Feeling Great in Brazil

I am ready to have some fun at the HSBC Brasil Championship this week. I love the golf course, and it suits my game well. My practice has felt great, and I am excited to go out and play. Each week, I write a simple message to myself on two new gloves before the tournament starts. Tonight on one glove I wrote, "Hit Greens*Make Putts*Have Fun". On the other, I simply wrote one word: "WIN". I am ready to do all of those things here in Brazil. In order to make them happen, I need to trust myself over each shot and play one shot at a time. I'm going to do that.

This is going to be a great week. Keep it here for reports from the tournament. Thank you for following me!

Karibana Championship Wrap-up

Well, sometimes you just stink. I stunk this weekend. I posted 85, 77 in the final two rounds of the Karibana Championship and finished alone in 74th place. 74 people made the cut. Through 26 holes of the golf tournament, I had made just two bogeys and was three under par. Over the closing 46 holes, I made just one birdie and finished the event at 19 over par. Like I said, I stunk this weekend!

Now, those of you who read my blog regularly know that I'm not going to leave it at that. I won't try to find the silver lining of this weekend's performance, but I am going to talk about some positive things from my week in Cartagena, Colombia. First of all, I don't want to forget my first round. Playing in some of the most challenging conditions I have ever faced (winds of 25-35 miles per hour with even stronger gusts), I put together a very solid two-birdie, one-bogey round of 71 to open the tournament. On Friday, I stayed tough in conditions that worsened even beyond those of Thursday's round to post a good enough score to advance to the weekend. And (I lied; I am going to find the silver lining), I actually struck the ball solidly even over my weekend rounds. I'm definitely not saying that I played well or that I will remember this week as an overall positive experience, but there definitely are good things from Karibana Championship that I will carry with me as I move forward. 

And I have already moved forward, figuratively and literally. Alicia and I took a red-eye flight Sunday evening from Cartagena to Sao Paulo, Brazil. I slept well on the plane and arrived ready to get work. Alicia was less well-rested, but carried on like a trooper anyway. I had a great practice session and played nine holes at the tournament course in Brazil, and everything felt great. My game is in good shape, and I am very excited about this week! 

I would be remiss not to mention my Process Goals here in a tournament-week wrap-up. I had a fantastic week of work in Cartagena, but the same winds that ravaged the tournament play made practice drills very challenging as well. I put in a full effort all the way through Saturday, but many of my practice goals remained unfinished at the end of the week. I did, however, stay on track with my fitness routine, and I am feeling great about that. It is a new week here in Brazil, and I plan to complete my Full Practice Schedule and a Light Fitness Routine. I still plan to acheive all of my Outcome Goals, and I know that my Process Goals are the path to doing that.

I'm going to have some good practice here in Sao Paulo over the next two days, and I'll come back with a pre-tournament report on Wednesday. Thank you for following and believing in me; don't give up!

pictures from our hotel room in Sao Paulo

Karibana Championship Saturday

It's not a good practice to complain or worry about things that are not under my control, but I am frustrated with this week in Cartagena. I played 13 holes of my third round, and all 13 of them were in winds blowing in excess of 25 miles per hour. Saturday featured a nearly three-hour wind delay, though when we resumed play at 5:00 PM, the winds had not calmed at all. I am currently nine over par through 13 holes of the third round, so that certainly contributes to my displeasure. The wind, the delays, and my high score all have me frustrated, but in reality, I'm still hitting the ball very solidly. I feel like my game is in good shape, and I am excited about that. The officials are hoping to complete 72 holes, which is a lofty expectation with even higher winds predicted for Sunday, but I am excited to keep competing. If I get to play 23 holes on Sunday, I'm going to play them all one shot at a time with a positive attitude. My game is good, and good scores are coming! Thank you for following and believing in me. Keep it here for a final-day report and tournament summary soon!

Karibana Championship Round 2

The wind is something else here in Cartagena. After playing some of my best golf in a long time in brutal conditions on Thursday afternoon, I was greeted by a fairly calm start for my 8:10 tee time Friday morning. Apparently I didn't know what to do. That's not true, but despite hitting the ball well, I found myself one over par through six holes. By 9:45 the wind was starting to pick up, and it looked as though I was back in my comfort zone. I birdied the par-4 seventh hole into the wind and then hit two great shots en route to an eagle on the down-wind par-5 eighth hole. My momentum was short lived. I misjudged the severity of the wind on the par-4 ninth and watched as what I thought was a beautiful wedge shot bounded off the back left portion on the green. I made a bogey there and headed to the back nine where the wind comes off the ocean ferociously. I continued to strike the ball well, but I was definitely a little bit rattled. I missed several greens by mere inches, and I struggled to chip or putt well in the wind. I battled hard but made three bogeys and no birdies on the back nine to post a second-round 74. It was disappointing not to handle the tough conditions as well in round two as I had on Thursday, but honestly, I still executed fairly well in most facets of the game. 

