | 6 | 293.78 |
| Wales | 25 | 294.67 | 2357.28 | 4 | 293.48 |
| Mexico | 27 | 294.50 | 2355.93 | 3 | 293.44 |
| England | 571 | 293.05 | 2339.75 | 62 | 293.02 |
| Netherlands | 17 | 293.77 | 2299.88 | 2 | 292.94 |
| New Zealand | 31 | 292.90 | 2343.06 | 5 | 292.69 |
| United States | 3651 | 292.50 | 2336.87 | 328 | 292.50 |
| Paraguay | 3 | 292.57 | 2340.33 | 1 | 292.47 |
| France | 43 | 292.42 | 2339.28 | 14 | 292.44 |
| Costa Rica | 1 | 290.30 | 2322.00 | 1 | 292.39 |
| Scotland | 121 | 292.12 | 2327.30 | 16 | 292.19 |
| Denmark | 60 | 291.99 | 2326.05 | 8 | 292.14 |
| Philippines | 1 | 278.40 | 2227.00 | 1 | 291.99 |
| India | 28 | 291.50 | 2331.89 | 5 | 291.99 |
| Colombia | 28 | 291.49 | 2331.82 | 2 | 291.99 |
| Japan | 153 | 291.47 | 2317.15 | 30 | 291.63 |
| Brazil | 2 | 277.60 | 2220.50 | 2 | 291.50 |
| Finland | 7 | 286.60 | 2292.71 | 2 | 291.32 |
| Chinese Taipei | 11 | 287.59 | 2300.55 | 1 | 291.12 |
| Fiji | 30 | 288.56 | 2308.40 | 1 | 290.48 |
| Sweden | 229 | 289.89 | 2311.41 | 20 | 290.18 |
| Korea, Republic of | 213 | 289.71 | 2316.21 | 24 | 290.04 |
| Canada | 108 | 289.32 | 2314.47 | 13 | 289.99 |
| Thailand | 42 | 288.09 | 2291.86 | 4 | 289.88 |
| Germany | 77 | 288.72 | 2305.82 | 6 | 289.74 |
| Slovakia | 24 | 285.89 | 2286.96 | 1 | 289.49 |
| Zimbabwe | 21 | 281.85 | 2240.95 | 1 | 288.00 |
| Italy | 79 | 285.91 | 2287.14 | 5 | 287.67 |
Australian golfers placed seventh with a weighted average driving distance of 295.34 yards. Out of the 45 Aussie golfers featured in the final rankings, Jason Day proved to be the biggest hitter – averaging a driving distance of 343.6 yards at the World Golf Championships in 2015.
PGATour.2k.com‘s project revealed that the biggest-hitting country was Belgium. Using the weighted scoring, Belgian golfers drove the ball an average of 298.65 yards in all the tournaments analysed, with Nicolas Colsaerts being the top hitter. His best driving distance was at the 2012 US Open – averaging 339.3 yards off the tee and a combined distance of 2,714 yards throughout the tournament.
Placing just behind in second are Northern Irish golfers, with a weighted average driving distance of 298.53 yards. Much of this is down to the driving ability of Rory McIlroy alone, who ranked fourth overall on the biggest hitter by country list. His best performance off the tee came at the World Golf Championships in 2015, where he hit a total distance of 2,757 yards – averaging 344.6 yards per drive. Â
Venezuelan golfers ranked third with a weighted average driving distance of 297.24 yards in the tournaments analysed. Jhonattan Vegas is the only Venezuelan who features on the list, but he remarkably had the highest average driving distance in three out of the nine tournaments from 2010 – 2021 (World Golf Championships, PGA Championship, and Arnold Palmer Invitational).
Coming in fourth were Chileans with a weighted average driving distance of 296.55 yards. Joaquin Niemann is the only Chilean to feature on the list, and similarly to Vegas, had the highest average driving distance in three out of the nine tournaments analysed (US Open, Masters Tournament and The Players Championship).
Completing the top five were golfers from Spain, with a weighted average driving distance of 295.98 yards. Out of the 14 Spanish golfers featured in the final rankings, Alvaro Quiros proved to be the biggest hitter – averaging a driving distance of 334.5 yards at the World Golf Championships in 2015.
Interestingly, the United States – spearheaded by serial bombers Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson – finished way back in 19th place with an average of 292.47 yards, a figure no doubt weakened by the sheer amount of Americans (3,651) included in the poll.
[IMAGE: Getty]
