One-Putt Percentage
One-putt percentage is the share of holes where a golfer needs only a single putt to finish. On the PGA Tour, the season leaders usually land between 43% and 45%.
What is one-putt percentage?
One-putt percentage measures how often a player holes out with just one putt on the green. Play 18 holes, one-putt six of them, and that round comes to a 33% one-putt rate. Stretch the count across a full season and the figure settles into a steady read on how sharp a golfer’s putting is.
The stat rewards two things happening together: leaving the first putt close enough to drop, and then rolling it in. A player who keeps approach shots 15 feet from the hole and a player who leaves them 40 feet will post wildly different numbers, even with identical strokes. One-putt percentage records the outcome, not the reason behind it.
The PGA Tour has kept this stat since 1992. It sits next to putts per round, three-putt avoidance, and strokes gained putting among the numbers used to judge work on the greens. Because it answers such a plain question, how often a golfer holes out first try, it turns up constantly in broadcasts, stat apps, and any conversation about who can putt.
How one-putt percentage is calculated
The math is straightforward. Count the holes a golfer one-putts, divide by the total holes played, then multiply by 100.
Golf Compendium lays out a tidy example: a golfer who plays 1,000 holes in a season and one-putts 440 of them finishes at 44%. On a single-round scale, three one-putts across 18 holes is about 17%, and six is 33%.
One wrinkle catches people out. A hole counts as a one-putt only when the ball reaches the green and the player takes a single stroke from there. A chip-in from off the green does not register, because no putt was struck. That rule is why a brilliant short-game day sometimes fails to move the number at all.
What is a good one-putt percentage?
For a tour professional, anything in the low-to-mid 40s is excellent. Golf Compendium notes that season leaders almost always fall between 43% and 45%, and the tour has never been led by a mark below 41% or above 47%. The highest figure to ever lead a season was 46.81% by Bob Heintz in 2002, and the lowest was 41.63% by Greg Kraft in 1996. Taylor Montgomery topped the 2025 list at 46.3%.
The tour-wide average is more down-to-earth than the leaderboard implies. Drawing on Shot Scope and PGA Tour data, Golf Monthly reported that the average PGA Tour player sat at 39.72% through the 2025 season, and only 85 of the 174 measured players cleared 40%. Even elite putters have lean years. Xander Schauffele, the 2024 Open champion, slipped to 36.99% in 2025.
Amateur numbers sit closer to the pros than most players would guess. The same Shot Scope figures put the average scratch golfer and the average 5-handicapper near 34%, the average club golfer around 30%, and a 25-handicapper about 26%. The gap between a major winner and a solid club player on this one stat is narrow, though the pros manage it on far tougher greens.
| Player level | Typical one-putt percentage |
|---|---|
| PGA Tour season leader | 43% to 47% |
| PGA Tour average (2025) | about 40% |
| Scratch golfer | about 34% |
| 5-handicapper | about 34% |
| Average club golfer | about 30% |
| 25-handicapper | about 26% |
Sources: Golf Compendium; Golf Monthly (Shot Scope / PGA Tour, 2025).
What affects a golfer’s one-putt percentage
Distance to the hole does most of the work. Research by Mark Broadie, the Columbia University professor behind strokes gained, found that PGA Tour pros make about 99% of putts from 2 feet, 88% from 4 feet, and 77% from 5 feet. Step back to 10 feet and the make rate is only 40%. It keeps sliding from there: 23% at 15 feet, 15% at 20 feet, and 7% at 30 feet.
Those odds explain why one-putt percentage tracks so closely with approach play. Shorter first putts drop more often, so golfers who hit their approaches close tend to post better figures without owning a better stroke. A one-putt from 4 feet and a one-putt from 40 feet count the same, yet one is nearly automatic and the other is nearly a fluke.
One-putt percentage vs. other putting stats
A few related numbers get mixed up with one-putt percentage, and each measures something different.
| Stat | What it measures |
|---|---|
| One-putt percentage | Share of holes finished with a single putt |
| Putts per round | Total putts across 18 holes (PGA Tour average is about 29) |
| Three-putt avoidance | How rarely a player takes three or more putts on a hole |
| Strokes gained putting | Putting versus the field, adjusted for putt distance |
Putts per round counts every putt, so a player can post a low total mainly by dodging three-putts rather than by holing lots of first putts. One-putt percentage isolates the putts that actually go in. Strokes gained putting, built from Broadie’s work, goes deeper still by comparing each putt against a tour benchmark for that exact distance, which is why it has become the preferred measure of putting skill at the top level. One-putt percentage endures because it is easy to grasp.
Related Golf Terms
- Sand save percentage — The rate of making par or better after a greenside bunker shot.
- Bogey avoidance — A measure of how well a player limits bogeys and worse.
- Scrambling percentage — The rate of making par after missing a green in regulation.
- Birdie average — The average number of birdies a player makes per round.
- Proximity to the hole — The average distance approach shots finish from the cup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good one-putt percentage for an amateur?
Around 30% is typical for an average club golfer, per Shot Scope data. Reaching the mid-30s puts a golfer near scratch-level territory on this stat.
What is the average one-putt percentage on the PGA Tour?
About 40%. Golf Monthly reported the 2025 tour average at 39.72%, with season leaders reaching roughly 45% to 47%.
Is one-putt percentage the same as putts per round?
No. One-putt percentage counts only holes finished with a single putt, while putts per round totals every putt taken over 18 holes.
Does a chip-in count toward one-putt percentage?
No. The ball has to be on the green and holed with one stroke. A hole-out from off the green is not recorded as a one-putt.
Who has the best one-putt percentage on the PGA Tour?
It changes from year to year. Jordan Spieth and Brian Gay have each led the tour three times, and Spieth is the only player to lead in back-to-back seasons.
Sources
- PGA Tour. “One-Putt Percentage.” Stats. Accessed August 2026.
https://www.pgatour.com/stats/detail/413 - Golf Compendium. “Yearly One-Putt Percentage Leaders on PGA Tour.” Accessed August 2026.
https://www.golfcompendium.com/2024/12/1-putt-pct-pga-tour-leaders.html - Golf Monthly. “How Many 1-Putts Does the Average PGA Tour Player Make Per Round?” July 2025. Accessed August 2026.
https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/how-many-1-putts-does-the-average-pga-tour-player-make-per-round - Broadie, Mark. “Every Shot Counts,” via Avidgolfer Magazine, “Golf Science: Putting Numbers That Might Surprise You.” Accessed August 2026.
https://myavidgolfer.com/golf-science-putting-numbers-that-might-surprise-you/ - 18Birdies. “Putting by the Numbers, Part One.” Accessed August 2026.
https://help.18birdies.com/article/496-putting-by-the-numbers-part-one - MyGolfSpy. “How Many Putts Should You Have Per Round (Based On Your Handicap).” August 2025. Accessed August 2026.
https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/instruction/how-many-putts-should-you-have-per-round-based-on-your-handicap/
