One attribute I’ve always admired about American professional sportsmen is their amazing competitive desire in their chosen sport, and in life.
I’ve met, played against and watched Americans in golf, baseball, basketball and football and they can get ultra hyped about winning.
Tiger Woods is so competitive he refuses to give credit or credence to anyone on a golf course except himself.
He wants his opponents to know he thinks he should win every time he goes out. That self-taught belief system has waned somewhat since his marital break-up.
I’ve seen photos of his ex recently and I’ve seen photos of his current girl – Tiger, I think you need your eyes checked, man. And your kids have to miss you.
Still, that’s ancient history and golf is all that counts, right?
So how is it Rory McIlroy, who has already won a couple of Majors, suddenly thinks he’s more like Adam Scott than Tiger?
Adam is Adam, Rory is Rory, but there is only one Tiger.
Adam and Rory know Tiger is a one man franchise (with some baggage).
They had different upbringings and have different values to Tiger, but they sure as heck could benefit from Tiger’s approach on the course.
Some say you have to lose a lot to start winning Majors. Tiger doesn’t subscribe to that theory.
He wants to win now, today, every time he goes out. He wants to lead by the cut and cruise home by five shots.
And if he doesn’t, he’s never satisfied with his game.
If he loses, he’s not placated by platitudes. He wants to work out why he lost and fix it today.
Adam’s a quieter kid, a master’s apprentice who’s served his time.
He knows now that winning isn’t only Tiger’s province. He can win too… it’s allowed.
In fact, he thinks he now can win every time he saddles up and he went mighty close to three in a row over the weekend.
Sometimes the nerves can only sustain a couple of wins in a row. The focus goes, the touch goes, the doubt comes back and the constant attention weighs on one.
Adam looks like a guy who could shoot 66 every day.
The putting’s much better, the short game is getting there and from tee to fairway he’s immaculate. Even most approaches are clinical.
Rory has gone off the boil entirely and blamed illness, injury, tiredness (not his female companion, thankfully) and he has momentarily lost his drive.
Rory’s self belief and the pace of his stroke have brought doubt. He can no longer stand over a ball and say to himself “This is in!” or even “This is going to hit the pin.”
Adam can almost swear every ball he hits is pretty close to perfect. Tiger swears it has to be that way.
These three guys could have golf all to themselves if the personal issues and the self belief reach the right levels.
It’s something I’d love them to think about in 2014.
polly
Guest
Yes Tiger has that indomitable attitude, but look at the effect on the whole psyche he maintained, once one brick of the wall came loose. I think players like Scott & McIlroy look at their success as a part of a successful life, rather than the only reason to live it. Ok, they may never equal the record of someone like Tiger, but then for how long has the golf world chattered away about Tiger equalling Nicklaus ? For speculations sake I would think it fair to say that had the facade of Tigers personal life been maintained, then he would have already passed the Golden Bear, but if the fortress crumbled at some point after that, what would his legacy be ? In all probability, no-one will win majors into the double figures again, but there's a high probability that we'll see some very gracious, well adjusted & rounded people make great advertisements for golf as a sport & with the money on offer for successful players they'll be living well. More importantly, if they live lives that allow them to be happy with themselves & their achievements then they'll never have to be concerned with the sort of issues that Tiger Woods has brought upon himself. Perhaps Tiger doesn't care, perhaps he only regrets that his facade was exposed & ruined his chance to become undisputedly the best ever. Or maybe he wishes he could trade in a few majors & just be fabulously successful, wealthy, married with a great family etc etc & no-one ever spoke a word about him overhauling someone else's record. Golf is a strange sport compared to most, in that players can go backwards on the scoresheet as easily as go forward. This in itself makes it so much harder to win, especially at the very top where psychological momentum is so important. It is so much a game where you can beat yourself as much as any other player can beat you, that even one errant moment can see a lead slip away & never be recovered. Of course, this is the exact time that the (previously) steel trap mind of Tiger took so many tournaments away from others. To me, Tigers altered success post breakdown of the facade, shows just how difficult it is for any player to maintain such a dominant mental position. Hence why I think, that despite the aforementioned players absolutely aiming for every success, that they also realise that success is in life as a whole, rather than only in tournaments/ majors won. Perhaps the Tiger effect will be that players have realised that if golf is truly a gentlemans game then they need to act as gentleman ?