Norman…Norman…you mean Greg Norman – the shark? Get out of town, isn’t he retired? Semi-retired, and he’s a legitimate contender for The Open? Two words – UN-BELIEVABLE. Here’s a player who, several days ago, many would’ve said didn’t have a chance (at least I would have) – a long shot, but here he is, in the twilight of his PGA career putting on a clinic of how golf should be played. I commend Camilo Villegas’ super-human round to put him back in the thick of it and K.J.’s stellar performance but come on, this guy has a couple decades on most of the field. Can you imagine how nice it would be to play golf a handful of times a year as your job (and still be playing at a competitive level)? Please accept my humble apology. Bravo Mr. Norman…but I still stand by my original post…GO PADDY!!!
Tons of things anger me in the world today - really elderly people driving, annoying people who continue to talk about things they don't know, and having to go to work when I feel like crap - but few things come close to bad shot after bad shot on the course. I'll admit, I've had issues with anger on the course. I've been known to sling a driver a hundred yards down the fairway when I've hit three balls OB or make a divot the size of my foot when I hit an 8 iron short. I know that I'm better than that, I know I can hit a drive 300 yards down the middle of the fairway, I know I can place an approach shot within three feet of the pin from 180 yards out - I've done it before; but when I continue to make bad shots, it strikes a nerve, a very angry nerve.
I realized last weekend that constantly bad shots are a result of loss of focus and concentration. I've been angry before, and on the next shot I tell myself to focus, make a good swing, but I rarely do becuase I'm still #@!$ed that I hooked that last shot into the forest. That's the most difficult thing in golf - truely clearing one's mind of the earlier miscues. Think about it, have you ever really had a good shot after slamming a club into the ground? You might have had an ok shot that lead to an even better shot until you finally got to playing good golf again, but it was a progression back into good golf. Hitting a 300 yard drive or landing a 7 iron right next to the pin or snaking a 20 foot putt isn't that hard, the hardest part of golf is maintaining the precise focus and concentration that is required to play good golf for an entire round of 18 holes. That's why a lot of people have "blow up" holes - they lose the focus. I'm convinced that 90% of people that play golf don't have the mental fortitude to keep focus and concentration for an entire round. The result is that they get angry for making bad shots when, in reality, they get angry because they're not cut out for golf.
I'm still working on my outbursts, last weekend I threw my driver to the front of the tee box and slammed my 8 iron into the fairway; although, later that day, I had the epiphany of regaining focus and finishing the round out on a good note. I'll continue to work on keeping my composure on the course, so please keep working on yours; because, one of the few things I hate worse than bad shot after bad shot on the course is other golfers who don't know proper golf etiquette or don't know how to be curtious on the course.