Grown Man Cry
In the late sixties, while station in England, I had a caddie whose favorite “go to” saying was, “if you play this game long enough, it will make a grown man cry”. However, at that point in time, I did not grasped the real meaning of those words. Being fairly new to the game, my focus was on the execution of hitting the ball, thinking mastering that was all that was required to play good golf. So, I totally missed the point that its not the physical but the mental side that will bring you to tears.
Now, after playing for over 50 years, you can not play this game without having your own “golf gods revenge” experiences; missed scoring opportunities on a particular hole ( number 12 at Augusta), duffing the next shot after a pure perfect strike, missing a short putt or from nowhere (do I dare say it) ….. the shanks. And, the truth be told, it will mess with your psychic, after all, we are only human.
The only thing you can control is how much, which brings us to Tiger Woods, back nine on Master’s Sunday at Augusta National, and the par 3, 12th. The details of Woods’ playing that hole has been covered worldwide by the golf / sports media outlets and, by now, been seen around the world countless times. The million dollar question going forward is, “What does it do to his mindset?”.
Can he ever step up to the Golden Bell tee box without thinking about the 10, only time will tell.
Golf chronicles are full of tales of events that had an effect on a golfer’s psychic. As recently as the two prior weeks before the Masters, on the European Tour at Aphrodite Hills Golf Resort, Cyprus, the par 5, finishing hole. Given the current state of COVID, two tournaments were played on this course in back-to-back weeks, the Cyprus Open and the Cyprus Classic.
And, each Sunday, Marcus Artimage was near the top of the leader board, as he played his second shot into the par 5, which in both events was playing a half of shot under par (4th easiest at 4.67 & 3rd easiest at 4.53). In the Cyprus Open he put two balls in the lake that guards the front of the green and finished with a double bogey seven, which drop him from a tie for 6th to 12th, and cost him roughly 13,000 Euros.
Then, the following week, not to leave it short again, he airmailed his second shot over the green long and was OB, drop another ball and sent it long and OB, as well. In the end, he finished the hole with the dreaded “snowman” and dropped from a tie for 3rd to 14th, costing him 46,500 Euros.
Seeing this play out twice on the same hole in back to back weeks was hard to watch. His body language told the story, and with an off week to “think about it”, I wonder what effects it will have on his game as he tees it up this week at the Joburg Open.
Unlike Woods, as past champion, the Masters, will be on Tiger’s schedule for years to come; Artimage can simple elect never to play Aphrodite Hills again, counting on “out of sight; out of mind” to, in time, erase the memories of what happen on the 18th . However, Artimage bio on the European Tour website list boxing as one of his interests. And, watching him play this year, he definitely has shown the metal of a fighter, so I would not be surprised to see him back on Cyprus next year looking for a rematch.
Until next time …….. “Hit em pretty”
