narrominded
Jake Narro, PGA professional, head golf coach at Southeastern Louisiana University and
Backspin publisher
I’d like to chat with you about how hard it
is to finish off great rounds of golf and closing
out tournament wins and high finishes. Very
few players over the years have dodged the
heartbreaks of messing up great days on the
course. Whether it’s a PGA or LPGA Tour star
winning a first major or the 25-handicapper
trying to break 100 for the first time, getting
over that hurdle can be quite a challenge.
None of us are immune to perils of “blowing”
a good round or even more devastating, a
golf tournament. Take world number one
Dustin Johnson as the most recent example.
He carried a five shot lead into the final round
World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions
in Shanghai. I would be willing to bet you that
he and even the world class players chasing him
thought the tournament was his to win.
However, a birdie free +5 77 was just bad
enough to allow Justin Rose to chase down the
best golfer in the world and claim the trophy.
I’m sure you had the same reaction I had when
you saw the final leaderboard the following
morning. Wow! Even more incredible was
in 2012 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship
when I.K. Kim missed a one-foot putt on the
final hole to win the tournament. Predictably
she lost in a playoff where I’m sure she could
not get her mind off the missed gimme putt.
I recently suffered a meltdown of my own at
the Gulf States PGA Section’s flagship event –
The Section Championship. I lead the 36 hole
tournament by four shots with only eight holes
to play and proceeded to bogey five of the last
seven to lose by one. What really kills me is
how well I was playing and then how poorly I
finished.
I was 5-under par and had every facet of my
game clicking. I was driving it long and straight,
iron play was on point, and my chipping and
putting was sharp. In what seemed like a flash,
I was watching my friend Phil Schmitt hoisting
the trophy that I let slip through my fingers. How
about the time you were in position to shoot
the best score of your life and you completely
butchered the last hole. Come on, you know
you’ve done it. It hurts to this day, doesn’t it?
How can one go from complete control to
not being able to do anything in a matter of one
swing? How can such a slow game like golf spin
out of control at Nascar-like speeds? There are
a bunch of folks making a lot of money trying
to answer those questions.
Speaking from my personal experience, the
answer would be getting ahead of yourself in
one way or the other. It is beginning to think
about the speech at the awards ceremony
before the round is over. I know it’s a cliché,
but the old adage of “one shot at a time” really
does work. Allowing your mind to wander into
the future instead on the task at hand is one of
the great challenges of golf. Like I said, golf is
not a fast-paced game, so there are plenty of
opportunities to fall into this trap. It’s obviously
impossible to know, but I bet when I.K. Kim
was standing over her one footer to win her first
major, she was thinking about everything but
actually making that putt. We’ve all been there
in our own way whether it’s to win the club
championship or to break 90 for the first time.
Now let’s discuss ways to avoid these pitfalls.
First, stick to your routine. When things are
getting tight around the collar, your routine
can keep your mind on the tasks ahead of you.
Deep breaths are also very helpful. Not only do
they slow you down, they also get some oxygen
flowing to the brain which is probably filled
with pesky golf demons. Another good way to
finish off is to continue doing whatever got you
in a positive position to begin with. Why change
anything if it’s working?
Lastly, stay aggressive with your swing.
Generally, it’s better to take a rip at it than to
try and steer the ball down the fairway. I find it
interesting when a professional golfer is asked
about a great round of golf and they cannot
recall some of the holes they may have birdied.
This tells me they are into just hitting the shot
that’s in front of them and moving on to the
next one. Conversely, it’s just as interesting to
hear them comment on how bad shots didn’t
really affect them during the round. They just
accepted them and moved on.
I feel we as golfers must understand that
messing up rounds and tournaments is just part
of the game. Positives to take away from going
through the agony of “choking” is you must
have been playing good to get in position to
win. The more you put yourself in that position
the better you will handle it. Hang in there and
keep firing at it; at some point, you will close it
off in style and there is no better feeling.
Jake
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