⛳ Never up, never in. But then what?

Your 20-foot putt stops a foot short. Frustrating? Of course. But would you rather be six feet past?

“Never up, never in” is 100% 'technically' true. It’s just not a good way judge the putt.

​Lou Stagner’s latest analysis looked at five years of PGA Tour data.

• From 20 to 24 feet, 26% of putts finished short.
• From 30 to 34 feet, it was 40%.
• From 45 to 49 feet, it was 49%.

That’s almost half from longer range, even among Tour players.

Inside ten feet, though, the figure was 3.4% or less. Distance changes the decision. This isn’t a licence to be happy to leave every putt short.

From farther away, judge the distance and difficulty of the putt you’ve left yourself. Finishing beyond the cup tells you very little on its own.

We’ve explored that in our video on what the pros’ putting numbers really tell us, particularly three-putt avoidance.

Lou’s new analysis adds useful evidence: a short finish still leaves you in good shape on a lot of occasions.

🎯 The PGA Tour's greatest ever putter vs. Scott Fawcett

Scott Fawcett, founder of the DECADE course-management programme, argues that good pace on a long putt can leave the ball either side of the hole: short or beyond it.

That helps explain his disagreement with Brad Faxon - arguably the best putter in PGA Tour history.

In Fawcett’s account, reported by GolfWRX, Faxon described a good miss as finishing far enough past the hole to need marking.

That’s essentially “never up, never in” as a definition of good pace. Fawcett disagreed: a long putt finishing just short can still be an excellent result.

His lag-putting explanation shows why: nobody - not even the best putters in history - controls distance perfectly.

Insist that every putt reaches the hole and you push your finishing pattern farther past it, leaving longer comeback putts.

Accept some short finishes and you can keep that pattern centred nearer the cup.

The aim is still to hole it. But a long putt that finishes a foot short has left you an easy second putt. Calling it a failure because it never reached the hole misses that benefit.

🏌️ So how many putts per round is good?

Is 30 putts a good day? It depends how you got there.

Miss a green and chip close, and you’ve handed yourself an easier first putt. Hit the green farther from the flag and two good putts can look worse on your stats sheet.

Our guide to average putts per round and good putting explains the trap. Track three-putts and first-putt distances alongside your total.

To practise the pace that helps, try Lou’s new lag-putting game: alternate between at least two targets, taking 20 attempts from a chosen distance. Count how many finish within three feet and compare your score next time.