Disappointing Result but Encouraged

I still didn't have my best stuff in Alabama at the Barbosol Championship this week. I posted matching rounds of 72 on Thursday and Friday, and my two-over-par total missed the cut by four shots. That stinks, and I hate it. I am definitely ready to get myself back in contention consistently, and though my results weren't close to what I wanted in Alabama, I feel like it was a step in the right direction in several ways. I'm disappointed but also encouraged, and I'm excited to keep moving forward. 

I felt great about my game heading into the tournament. I had prepared well and played really nicely in my practice rounds. I put the club on the ball beautifully for both rounds in the tournament, but I was definitely a little bit off with my direction. I never drove the ball wildly, but I missed several fairways by a little bit, and the bermuda rough was penalizing. Similarly, I hit my irons very solidly, but missed my lines on several occasions and left myself with some difficult up and downs. I was very encouraged by the strike that I was getting on all of my shots, but I need to tighten up my accuracy. 

My short game was pretty good. I was pleased with the way I pitched and chipped the ball. My putting, however, was still just not good enough. When I hit good iron shots to give myself birdie putts in the 10-20 foot range, I could never take advantage of any of them, so it was tough to ever get anything going. I feel good about my putting practice, and I was fairly solid from short range, so I am still encouraged, but I have to be better on the greens.

The most encouraging thing from the week was my attitude. The last several months have been rough on me, and I've been struggling lately with my confidence and my natural happy-go-lucky demeanor on the course. This week I had fun and felt confident nearly from start to finish. I definitely had my back against the wall a little bit on Friday, but I still believed good things were going to happen, and I was enjoying the challenge. Even though the results didn't show it, I feel like my performance in Alabama was a big step in the right direction. 

I actually had things moving in the right direction on Friday. A disappointing three-putt from long range on the tough par-four third hole was my only blemish in the first part of my round, and I made back-to-back birdies on holes nine and ten to get myself under par for the tournament. I hit a slightly uncommitted drive on the par-four 11th and faced a flier lie (so I thought) out of the right rough to a challenging pin on the left side of the green. There is a hazard short, left, and long on the 11th, and I wasn't trying to do too much. I had 146 yards to cover a front bunker that protected the middle of the green, and I thought I had a big flier lie in the right rough. From a similar looking lie on the ninth hole on Thursday, I hit a nine iron that carried 164 yards. Still, with the hazard short, I didn't want to risk hitting a pitching wedge, so I hit a controlled nine-iron. The ball came off the club a little left of where I was aiming but flew right at the flag, and I thought I might have hit it close. Unfortunately, the ball didn't jump out of the lie like I thought it might, and it hit the bank in front of the green and came back into the hazard. I found it in the reeds on the bank of the hazard and it looked quite playable. Unfortunately I swung under the ball and it didn't move. Actually, it did. It fell down into the divot my swing made. From there, I decided to pick up my ball and go back to the fairway to drop. I was rattled, but I kept my composure really well and nearly holed my wedge from the fairway and salvaged a double-bogey. It was hard to imagine that I would make a great up-and-down for a six when my second shot was flying directly at the flag, but I never would have had any of these problems had I only committed to my tee shot a bit more and kept it in the fairway. Still, I definitely had things going in the right direction for a time on Friday, and I made a strong effort to finish strong despite the setback on number 11. 

I still don't like missing cuts, but I'm not discouraged by my results in Alabama. I'm doing lots of things well, and I know that I can sharpen all areas of my game. I'm heading to Toronto next week for the Canadian Open, and I'm excited to keep working and keep playing. 

Thank you for following and keep it here for more updates.

My Next Shot

I have taken a break from a lot of things. I haven't blogged in three weeks. I haven't played a tournament the last two weeks--my first such break since December. Prior to the past two weeks, I had even taken an unintentional break from simply enjoying the fact that I get to live my dream every day. I am definitely ready to get back to doing these things. I'd like to blog more, and I will. I am embarking on a stretch of golf where I might play tournaments the next nine weeks in a row if I want to, and I'm excited about that. Most importantly, I'm ready to get back to realizing and appreciating that I get to live my dream every day. How cool is that! I never want to take a break from that again. 

The past two weeks have been so good for me. When I finished my last tournament two and a half weeks ago, I was feeling frustrated and down on myself. After some very intentional conversations and some great self-reflection, I'm now feel empowered to get back to work and have a lot of fun doing it. 

