Down and Out ...Except not Down

I am out. I am NOT down. I have missed another cut, but I went in the right direction today. After a lousy day in round one had me questioning myself, I was determined to return to a better frame of mind and play well in round two. I can't say that I played well as I shot 74 on an only medium-hard golf course in perfect scoring conditions, but I enjoyed myself for almost the entire day, and I feel good about a lot of what happened.

The 74 was a little deceiving today. On my eleventh hole, after being too aggressive with a nice look at eagle, I got momentarily frustrated when my birdie putt also missed and proceeded to quick-hit the par putt and miss from only a foot. A couple of holes later, I had a brain-lapse over a seven iron from the middle of the fairway and chunked it into a pond some 60 yards short of the green. These two mistakes threw away three shots inexcusably. These kind of mistakes make me mad, but I'm excited to say that had my focus been a little sharper, I could have shot a pretty good number today.

My number one goal for the day was to stay relaxed and enjoy myself on the course. I really did that. I want so badly to have good results in these tournaments that I am trying a little bit too hard to make myself play well. The answer lies in getting out of my own way and letting my talent and hard work take care of business when I'm in these tournaments. I love playing golf, and I need my attitude on the course to be about having fun!

I'm going to stay in the Charlotte area for the next few days and will get in a lot of good practice. My game is already ready, but I think when the tournament in Columbia, South Carolina starts next Wednesday, I'll be completely ready to relax and kick some butt!!