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If you browsed the Wells Fargo leaderboard this weekend for examples of the optimal mental approach, your first instinct might be to dismiss Tyrrell Hatton.
See, I see why. Hatton gave some signature fireworks on CBS during the Saturday afternoon spat, earning the nickname “Thunder and Lightning” from on-course reporter Dottie Pepper. Green drove in just 4 par-4s to three hits with a par; Which earned him a powerful ball breathes in the nearby lake. He cut one out from the bunker at No. 18 before giving that bunker a piece of his mind. This is the same guy who rolled off the 15th hole at Augusta National last month. This is part of the Hatton experience – he never leaves you guessing what he’s thinking.
But Hatton also said something after his run on Friday that offered a helpful peek into his thinking.
First asked why it seems to rise to the occasion on challenging golf courses such as Quail Hollow. This may have been a reference to his success at Bay Hill, where he won and finished second. He also finished second in the Tough Players Championship earlier this year. While Hatton has had a mixed record in the majors lately, there is no question he has the tough Test game.
But he’s not entirely sure why.
“I have no idea,” he said. “I mean, I guess with my outside-looking-inward-looking mental approach, you’d suggest it wouldn’t be great for me, but I always try my best and yeah, this week and a tough golf course is no different.”
The sentence “I always do my best” might sound like an easy take, but it’s actually an important distillation of Hatton’s explosive reactions in her tracks. He can’t help but be completely emotionally invested, which means he Do Keep doing your best, even when it hurts. If indifference is on one end of the spectrum, Hatton sits on the other. That’s worth something.
In the words of Frank Nobilo: “There’s a lot of talent under that beard.”
His next answer sounded like a throw but after that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. When asked how he would make adjustments — or not — for the weekend, Hutton gave a particularly simple answer.
“Honestly, I’m not going to think about it until we start hitting balls 40 minutes before game time tomorrow,” he said. “Tomorrow is a new day, you have a new feeling, try to feel good again and just go out there and do our best.”
There is a tendency to think of professional golfers as robots, optimizing their swings on the driving range and then carbon-copying those swings once they enter the competition. In this cartoon, every day feels the same and every swing feels the same. But Hatton’s remarks were a reminder of just how far from reality that was. He’s an authority on the subject as well, as one of the best ball tackles on the PGA Tour – Hatton ranks in the top 20 in both strokes earned from the tee and strokes earned coming close to the green. and even he He acknowledges that his body will feel different and perform differently from day to day? There is a lesson there.
It helps to have a basic golf swing such as the Hatton swing of course. But repetition is not his only key to success; The adjustability is also huge. His ability to adapt based on the realities of an outdoor game—wind, slope, track conditions, pressure—is what makes him a top 20 finisher in the world.
Oh yeah, it’s a reminder to take the time to get to the track to hit some balls before the round, too. relax. Find your feelings. Adjust in real time. If Tyrrell Hatton didn’t know how his swing was going to feel before he warmed up, how on earth could that be expected?
Just don’t go throwing a golf ball into the lake after a disappointing tie. That’s five bucks right there! And unlike Hatton, I guess you’re not playing for the $3.6 million first prize.