There are two over-arching ideas that I had allowed to rob some of the joy that I have always found in golf. The first is simply a lack of mental toughness. What I'm trying to do is hard. I compete at the highest level of golf with the best players in the world. It is going to be hard. And I don't want it any other way. I earned the right to play at the the highest level, and I don't want to be anywhere else, so I need relish the challenge that comes along with it. The second is comparing myself to other golfers. I was feeling inferior because I couldn't match areas of other players' games. I know that when I play my game well, I can succeed at the highest level. I want to strive for constant improvement, but I want to be the best version of myself and not try to be anybody else. 

So as I head back out for another stretch of doing what I love, I am going to commit to being tough and being myself. Doing these two things does not guarantee that I will have success every week, but it does give me the best chance to get my best performance out each and every week. 

There it is. That is my reflection on the the past several months. I have learned what I needed to learn, and now it is time to apply the lessons and focus on what I can control: my next shot. I am ready to go do that. And it's going to be fun!

Thank you for believing in me and following my career! Please keep it here for more updates. 

By the way, I am playing this week at the PGA Tour's Barbosol Championship in Auburn, Alabama.

New Week

I won't try to make up for a long time without a good blog post. I just want to say that after a week off last week and a meaningful start to this week, I am feeling really good in Bethesda, Maryland, for the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club. I wasn't nearly as productive as I wanted to be towards my golf game last week at home, but I do feel rested and refreshed, and I also have a renewed sense of perspective after playing an outing for the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland on Monday. Life is good. My golf game is, too. I'm ready to have some fun and play well. Keep it here for reports from near our nation's capital. Thank you for keeping up with me!

Home

Golf has been such a struggle for me lately. Here are some objective facts. I have played the last six weeks on the PGA Tour and have missed every cut. My game at times has shown very positive signs, but I haven't been able to put it together well enough to post consecutive rounds under par in a long time. I also failed last week to qualify for the US Open. It has been a rough stretch.

You know me well enough to know that I will not be thinking negatively about this for long. I will be honest enough to say that my last two weeks in particular have had me really down. I feel like I am putting in the correct effort to get better results, but things have not quite turned around for me yet. It's frustrating, but, here comes the good news. I am home this week. I have some time to rest and live on my own schedule for a week. I have time to think, process, plan, and practice exactly as I want. Here comes the even better news. I'm still excited. I still love the mystery and the challenge of this silly game that I am lucky enough to play for a living. I definitely have some stored up frustration and disappointment inside right now, but the strongest emotion I feel is eagerness to stay after it. I love golf, and especially love the feeling of conquering it for small stretches of time, so I'm excited to keep working.

I have a little bit of analyzing planned for early in this week during which I will look into what's been causing my poor results and come up with a plan to attack it. Don't worry; I will also enjoy some lazy, quiet, restful time as well. Keep it here for an update by mid-week at the latest.

Thank you for following and caring about me. I can tell that a lot of people are rooting for me and that means a lot. Really good golf is in my very near future.

Feeling Positive at Colonial

I played my final ten holes last week in three under par. That did nothing to affect my fate at the Byron Nelson Championship; my first 26 holes had me well out of any thoughts of making it to the weekend. Still, after struggling mightily in tournament play lately, I was determined to get some positive results, and I did that. Those last ten holes actually allowed me to post a one-under-par round of 69 on Friday at the Nelson, and though that is certainly not a great accomplishment, it felt really good. I have felt that my game is better than the scores lately, and I saw a glimpse of that on Friday in Dallas. I am excited to build on those late holes from last week.

The Tour has moved just down the road to Fort Worth this week and the famed Colonial Country Club. I am inspired. This is one of the classic courses on Tour. Tree-lined fairways, great bunkering, and bermuda grass rough demand placement over power. The course presents a strong and fair test, and I am ready to tackle it.

There's no two ways around the fact that my results have been disappointing lately, but I'm doing all the right things. I sat down over the weekend to honestly analyze what has been causing the disparity between how I feel about my game and the scores I have been shooting. I think it boils down to a couple of main things. I have been putting very poorly and have been hitting a few shots that are just atrocious. I'm following a disciplined practice routine with my putter, and I'm confident that my brilliance on the greens will shine as bright as ever in the near future. As for the occasional yucky shots, I am working to tidy those. I am hitting the ball more solidly than ever right now, and this week I have really focused on reigning in my misses. I have been intentional with my practice, and, as I said earlier, I know I am doing the right things. I will keep doing them, and the results will come.

