Question

Ranking driving performance of professional golfers.Refer to The Sport Journal(Winter 2007) analysis of anew method for ranking the total driving performance ofgolfers on the PGA tour, Exercise 2.52 (p. 97). Recall thatthe method uses both the average driving distance (yards)and driving accuracy (percent of drives that land in thefairway). Data on these two variables for the top 40 PGAgolfers are saved in the accompanying file. A professionalgolfer is practicing a new swing to increase his averagedriving distance. However, he is concerned that his drivingaccuracy will be lower. Is his concern a valid one? Explain.

Short answer

Yes, his concern is valid.

Step-by-step solution

Determining the validity of the concern

To answer the question, we will first have to check whether there is any relation between the driving distance and the driving accuracy. Therefore we will first construct a scatterplot using the data given for the two variables.

The data for the two variables is as follows:

The graph is given below:

We can infer from the graph that there is a negative correlation between driving distance and driving accuracy. It is observed that for golfers who had a lengthy driving distance, their driving accuracy was low.

Therefore, the concern of the professional golfer who is trying to increase his driving distance is valid. If he tries to increase his driving distance, his accuracy will reduce.