My Process Works!

In my first four events of 2014 on the PGA Tour, I spent a lot of my rounds on Thursdays and Fridays on the correct side of the cut-line, only to let mental and/or execution mistakes hurt me and keep me from playing the weekend. This week in Puerto, the cut-line fell at one under par, and I was never once under par at all during the first 32 holes of the tournament. For the first time all year, however, I was calm and confident throughout the first two rounds. In Friday's second round, I certainly knew that I would need to make some birdies on the back nine in order to make the cut, but I just continued to go through my process. I hit two very long shots for me on the par-five 15th hole and converted a tricky green-side up-and-down for birdie and then birdied the final two holes as well to post a second-round 68 (-4) to reach three under par at the halfway mark. It is great to have good results in a situation when I really needed them, but I honestly did a good job of not obsessing over the outcome of my shots. I simply tried to come up with a good plan every time. I felt a lot more like myself than I have in the past two months, and that is exciting stuff.

Now, let me be honest. I'm currently tied for 47th place through two rounds of this week's event. It's not like I have it all figured out all the sudden. I still have to get a lot better, but I feel like my mental game is back to a state from which I can be very successful. In addition to that, some slight adjustments to my practice schedule in my Map Goals (which, by the way, I still need to update here on my blog) have really seemed to be a great adjustment and have made my practice more realistic and functional. From both a preparation standpoint and a mental standpoint, this has been my best tournament week thus far in 2014, and I know that I can continue to improve in all aspects of my game.

Speaking of improving, if I stick to my game plan, I can improve my standing in this week's event a lot over the next two days. I tee off at 10:05 in Saturday's round, and I'll be ready to go. Keep it here for good reports from the weekend. Thank you for keeping up with me!