As Grant stated, A properly designed lightning rod system will prevent strikes by dissipating a static charge before it builds to the point where lightning strikes... the charge will build up elsewhere.

Also, the ground rods tied together will also minimize the localized "Ground voltage"... for example, a horse can be killed by a lightning strike some distance away, because their legs are far apart, and the voltage potential between each hoof is high enough to cause cardiac arrest.

I may not have had the personal experience Grant described, but I am an Electronics Engineer...