Getting a head

One of our columnists, Tarun Jain, made an interesting observation in the April issue of Golf Digest India. He says: “There are also players who spend their professional careers making cuts, making a decent living, but never winning. As contradictory as this may sound, they are comfortable, not winning. To win requires breaking out of that comfort zone and pushing oneself to be the very best one can be. It really is, as the cliché goes, all in the head.” Head is right. Guys spot a fastapproaching Tiger Woods in their rearview mirrors and invariably they swerve off the fairway. Sure, Woods has a golf game that is extraterrestrial but he has also, very successfully, freaked out the opposition. They see his name coming up on a leaderboard and the leaders start to lip putts, hit sand and find water. And if they don’t do any of those things, Mr Woods headbutts past them to the finish line.

This head business reminds me of another player, Greg Norman— one of the best hitters of the golf ball backed by an amazing presence. Slim waist, broad shoulders and the Stetson version of the golf hat perched on a blond thatch, he painted quite a picture on the golf course. Given Norman’s talent, the number of majors against his name should have been in double digits, but all he managed was a pair of British Open titles. He had a hard time closing out big tournaments and to top it, golfers would chip in (Larry Mize, 1987 Masters), hole out from the bunker (Bob Tway, 1986 PGA Championship) or just play flawless golf (Nick Faldo, 1996 Masters). Setbacks to really screw you up in the head and it probably did but to Norman’s credit, he put up a brave front. “To hell with you guys,” Norman must have said. “I’ll make my zillions off the golf course.” And he’s doing just that even today.

Take our own Jeev Milkha Singh. Man of many firsts in indian golf but also winless for six years, jeev came good in 2006 with four wins spread across asia, japan and europe. He tried very hard for a repeat the next year and went winless. Talk to him now and his favourite two words are “process” and “routine”. What he’s working on is not thinking about the outcome or the final result, but just hitting that golf ball the best he can every single time. Well, he won again four times last year. With his confidence soaring, jeev is playing some of the best golf of his life.

The homegrown swing is the same, it’s the head that is getting him to compete with the best in the world. Jain is also right when he says there are players who are “comfortable” not winning. The PGA Tour is the best example. Bill Haas finished 104th on the 2008 money list with $1 million-plus in the bank! You could be just about making cuts and still live in a gated community, with a jacuzzi in the loo and a pool in the backyard. That is comfortable.

Of course, there are guys who like to rip the heart out of the opposition and be the best in their chosen profession. To them money is a by-product. Woods belongs to this category.

— Prabhdev Singh is Editor, Golf Digest India