How much spin does a tour pro put on a 150-yard shot? From the fairway, a shot of 150 to 174 yards comes off the face at 120.8 mph, launches at 17.9°, spins at 7,280 rpm and peaks 100 feet up. Here is the same for every distance from 50 yards out, from 115,221 approach shots tracked by radar on the PGA Tour in 2023 and 2024, and the same rows from the rough, where the spin falls by 40 to 55 percent.
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Spin, launch and height by distance
| Shot length | Ball speed | Launch angle | Spin rate | Peak height | Shots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 to 74 yards | 61.2 mph | 29.2° | 5,912 rpm | 36 ft | 1,825 |
| 75 to 99 yards | 78.6 mph | 27.1° | 6,431 rpm | 57 ft | 6,124 |
| 100 to 124 yards | 93.0 mph | 24.3° | 6,730 rpm | 74 ft | 11,819 |
| 125 to 149 yards | 107.8 mph | 21.1° | 7,157 rpm | 90 ft | 18,330 |
| 150 to 174 yards | 120.8 mph | 17.9° | 7,280 rpm | 100 ft | 23,409 |
| 175 to 199 yards | 131.3 mph | 14.9° | 6,403 rpm | 103 ft | 20,717 |
| 200 to 224 yards | 139.2 mph | 12.8° | 5,444 rpm | 103 ft | 10,971 |
| 225 to 249 yards | 145.1 mph | 11.7° | 4,727 rpm | 101 ft | 2,794 |
Spin peaks at 150 to 174 yards (7,280 rpm), not with the shortest shots. Inside 75 yards the ball speed is only 61 mph: most of those are less than full swings, and a slower swing puts less spin on the ball.
From the rough: the flyer, measured
| Shot length | Spin from the fairway | Spin from the rough | Less spin | Launch from the rough | Shots from the rough |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 to 74 yards | 5,912 rpm | 2,670 rpm | 55% | 37.2° | 728 |
| 75 to 99 yards | 6,431 rpm | 3,508 rpm | 45% | 34.9° | 1,691 |
| 100 to 124 yards | 6,730 rpm | 4,055 rpm | 40% | 30.8° | 3,243 |
| 125 to 149 yards | 7,157 rpm | 4,119 rpm | 42% | 26.1° | 4,589 |
| 150 to 174 yards | 7,280 rpm | 3,917 rpm | 46% | 21.2° | 4,763 |
| 175 to 199 yards | 6,403 rpm | 3,867 rpm | 40% | 16.7° | 3,188 |
| 200 to 224 yards | 5,444 rpm | 3,275 rpm | 40% | 13.6° | 1,030 |
At every length the rough takes 40 to 55 percent off the spin. Grass caught between the clubface and the ball cuts the grip that makes backspin.
Take the 150 to 174 yards row. From the rough the ball launches at 21.2° against 17.9° from the fairway, spins 3,917 rpm against 7,280, and leaves the face 11 mph slower. It still covers the same distance: from the rough, each mph of ball speed gets the ball about 10% farther. That is the flyer: less spin, so the ball flies and runs on, with nothing to stop it when it lands.
Why the long shots all peak at the same height
From 150 to 249 yards, every row peaks between 100 and 103 feet. The longer shots launch lower (17.9° down to 11.7°) and spin less, and the extra ball speed makes up the height. A longer shot does not fly lower than a shorter one: it reaches the same height on a flatter, longer arc.
The driver, for comparison
| Club | Ball speed | Launch angle | Spin rate | Peak height | Average drive | Drives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | 173.2 mph | 10.4° | 2,613 rpm | 103 ft | 300 yd | 247,484 |
Tee shots count as driver here when the spin is under 3,500 rpm, which leaves out 3-woods and irons off the tee. Those drives average 300 yards, in line with the tour's published driving distance, which is the check that the cut picks out the driver. More in PGA Tour ball speed and PGA Tour driving distance.
How this is measured
Every approach shot with full radar data: the tee shot on a par 3, the second shot on a par 4 and the third on a par 5, whether it found the green or not. Shot length is the total distance the ball travelled, roll included. "Fairway" includes the first cut and par 3 tees; "rough" is the primary rough. Figures are medians, so a single misread shot cannot pull a row around, and rows with fewer than 1,000 shots are left out. Spin was recorded almost entirely in 2023 and 2024, so those seasons are the sample.
The radar gives no club, so the rows are by distance rather than by club. That is also the question a player stands over: not which club, but how far.
For where these shots finish, see approach proximity by distance and what a missed green costs.
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