golfastr
Efficiently Access Pro Golf Data
Fetch Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour tournament data from ESPN < https://www.espn.com/golf/> including leaderboards and hole-by-hole scoring. Data is returned in tidy tibble format ready for analysis. Supports local storage via RDS or 'Apache Arrow' Parquet files for fast repeated access. Designed for golf analytics, data journalism, and fantasy sports research.
golfastR 
Fast, tidy Pro Golf data in R
golfastR provides easy access to professional golf data from ESPN with functions to get leaderboards and hole-by-hole scores in tidy data formats ready for analysis. Supports PGA Tour, LIV Golf, LPGA, DP World Tour, and Champions Tour.
Installation
# Install from CRAN
install.packages("golfastr")
# Or install development version from GitHub
# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("array-carpenter/golfastr")
Supported Tours
| Tour | Code | Example |
|---|---|---|
| PGA Tour | "pga" |
load_schedule(2026, tour = "pga") |
| LIV Golf | "liv" |
load_schedule(2026, tour = "liv") |
| LPGA | "lpga" |
load_schedule(2026, tour = "lpga") |
| DP World Tour | "euro" |
load_schedule(2026, tour = "euro") |
| Champions Tour | "champions" |
load_schedule(2026, tour = "champions") |
All functions accept the tour parameter. Default is "pga".
Quick Start
library(golfastr)
# Get the PGA tournament schedule
schedule <- load_schedule(2026)
# Load a tournament leaderboard
sony <- load_leaderboard(2026, "Sony")
# Get hole-by-hole scoring for top 10
holes <- load_holes(2026, "Sony", top_n = 10)
# LIV Golf works the same way
liv_schedule <- load_schedule(2026, tour = "liv")
adelaide <- load_leaderboard(2026, "Adelaide", tour = "liv")
Strokes Gained
Pre-built PGA Tour strokes gained data ships with the package:
# Get all strokes gained data
sg <- load_strokes_gained()
# Look up a specific player
load_strokes_gained("Scheffler")
Returns per-round averages for all six SG categories:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| sg_putt | Strokes Gained: Putting |
| sg_arg | Strokes Gained: Around the Green |
| sg_app | Strokes Gained: Approach the Green |
| sg_ott | Strokes Gained: Off the Tee |
| sg_t2g | Strokes Gained: Tee to Green |
| sg_total | Strokes Gained: Total |
Core Functions
Tournament Schedule
# Get schedule for a season
schedule <- load_schedule(2026)
# LIV Golf schedule
liv <- load_schedule(2026, tour = "liv")
# Returns: event_id, tournament_name, start_date, end_date
Leaderboards
# Load by tournament name (partial match)
masters <- load_leaderboard(2026, "Masters")
phoenix <- load_leaderboard(2026, "Phoenix")
# Load by event ID
lb <- load_leaderboard(2026, "401703504")
# Load all tournaments for the year
all_lb <- load_leaderboard(2026)
# LIV Golf leaderboard
liv_lb <- load_leaderboard(2026, "Adelaide", tour = "liv")
Hole-by-Hole Scoring
# Get scorecards for top finishers
holes <- load_holes(2026, "Sony", top_n = 10)
# Returns: player_id, player_name, round, hole, par, score, score_type
Player Directory
# Get players from recent tournaments
players <- load_players(2026)
Data Schema
Leaderboard
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| position | Final standing |
| player_id | ESPN athlete ID |
| player_name | Player display name |
| total_score | Total strokes |
| score_to_par | Score vs par (e.g., "-11") |
| status | Player status |
Hole-by-Hole
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| round | Round number (1-4) |
| hole | Hole number (1-18) |
| par | Par for hole |
| score | Strokes on hole |
| score_type | BIRDIE, PAR, BOGEY, EAGLE, etc. |
Local Storage
Store data locally for faster repeated access:
# Save to RDS (native R format)
save_to_rds(leaderboard_data, file_path = "golf_data.rds")
# Load from RDS
data <- load_from_rds(file_path = "golf_data.rds")
# Or use Parquet for cross-language compatibility (requires arrow)
save_to_parquet(leaderboard_data, file_path = "golf_data.parquet")
data <- load_from_parquet(file_path = "golf_data.parquet")
# Auto-detect format with load_data()
data <- load_data("golf_data.rds")
data <- load_data("golf_data.parquet", tournament = "Masters")
Build a Season Database
# Incrementally fetch all tournaments for a season
build_season(2025, file_path = "pga_2025.rds")
# Check progress
check_season(2025, file_path = "pga_2025.rds")
Analysis Functions
# Player season summary
player_summary("Scheffler", file_path = "golf_data.rds")
# Compare multiple players
compare_players(c("Scheffler", "McIlroy"), file_path = "golf_data.rds")
# Win leaders
win_leaders(file_path = "golf_data.rds")
# Scoring average leaders
scoring_avg_leaders(file_path = "golf_data.rds")
Data Source
Tournament data is sourced from ESPN's Golf API (https://www.espn.com/golf/). Strokes gained data is sourced from the PGA Tour (https://www.pgatour.com/stats).
License
MIT