Psychology shows that golfers try harder to make par than to birdie

I was engrossed by a recent study, reported in the New York Times: Golfers facing identical putts will make them more often when they are putting for par, than when they are putting for birdie. In other words, golfers try harder to sink a par putt than a birdie putt:

Of course, it makes no sense at all: each stroke counts as one on a scorecard, whether for eagle or triple-bogey on any particular hole. The goal is to finish with the fewest strokes, regardless of what each might be artificially termed. All else being equal — distance from the cup, one’s proximity to the lead or cut, the course difficulty and so on — putts should be handled the same way.

Statistically, after correcting for every other variable, the study found that golfers made their birdies about 3 per cent less often than their par putts. Big whoop, right? But as the Times points out, with about nine birdie attempts per round, that adds up to a one-stroke difference in each tournament — a difference that could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money over the year.

It’s an economic principle known as loss aversion: Essentially, players fear making a bogey so much they try extra-hard on their “last chance” for par. (It’s also a great opportunity to post a Simpsons clip.)