Tiger Woods has came and conquered the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath. He now has a win on Melbourne’s famous sandbelt and can tick off another achievement in his long list of accomplishments.
But Tiger is not the perfect golfer.
He does not hit the ball perfectly all of the time. He makes mistakes and at times looks like his game is coming apart. But it doesn’t.
Tiger Woods plays golf automatically. And it’s this ability that separates him from the pack. Here’s a few examples.
For the most part he gets the ball between the trees from the tee. He resists the urge to hit driver on every hole. Tiger selects a club he knows he can get in play and then backs himself to play a longer club into the green.
When he does hit some poor shots (and Tiger hits his fair share) he doesn’t panic. He seems never to change his approach, get defensive or change his style. He keeps trucking no matter what the situation. I liked the fact he called Saturday, “a bad day”. He wasn’t about to rebuild his swing or change his game plan. He knew that he was more than likely to play better the next day.
This ability allows for remarkable to happen. His free flowing mentality gives him the ability to hit remarkable golf shots. If you saw his three-wood into 12 or his five-iron into sixteen yesterday you’ll know what I’m talking about. Remarkable doesn’t just happen. It comes from the ability to swing without fear and concern for a long period of time.
Deals with distractions better than most. And he needs to. With 25,000 screaming golf fans following his every move this week, Tiger is able to focus on what he needs to do. He doesn’t get caught up in the pandemonium or let it affect his game.
And most impressive: He doesn’t tell stories. Imagine what could be going through Tiger’s head? “Shit, I’ve been paid 3 million bucks this week, I better perform or else everyone will be unhappy”. “I can’t lose to these guys, I’m supposed to be the best player in the world”. “I’ve never played this course before, it wouldn’t be too bad if I only played average”.
But Tiger doesn’t tell stories. He stays in the moment and deals with reality. He is all business – to play the best golf he can, stick to his routine and hopefully win the tournament (by following this formula he wins a lot).
Tiger is not a perfect golfer. But he does play the game perfectly. If you’re going to copy him forget about mimicking his swing, but do copy his attitude and mindset. It his his strongest asset and what separates him from his competitors.
I’d like to hear your thoughts.
I put this post in because of its relevancy for us Aussies. In the next post I’ll continue with the Club Championship series.