Brandon Hagy’s ball speed is ridiculous

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We feel sorry for Brandon Hagy’s golf ball. The 24-year-old American hits it HARD. During yesterday’s final round of the Valspar Championship, Hagy hit three drives on holes that were being tracked by TrackMan. One of them had a ball speed of 193.65 miles per hour, one was clocked at 191.32 mph, and even the slowest of the three was a scorching 189.52 mph.

To put that into context, the average ball speed for all players hitting driver during the round was 167.10 miles per hour. Tony Finau boasts the highest average ball speed on the PGA Tour this season, clocking in at 184.46 mph. His fastest drive in the 2016 season so far has been 188.16 mph. Bubba Watson led the ball speed statistic in the 2015 season, averaging 184.54 mph, with a top speed of 188.64.

Now, clearly, three swallows do not make a summer, but Hagy caused quite a stir during his debut season on the PGA Tour last year, regularly being asked by other players how far he hits it. Making his first cut in the 2015 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, Hagy led all of the power categories, with clubhead speed of 128.5 mph, ball speed of 190.38 mph and a carry distance of 314.3 yards.  

The interesting thing about Hagy is that he isn’t built like a monster. At 5’11” and barely more than 12 stone, he looks lean rather than particularly powerful, perhaps suggesting that golfers don’t need to list massive weights and have jumper-splitting guns to hit the ball a long way. 

Hagy’s average driving distance so far this season is 316 yards, shy of Tony Finau’s 317.3 average but clear of Gary Woodland at 314.8. At the Valspar, Hagy averaged 321 yards off the tee. 

Naysayers will be saying, “Yeah, but can he putt?”

“I think for the first couple of years I was really just known for how far I hit it, but I think now I’ve really worked on the other parts of my game, and that’s shown with how I’ve been able to progress,” says Hagy. “The main reason I’ve progressed in the last few years is working on the other parts of my game, but yeah, I’m definitely always going to be hitting long drives and I hope that people will remember that.”

At the Valspar, Hagy was in good shape after rounds of 70, 73 and 71 on a course few players were tearing up, before a final-round 80 saw him drop 39 places. There’s clearly room for improvement, but with a stellar amateur career under his belt and the power to knock it past even the biggest hitters on tour, Hagy is one to watch out for. 

In 2014, Hagy won the Byron Nelson Award, given to the college graduate who most impresses a panel of judges looking at the candidates’ golf and academic careers, as well as their character and integrity, including examples of good citizenship. 

Here’s a video of Hagy in action for his university team, the California Golden Bears.

And here’s a nice Golfing World profile of Hagy, including plenty more swings:

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