#2 Believing in Yourself….
Editor's Note: In Part 1 of Skip's story, the wheels were coming off in the final round of Q-school. Click here if you missed it.
At the end of Post #1, I was hanging on by a thread, having played holes 14-16 in 4 OVER PAR, seeing my dreams of playing on the PGA TOUR completely vanish!
Let’s talk about the next two holes…
Coming off the 16th green…like I said earlier…I was in complete panic & shock! From the complete HIGH of walking down the 14th fairway, to realizing I just made a complete mess of holes 14 – 16…looks like my dream of gaining access to the PGA TOUR had completely vanished in the span of 3 holes.
Fortunately for me, with walk from the 16th green to the 17th tee was over 150 yards. As I was walking…my mind wandered in this direction. I said to myself…”If you can’t par the next two holes, you do NOT deserve your TOUR card! “ I went from utter despair, to getting a little pissed off, frankly. Now…I was determined as ever to par the last two holes. The ship had been righted! I lipped out for birdie on the 17th hole. Slightly disappointed that the putt hadn’t gone in…but not really! I played the hole GREAT! My confidence was back, and my determination was never higher!
Now…the last hole of the tournament…#18. Quite a bit of room in the fairway…right center was perfect…LEFT was dead! What do I do…hit it LEFT!!!! I was left with a second shot, out of the deep rough, with the ball well above my feet…4-iron..to a small, uphill green, guarded by a deep, front bunker. I pulled the shot well left of the green….DEAD!
When I got to my ball…I was left to get the ball up and down for my TOUR card from an impossible situation: 10yards left of the green…bad lie…tall grass between the ball and the pin, which was located on a downward slope. NO chance of putting the ball on the green with the hopes of stopping it. My ONLY option..to chip the ball and let it roll, on top of the grass, onto the green. IMPOSSIBLE! But…somehow, I was able to get the ball onto the green, stopping 9’ from the hole! The BEST golf shot I had ever hit in my life!!!!!
As I waited for the other players in our group to play out….my mind went nuts again! I KNEW I HAD TO MAKE THIS PUTT to get my TOUR card…a 9 putt… downhill… breaking 2 ½” left to right…for my TOUR CARD! Panic set in once again!
Then…all of a sudden…I had a flashback (all this is TRUE!!!). My mind wandered back to my days as a high school senior, when, after every practice session, I would make 100 3-footers in a row! If I missed #97, I would be late for dinner, as I would start completely over. I did this EVERY DAY!
I then reasoned with myself, from this flashback…
”How many 9’ putts have you made in your life? THOUSANDS! This is simply another one!”
This self-talk put me completely at ease! The nerves COMPLETELY disappeared…complete calm set it! When it was my turn to putt (remember, this is for my TOUR card), I told BR..”I got this one”…the first putt I had read all week…and knocked it dead-center into the cup!!!!! And I was right…it WAS for my TOUR CARD, as I finished tied for 26th…right on the number! Had I missed…NO PGA TOUR! But, I did NOT miss..I MADE IT!
What allowed me to make the most crucial putt of my life? Going back to success…”seeing” success in my mind…feeling success in my entire body. These feelings transformed me…knowing that the putt ONLY had 1 option…TO GO IN! Now, I would imagine Tiger has sensed this millions of times during the course of his spectacular career, but this was my first time going thru this…at PGA TOUR School, nonetheless!
I relate my personal experiences to my students to help them grasp the following:
- 1) You MUST stay in the “present”! One shot at a time is paramount. Focus on the process!
- 2) NEVER focus/concern yourself, with the outcome! (ex- if you think out the shot correctly, if you focus on your pre-shot routine, and if you swing the club in rhythm…the resulting shot will turn out pretty well!).
- 3) Thinking positively…thinking of positive, real life experiences, can help you realize more positive results. Someone said…”I have never experienced a positive result from a negative thought!” I believe this to be true!
I hope my experience, during the last few holes at the PGA TOUR School, in the Fall of 1977, will help you play…and think…better while playing the game we love!