I am excited to play this week. Challenges will exist. The course presents some tough holes. The weather promises to bring tough conditions and potentially distracting delays. The negative thoughts that accompany a slump will be present. I am ready for all of those challenges. I am also ready for the challenge of making good decisions and executing a good game plan coming down the stretch with a chance to win a tournament. There is a lot of work between now and making that situation a reality, but I am ready for that, and it could happen this week. I am excited to go play.

I have put in the work and will continue to do so. Now it's time to go live my motto: Don't worry, have fun, play with Freedom. I'm going to get after it!

Thank you for following me and for your support. Keep it here for reports from Colonial.

Rut

Prior to stepping away from golf with his back surgeries last Fall, I can remember Tiger Woods telling the media time and time again after disappointing rounds that he was "close to playing well." I would think to myself, "no, Tiger, you're not." He seemed all over the place and lost--quite the opposite of "close." I'm starting to have some sympathy for him now because I feel very close to playing well, but my recent results do not exactly hint that great play is hiding just around the corner. On a rain-softened golf course here at the Byron Nelson that was yielding great scores on Thursday, I posted a birdie-free, seven-over-par round of 77. That sounds closer to playing in the second flight of a club tournament than it does to contending on the PGA Tour. Still, I truly do believe that I am close to playing well.

That belief is not blind optimism. There are positive signs despite my egregious scores lately. I am driving the ball well. In fact, I hit 11 fairways just today in the first round of this tournament. My  iron play is there in practice, and I hit some good ones in the tournament, too, but even with my good ones, I haven't been able to dial it in close to the hole. I definitely feel like my full swing is better now than it has ever been, but clearly I need to get things synced a little bit better. The weakest part of my game lately has been my putting. It has actually been downright awful in my last three tournament rounds. I know that to be successful on Tour, I have to be an above-average putter. The good news is that I am; I just haven't been lately. Much like with my iron play, however, my putting is feeling good in practice, and I know that performance fluctuates, so I am confident that I will get it going in a good direction here soon. Again, I feel like I am close.

I'm just in a rut right now. My game is still in there; it's just hiding at the moment. In fact, once I get it going, I believe I'm poised to play the best golf of my life. My process is all about steady improvement over time, and my plan works. I'm not changing. I'll keep getting better, and I will get out of this rut.

I'm going to have some fun on Friday in the second round of this tournament. I have no expectations to make the cut--a feat which will likely require a score of 60 or better--but I do think that I can climb out of my rut with a solid round. My scores lately don't indicate it, but I'm telling you, I'm close!

Thank you for keeping up with me and for your support. Great stuff is coming!

A Quick Step Back

I am frustrated with my poor results lately. There is no doubt about that. I work really hard on my game, and it feels bad to play poorly for an extended period. In the last 11 weeks, I have played nine PGA Tour events and made just one cut. That is not good.

I want to take a look at this from a different perspective, though. Three years ago in May, I was a mini-tour player with a big plan to Monday-Qualify my way onto the Web.com Tour. Two years ago in May, I was a completely overwhelmed and over-matched PGA Tour rookie. Last year in May, I was on the Web.com Tour playing well and earning my way back to the PGA Tour. This year in May, I am a PGA Tour winner who presently happens to be in a bit of a slump. Now that seems like a healthier way to look at things than that first paragraph.

I struggle to think this way when I'm mired in stretch of disappointing play, but when I take a step back and see a broader perspective, I know that I am doing great. My "big-picture" trend of improvement and accomplishment is incredible; and I have the work-ethic and attitude to ensure that it continues.

Since my last post, I have played two events. I prepared really well for both and felt good heading into them, but the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow and The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass ended for me after 36 holes. The results disappoint me, but my game is showing some encouraging signs each week. At a long and wet Quail Hollow course, I struggled off the tee and left myself too much work to do around the greens. At The Players Championship, I felt that my full swing was as proficient as it has ever been, but I struggled around and especially on the greens. My practice has been feeling good in all of these areas, though, so I know that I will get things clicking soon.

I am currently soaking up a few quick days at home. I will fly Wednesday morning to Dallas for the Byron Nelson Championship this week. I truly am excited to have the opportunity to keep playing. Great things are in store, and I am pumped for a busy summer.

One last note: I haven't blogged much lately. I guess I haven't really felt like it. I want, and even need, to do more of it. Sharing my thoughts on here is cathartic for me. It helps me process things more healthily. I say this simply to hold myself accountable for using this valuable tool more.

Thank you very much for following and caring about my career. I really appreciate the support. Keep it here for reports(!) from Dallas.