Rate it!

1 votes

Golf might be a game of controlled approaches, deft chips and delicate putts... but it's also a game of men straining their bulging muscles as they thrash at small white balls with four-foot long sticks.

So how better to start our look behind some of the stats in golf than with a look at the longest hitters on the European and US Tours?

And top of the current list is little-known American Robert Garrigus, whose average tee shot this year so far has been measured just short of 315 yards.

Garrgius has never won on the main Tour, though he's had a few top-10s and enjoyed a top-20 finish at the recent Bob Hope Classic - but before you start thinking that he must be a six-foot five inch monster with Schwarzenegger-esque biceps, it turns out that he stands just 5'11" and weighs in at just 12 1/2 stone.

Garrigus's average is just ahead of Spain's Alvaro Quiros (pictured), but while the American has been very average Quiros has been a revelation, winning the recent Qatar Masters and producing consistent good form that has lifted him to world number 25.

Elsewhere on the list, renowned long-hitting lefty Bubba Watson is currently sitting sixth, while Northern Ireland wunderkind Rory McIlroy belies his youth and scrawny frame by averaging almost 303 yards.

Perhaps most amazing, however, is the fact that at the age of 49 Fred Couples is only just outside the world's top-20 biggest hitters, sitting in 22nd place with an average drive of 301 yards. Incredibly, that puts him well ahead of the likes of JB Holmes , Chad Campbell, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.

You should probably feel sorry for another 49-year-old, however: Corey Pavin, the US Ryder Cup captain, is bottom of the list (at 322nd) with an average of just 253 yards.

Best of the best: Big hitters

1. Robert Garrigus - 314.9 (US)

2. Alvaro Quiros - 314.2 (Europe)

3. Jonathan Byrd - 311.9 (US)

4. Gary Woodland - 310.9 (US)

5. Bernd Wiesberger - 310.5 (Europe)

6. Bubba Watson - 309.2 (US)

7. Thomas Aiken - 308.4 (Europe)

8. Nick Watney - 307.2 (US)

9. Scott Piercy - 305.8 (US)

10. Brandt Jobe - 305.6 (US)

11. Dustin Johnson - 304.2 (US)

12. Johan Edfors - 303.7 (Europe)

13. Robert Rock - 303.6 (Europe)

14. Chris Couch - 303.5 (US)

15. Kevin Streelman - 303 (US)

16. Charley Hoffman - 302.8 (US)

17. Rory McIlroy - 302.7 (Europe)

18. Lucas Glover - 302.4 (US)

19. Rafael Cabrera Bello - 302.1 (Europe)

20. Ricardo Gonzalez - 301.5 (Europe)

Eurosport