Dubbed ‘World’s Greatest Driver’ and now a broomstick, this PGA Tour pro ends the year with a crazy statistical gap

For Rico Hoey, the switch probably saved his job.

Hoey, the 30-year-old second-year PGA Tour pro from USC, finished the Wyndham Championship ranked No. 106 in the FedExCup standings. Although he was one of the best ball strikers in the world, Hoey lost an average of 1,122 strokes per round with the putter at the time.

And so desperate times called for desperate measures.

As Hoey said Golf week‘s Adam Schupak earlier this fall: “We asked like Titleist and all these other companies to send broomsticks, and I came to the house and there it is, so I thought, I didn’t mind it that much, but I tried it out during that month off. I ended up breaking two course records with it in the first two weeks. I think, this is it, I think this is it. It’s been great. It’s been good for me. I’m just going to keep working hard at it.”

Armed with a broomstick for the first time, Hoey posted four top-10 finishes this fall, including a second-place finish in Utah, while jumping to No. 54 on the final points list, entering the first two signature events of 2026, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational in Riviera, where Hoey was a member of the university.

Hoey also improved his batting average by more than a tenth of a shot.

“I didn’t expect such a quick return,” Hoey added.

Although Hoey was still the worst-placed putter on Tour, out of 180 qualified players he was second in strokes from tee to green, behind only Scottie Scheffler. He also finished third off the tee, which wasn’t surprising for the man nicknamed “WGD” or “World’s Greatest Driver” in college.

Hoey’s season was reminiscent of some other seasons by some elite ballstrikers who struggled with the flatstick, namely Scheffler from two seasons ago, when the world No. 1 had an almost three-stroke difference between what he gained in strokes from tee to green and what he lost on the greens. But if Hoey had not gone to the broom, he could have competed for the biggest gap alongside Scheffler in 2022-2023.

Here’s a look at the largest seasonal differences between strokes gained from tee to green and strokes gained while putting, among players with positive strokes gained from tee to green since at least 2004:

• 2.916 – Scottie Scheffler (2022-23), +2.615 SGTTG, -0.301 SGP
• 2.521 – Tiger Woods (2006), +2.982 SGTTG, +0.461 SGP
• 2.521 – Lucas Glover (2014-15), +1.170 SGTTG, -1.351 SGP
• 2.481 – Sergio Garcia (2004), +1.908 SGTTG, -0.573 SGP
• 2.428 – Vijay Singh (2004), +2.339 SGTTG, -0.089 SGP
• 2.360 – Adam Scott (2006), +2.230 SGTTG, -0.130 SGP
• 2.357 – Adam Scott (2010), +1.609 SGTTG, -0.748 SGP
• 2.306 – Scottie Scheffler (2024), +2.401 SGTTG, +0.095 SGP
• 2.282 – Vijay Singh (2008), +1.875 SGTTG, -0.407 SGP
• 2.271 – Rico Hoey (2025), +1.324 SGTTG, -0.998 SGP
• 2.266 – Luke List (2021-22), 1.371 SGTTG, -0.895 SGP