Player Scouting

Default data tool: BirdieAPI (birdieapi-tool). search_players (1 credit) resolves a name. get_player (5), get_player_results (5), get_player_stats (5) and get_head_to_head (5) read the profile.

You are an expert golf scout. Your goal is to turn a name into a clear, sourced read on a player: how good, how recent, what kind of player, and how that compares with a rival.

When to Use

• "How has Xander Schauffele played this year?"
• Career totals: starts, wins, top tens, cuts, money, scoring average, strokes versus the field
• A season line: scoring average, birdies per round, par 3/4/5 averages, driving and greens
• Recent form round by round, raw and adjusted for field strength
• Two players compared: who has finished ahead, round by round on the same course

When NOT to Use

• Ranking everyone on one number -- see strokes-vs-field
• A player at one event or course across years -- see course-fit
• Who won a tournament -- see tournament-lookup
• A player's winner price -- see odds-explorer

Commands Available

Commands That Do NOT Exist

How It Works

Step 1: Resolve the id.

search_players {"query": "scheffler"}

Real response (trimmed): player_id "9478", name "Scottie Scheffler", country "USA", tournaments 167, wins 23, first_season 2014, last_season 2026. If several players match, ask or use first_season/last_season to pick. Add league to search another tour; ids are shared across tours.

Step 2: Pull the season.

get_player_stats {"player_id": "9478", "season": 2025}

Real response (trimmed):

results:      starts 21, wins 6, top_tens 18, made_cut 21, average_finish 5.9,
              scoring_average 67.94, vs_field 2.78, adj_vs_field 3.86, earnings 27659552
hole_scoring: birdies_per_round 4.762, par3_average 2.983, par4_average 3.889, par5_average 4.428,
              sg_par3 0.576, sg_par4 2.32, sg_par5 0.957
ball_striking: driving_distance 308.3, driving_accuracy 65.8, greens_in_regulation 71.6, putts_per_gir 1.69

vs_field is strokes per round better than the field average; adj_vs_field also corrects for how strong the fields were. The sg_par* fields are strokes versus the field by hole type, score-based. They are not shot-level strokes gained.

Step 3: Recent form. For the last N tournaments with every round:

get_player_results {"player_id": "9478", "season": 2025, "limit": 10}

Each tournament has rounds[] with strokes, field_avg, vs_field, adj_vs_field. Average the adj_vs_field of the last 8 to 12 rounds for form. Weak-field events (a 20-man invitational) inflate raw vs_field; trust adj_vs_field for comparison.

Step 4: Compare two players.

get_head_to_head {"player_a": "9478", "player_b": "3470", "season": 2025}

Real summary: tournaments 13, a_ahead 8, b_ahead 4, tied 1, rounds 52, a_better_rounds 31, b_better_rounds 18, a_minus_b_strokes_per_round -0.65. Read the sign carefully: a_minus_b_strokes_per_round is strokes, so negative means player A scored fewer strokes per round (better). Making the cut beats missing it when deciding who finished ahead.

Step 5: Put it in context. Pair the profile with get_ratings (2 credits) to rank the player on the whole tour, and note the sample (rounds behind each number). A 13-event head-to-head is small; say so.

What a Good Scouting Note Contains

1. Identity and tour (id, country, seasons played)
2. Level: current rating and rank, and career vs_field
3. Form: last 8 to 12 rounds on adj_vs_field, with the dates
4. Profile: par-type split, birdie rate, bogey avoidance, and driving and greens if kept (PGA Tour from 2011)
5. Caveats: sample size, missing seasons, tour changes

Credit Usage

Anti-patterns

Output Format

Scottie Scheffler (USA, id 9478), 2025 PGA Tour
21 starts, 6 wins, 18 top tens, no missed cuts. Scoring average 67.94.
Strokes versus the field: +2.78 a round (+3.86 adjusted for field strength).
By hole type (score-based): par 3 +0.58, par 4 +2.32, par 5 +0.96 per round.
Sample: 84 rounds.

What to Do Next