The truth of this statement was never more apparent than at the conclusion of the 2006 United States Open Golf Championship at Winged Foot, where two of the World's top ranked golfers failed to finish in a manner to which they are accustomed. They did not need to do anything heroic to win or tie for the lead. If they had only played the last three holes as they were capable of, they would have been basking in the glory of a major championship.
We can easily point at moments in time during the tournament and say if only that had not happened, then they would have won. We all know anything can happen in golf. But what are the odds that the number two ranked player in the world would double bogey the 18th hole? The previous three days he made birdie, bogey, par at the 18th. What are the odds that Monty would double bogey the 18th when he made par there the first three days?
It has been our experience through our work with over 350 other Tour players, that when a player is too aroused for golf they tend to exhibit their unique challenges or their weakest Champion Traits. We found through scientific research with the Tour players that there are only 8 personality traits that matter for golf, the Champion Traits. (Although the professionals at GolfPsych have not evaluated either Phil or Colin, we can speculate from the experiences of observation.)
In Phil's case, the weakest Champion Trait for golf is most likely his Dominant trait. He almost certainly measures too high on this trait. GolfPysch recommends that players measuring too dominant for golf adopt a more conservative game plan to adjust for their overly dominant tendencies. Until Sunday, Phil has been using this exact strategy to perform well in his previous Major successes.
With Colin, we suggest that he is off the mark on Emotional Stability for golf. It is pretty clear that in times past he has gotten quite angry with hecklers. After he birdied 17 with a long putt, the commentators remarked that he might cry. If so, it was for the happiness associated with the possibility of finally winning a major. Crying or not, he was obviously emotionally affected by the great outcome on 17. This most assuredly raised his arousal level above the optimum level for golf.
Whenever you measure differently than the Champions on any of these Champion personality traits, you reduce your ability to perform to your potential on the golf course, no matter what your natural and practiced physical skill levels are.
While Colin's emotional reaction raised his level of arousal, it was still within the optimum level for playing the driver and he played it well on the18th tee. This left him with 171 yards to the pin from the fairway. He now had to wait for the green to clear and his playing partner to play. This gave him a great deal of time to think about the situation, the shot, the possibility of winning, further raising arousal.
As your arousal level rises above the optimum level for the particular shot, a number of changes occur, most of which are detrimental. In this case, his mind was busier and he second-guessed which club to hit, changing at the last moment. In his words, "I switched from a 6 to a 7. I thought the adrenaline would kick in and I'd hit it about 10 yards further," This over thinking also probably hurt his commitment to the club selection, failing to trust it fully while executing the shot. These mental errors produced a shot to the right rough. This most certainly raised arousal further.
Other things affected by increasing arousal are reduced touch and feel and reduced ability to read greens. Colin is beside the green in two and only needs bogey to tie as it turned out. Knowing that Phil was in trouble would not have changed his performance because he was already over-aroused for short game shots and emotional. It is not surprising that his wedge to the green went long and that the first putt was too firm.
We know that Phil has worked diligently with his swing and short game coaches. We know that Phil carries two drivers to gain an advantage off the tee. We know that Phil spent hours in putting drills before his rounds at Winged Foot. These efforts have increased his confidence in his physical game. We know that he has modified his approach to playing the majors to be more controlled, especially off the tee. These things have served him well in his previous Major wins. We know he has incredible physical talent.
Logic says he should win this tournament with a two shot lead and only 3 holes to play.
Our research says that if you are weak on any Champion Trait, you will not perform as well as you could. Our experience says that when you are more aroused than the optimum level for golf that your abilities to think and perform are diminished. In the case of Dominance, where the player is over-aroused and is naturally too dominant they will force their play. The commentators said the old Phil came out on the second shot on 18. The old Phil may have come out on the tee when he chose driver, even though he had missed twelve of fourteen fairways, with his drivers, during the final round.
Obviously Phil's excess dominance did come out when he played too aggressively on the second shot. When Phil is less aroused and thinking more clearly, he probably chooses to play back to the fairway and try to get up and down for the win or bogey for the tie. The subsequent shots were just a continuation of over-aroused playing.
Both players were over-aroused. The source was different for each. Just trying to relax without addressing the underlying source would be ineffective. This is why it is so important to understand where you measure on the Eight Champion Personality Traits and then what to do about it.
Everyone needs to learn how to train their mind for performance and master golf's natural enemy!
