Golfers around the world watched with shock as Jordan Spieth hit his second consecutive ball into Rae’s Creek on the short 150-yard par 3, 12th hole at Augusta National on Sunday with his 9-iron. How could that happen? How did “the wheels come off” when he just birdied four holes in a row on the front nine for a five shot lead? We all want to know so we can learn from his experience.
Jordan has honestly told us that he didn’t have his “A” game all week and was struggling to maintain his swing. He described his game as B-minus, but his magically hot putter kept him in the lead. 10-11-12 are the pivotal holes at Augusta. To play them well you need to have complete confidence in your swing. He didn’t have it. Jordan didn’t take his usual time to prepare and it was noticeable that his swing on those holes was a bit faster and rushed. “I didn’t take that extra deep breath and really focus on my line on 12,” he said. “Instead I went up and I just put a quick swing on it.”
Every golfer in the world has had the experience of “shooting themselves in the foot” by hitting the same bad shot twice in succession. But for Jordan Spieth who epitomizes sound on-course decision making, it was unthinkable. We don’t know what was going through Jordan’s mind during that finishing round and it may be awhile before he figures it out. Golf is an inner game and he will have to look at what he was thinking and feeling that changed his swing pattern.
What was apparent to the viewers was Spieth’s slow play when he backed off his ball time after time. Did he over-analyze his situation? Was he indecisive about his course management? Was his insecurity about his golf swing causing anxiety and a rushed swing?
Spieth and his caddie, Michael Greller, agreed that a draw was the right shot to hit into the 12th green. As he stood over the ball, Jordan decided to hit a cut shot. “And that’s what I did in 2014,” Spieth said, “and it cost me the tournament then, too.”
The Mental Golf Lesson
When you make mistakes and don’t play well there is always something to learn about yourself and your golf game. The lesson here is to learn how to forgive yourself if you don’t want to repeat the scenario. Like all mental issues it is not easy to do and takes time.
Spieth needs to acknowledge the emotions of hurt and disappointment in himself and let them go. When he is able to let go of the devastating feelings, he can then replace them with the confident feelings that he has exhibited in his career. Trust doesn’t happen without experience. Jordan has had the experience of being the best and he needs to focus on that now to recover from his loss.
If Jordan doesn’t forgive himself for being human and making a big mistake in front of the whole world, it will plague him for the rest of his golf career. If instead he learns to forgive himself and to let it go he will have a clear field to win many more majors after releasing this potential block. He is very intelligent and insightful and surely will be able to do this and not carry it over to future tournaments.
There is nothing more I want to feel about this experience.
We can all relate to remembering our most devastating loss and how we relived it over and over in our minds, talked about it and kept it alive in our consciousness. It is only when you let go of the feelings, see it as a learned lesson for what you need to know, and forgive yourself for allowing it to happen that you can move toward allowing your peak performances.
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