13.7 The economics of golf The earnings of a PGA Tour golfer are determined by performance in tournaments.

A study analyzed tour data to determine the financial return for certain skills of professional golfers. The sample consisted of 393 golfers competing in one or both of the 2002 and 2008 seasons. The most significant factors that contribute to earnings were the percent of attempts a player was able to hit the green in regulation (GIR), the number of times that a golfer made par or better after hitting a bunker divided by the number of bunkers that were hit (SS), the average of putts after reaching the green (AvePutt), and the number of PGA events entered

(Events). The resulting coefficients from multiple regression to predict yearly earnings (in $) are:

Predictor Coefficient Constant 26,417,000 GIR 168,300 SS 33,859 AvePutt -19,784,000 Events -44,725 Source: Some data from K. Rinehart, Major Themes in Economics, 2009.

a. State the prediction equation for a PGA Tour golfer’s yearly earnings.

b. Explain how to interpret the coefficient for AvePutt.

c. Find the predicted earnings for a golfer who had a GIR score of 60, SS score of 50, AvePutt of 1.5 and participated in 20 events.