In golf, an eagle is a score of two under par for the hole.
On a Par 5, a score of 3 would be an eagle.
On a Par 4, a score of 2 would be an eagle.
On a Par 3, a score of 1 would technically be an eagle, but it would be called a hole-in-one instead.
What Is The Difference Between A Hole-In-One And An Eagle?
On a par 3, there is no difference.
The terms are interchangeable, but you rarely hear anyone refer to a hole-in-one as an eagle.
How Rare Is It To Get An Eagle In Golf?
For the average golfer, it is very rare to get an eagle.
In golf, only a hole-in-one and an albatross (a score of 3 under par on a hole) are rarer.
Most golfers should expect to get no more than one or two eagles per year, and many golfers play their whole lives and never get an eagle.
When eagles do occur, they overwhelmingly happen on par 5s.
This is because many long hitters can reach par 5s in two shots. Or their second shot is close enough that they have a very short chip or pitch for their third shot.
Eagles on par 4s do happen, but they typically require holing out from the fairway and are therefore much less common than an eagle on a par 5.
Frequency Of Eagles on the PGA Tour
The PGA Tour average for eagles is one every 184.6 holes or about one every ten rounds.
The top 5 from 2022 averaged one eagle every 4-5 rounds.
This means the very best of the best golfers in the world only average 1 eagle per tournament!
Outliers can skew averages, and if the top 5 eagle totals are taken away, the average PGA Tour player is making an eagle about 1 in every 15 rounds.
PGA Tour Eagles On Par 5’s
The average PGA Tour golfer played 270 Par 5 holes throughout the year, meaning they eagled about 1.5% of the Par 5s they played.
In 2022, the top 5 players with the most eagles had 18, 17, 16, 15, and 14 eagles. And they played between 78 and 97 rounds and 224-290 Par 5s.
This means that the top 5 eagle makers of 2022 had an eagle in 15-20% of their rounds and 4.8-6.7% of the Par 5 holes they played.
PGA Tour Eagles On Par 4s
Eagles on par 4s are much rarer than on par 5s.
In 2022, Luke List recorded the most eagles on par fours with 6.
Five players tied for second with 4 eagles during the 2022 season.
The top 5 eagled 0.5-0.7% of the Par 4 holes they played in 2022, and got an eagle on a par 4 in 5-6% of their rounds.
Of the 124 PGA Tour players got at least one eagle on a Par 4, only 21 of them got more than 2 and 56 of them only got 1.
Again, these are the best players in the world, and 56 of them only got an eagle on a par 4 in about 1% of their rounds.
And the 100+ other players didn’t get any!
How To Get An Eagle
Eagle opportunities are a function of hole length and how far a player can hit the ball.
A 465+ yard par four does not lend itself to many eagle opportunities as even a very long hitter is still looking at well over 100 yards for their eagle attempt.
On the other hand, a 465 yard par five does lend itself very well to eagle opportunities.
Anyone driving the ball at least 250 yards will have a reasonable chance of hitting the green in two.
And if someone can drive it over 300 yards, they have a very good chance of hitting their second shot on the green and having a putt for eagle.
In general, any par 5 under 550 yards is reachable in two by most pros or long hitting amateurs.
Most average golfers are going to need a par fives to be well under 500 yards to have a reasonable chance of reaching the green in two shots and having a putt for eagle.
On par fours, the only time an eagle is more than pure luck is when it is a very short par 4.
Even for pros, holing out from really any more than 10 yards off the green is more luck than skill.
And holing out from 50+ yards is very lucky, no matter who you are.
