2005 Masters Proves Again That PATIENCE is the Secret to Golf
For those of you who still have doubts, this year’s Masters should be the clincher. The Secret to Golf is Patience. Tiger proved it and so did Chris DiMarco. Tiger’s first round was a 74. Of the 50 players who made the cut, 28 had better first round scores. But obviously Tiger did not give up. Tiger shot a great second round (66) but so did Chris (67). Not until his second nine in his third round (41) did Chris show any signs of fading. By the end of the third round Tiger was leading by three strokes. Given Tiger’s reputation and his record for holding a lead, Chris could easily have given up at this point but clearly he did not. In the past in similar situations Tiger was usually able to count on his nearest competitors fading. Chris did not fade and Chris’s patience paid off. Chris played 18 holes of smart golf and at the end his second best round of the day (68) tied him with Tiger.
That Tiger beat Chris in the playoff was almost anticlimactic.
The first 72 holes told the story. On average Chris gave up over 25 yards per drive. You probably heard Chris talk about the hole on which he hit a four iron to the green while Tiger was hitting a wedge. Tiger’s length did help put him in a position to get closer to some pins, and thus to make more birdies (24) than Chris (19) but Tiger also made more bogeys (12) than Chris (7). Chris’s GPS of +7 was by two strokes the lowest of the 50 finishers and that is why he was in the playoff.
David Howell’s 17 birdies and an eagle tied him with Chris in the GNS category (-19). David finished tied for 11th ten strokes behind Chris because he had 11 bogeys and three double bogeys (GPS +17).
If you have not yet read the Colonel Bogey lessons, then stop wasting time reading these articles and get to the lessons. The lessons explain the heart of the Colonel’s philosophy of golf and how patience is the golfer’s secret weapon. If you have read the lessons, but not recently, then go read them again. Remember, every Spring you should remind your body and brain what the game is all about. But don’t read all of the lessons in one sitting. Read one lesson per day and preferably at night. After reading a lesson try taking a few slow motion practice swings in your living room, and then go to sleep, but before you dose off picture playing one hole of golf intelligently and patiently.
| Legend:
GNS (Gross Negative Score) – this statistic looks only at holes where GPS (Gross Positive Score) – this statistic looks only at the holes |