Getting “up and down” means a player got the ball in the hole in two strokes from where they were.
Typically, it refers to when a player misses the green in regulation and gets the ball “up” with a chip and “down” with a putt to save par, but the term can be used anytime a golfer holes out in two strokes.
If a player lies 1 in the fairway on a par 4, hits their second shot on the green, and one putts for a birdie, it can be said they got up and down.
If a player lies two just off the green on a par 4 and chips their 3rd shot on the green and one putts for birdie, they got up and down.
If a player lies 4 in a sand trap on a par 4 and hits their 5th shot on the green and one putts for a double bogey, they got up and down.
PGA Tour Sand Saves And Scrambling
The PGA Tour keeps track of a ton of stats for professional golfers.
Two of those stats are sand saves and scrambling.
A sand save counts as long as a player gets up and down from a sand trap, regardless of the player’s final score on the hole.
If a player gets up and down to save par from the sand, it counts as a sand save; if they get up and down to save double bogey (or any score), it also counts as a sand save.
On the PGA Tour in 2022, the top 5 players had a sand save percentage of over 64%!
Scrambling, however, only counts if the player gets up and down and saves par or better.
This stat is a true measure of a player’s short-game ability.
Scrambling also counts as getting up and down for par or better from anywhere, not just from the sand.
In 2022, 9 PGA Tour players got up and down for par or better 65% of the time or more!
As the old commercials used to say, these guys are good.