Golf & Life

Tom Watson is 59 & he competed in the British Golf Open Tournament. He played brilliantly until the last hole & last stroke when he missed a 8-feet putt. Instead, Stewart Cink played obscurely for three days. But he made a 12-foot birdie at the last 18th hole. In other words, the final putt or the last stroke defines & creates a champion. This is not the first time we have seen the top players succumb to the pressure or can’t finish the job in a graceful manner. Watson was able to hole a 60-feet putt but couldn’t do the same for a 8-feet one. It was almost painful to watch the finish & really felt sorry for Watson. He is a great champion. One or two more wins will not change his life much. However, if you want to fulfill your life & make something memorable, you have to play with seriousness & perseverance in a crucial moment. This needs physical & mental toughness. But the difference of outcome can be huge. If Watson made the last putt, he won the tournament & became the oldest champion in the golf history. If you look at the replay, he seemed not ready mentally & delivered a shoddy putt hastily. Perhaps it was too much emotion drainage (not lacking mental toughness) that betrayed him at the final moment.

I have watched golf tournament many times. I always got frustrated to see those professionals missed a short putt. I know I miss those putts often. But you don’t expect the professionals do the same thing. When you got a tennis ball in the right position, you are almost sure you can deliver a good forehand to score. But on the golf green, you are nervous even the ball is very close to the cup. I figure that the confidence level (probability to get thing done) of delivering a good shot/putt for tennis & golf is around 90% and 60%. Golf is a nice sport, a frustrating sport. When you lose, nobody but you yourself to blame since the ball is stationary & starring at you. If you win, you might think it is just lucky since the winning very often is from those lucky putts that you don’t expect to drop in the hole. It is not uncommon for a player to become a champion just because he got one or two lucky eagles by pitching or long putt.

PS: Tiger Wood played badly & missed the cut. He seemed losing ungraciously, slammed his club head & muttered some bad words. We saw this often in tennis. Remember the antics of Jimmy Connor & John McEnroe on courts? But golf is supposed to be a gentleman’s sport. Under no circumstances, should a player become angry or behave eccentrically. Long time ago, tennis used to be a gentleman’s sport too. But since when it becomes a yelling & shouting match between umpires & players. This is the reason people appreciate Rod Laver, Pete Sampras & Roger Federer since they were well behaved on the courts & still kept winning.