My play has me at one over par through 36 holes. Play was suspended midway through the afternoon wave's round due to "high winds." Everyone in my wave is grumbling because it is hard to believe that we were forced to play our entire first round and much of our second round in unexplainably difficult conditions. I definitely feel like I got the very short end of the tee time draw this week, but that is not something I can control. Barring an unthinkable turn of events tomorrow morning, I will make the cut and get to play the weekend, so I will go out there and take care of business. I want to continue to get better at playing one shot at a time, and with conditions that promise to be brutal again this weekend, I will get a good opportunity to practice that. I have always been a good tough-conditions player, so I'm excited to have a good weekend. 

Keep it here for more reports from windy Cartagena. Thank you for following!   

Karibana Championship Round 1

I played great in the first round. The wind absolutely howled in the afternoon after being relatively calm in the morning. Scores reflected that. In the morning wave of tee times, 40 of 72 golfers broke par and many went fairly low. In the afternoon wave of tee times, six of 72 golfers broke par. I teed off at 1:00 and played beautifully. I bogeyed my second hole of the day but otherwise made very few mistakes and posted a two-birdie, one-bogey round of 71. I hit the ball very solidy, chipped well, and putted nicely in the blustery conditions. I'll give you one small example of how strongly the wind was blowing. My two birdies both came from eight-iron approach shots. On the par-5 second hole (my 11th), I hit an eight iron from 113 yards. Three holes later at the par-3 fifth hole, I hit the same eight iron from 179 yards. Those were my two birdies. I am very pleased with all aspects of my game, and I am ready to go play again! I start at 8:00 a.m. Friday morning, and I am going to follow the same plan: have fun and play one shot at a time. Come back for a great report in the evening. Thank you for following me!

Ready in Cartagena, Colombia

I am ready to go! I have had a great week of preparation and am excited to get this week's Web.com Tour event started. 

Cartagena is a coastal town, and the back nine of the golf course is literally ocean-front property. I think it must be the windy season because the wind has howled at 25-35 miles per hour every day. That kind of wind always makes golf shots difficult, but I feel great about the three days of work that I have had in the conditions. I am hitting the ball very solidly, and though I have struggled to get my putting drills done, I have rolled the ball beautifully in my practice rounds. I tee it up at 1:00 on Thursday, and I am ready to play well. I am going to have fun and play one shot at a time. Keep it here for reports after each round! Thank you for following!

Great (Though Not Traditionally Productive) Week!

It was cold in my beautiful East Tennessee home this week. After a narrow miss in the Monday Qualifier for the PGA Tour's Honda Classic, I wanted to get home to regroup and repack for a four-week stretch of Web.com Tour events, so I flew home Monday night. I woke up to three pretty inches of snow Tuesday morning. That was nothing compared to the beauty of the additional six and a half inches that fell overnight on Wednesday! I decided (or was forced, more accurately) to call this my week off from practice requirements. I did complete a Light Fitness Routine, though, and I am feeling rested and ready to go. Despite not having my usual goal-oriented practice, I had a productive day indoors on Wednesday in Knoxville before having two great days of work in Jacksonville and Orlando on Friday and Saturday. I am starting to understand my golf swing, and the changes that I have made are starting to click. I am excited to be some place warm where I can continue to work on my game, and, as my performance last Monday showed, I am ready to compete as well!

After a smooth day of travel on Sunday, Alicia and I are in Cartagena, Colombia, where we will begin preparations tomorrow for the Web.com Tour's Karibana Championship. It is really pretty here. Here are some before and after pictures:

Obviously it is very nice here, and we arrived with just enough daylight left on Sunday to have a little fun! I want to continue having that much fun, and I know that I will. I do have a lot of work to get done this week as I plan to complete a Full Fitness Routine and Full Practice Schedule, but doing that work is very enjoyable for me when I approach it with the right attitude. I will make sure I'm efficient with my practice this week, too, bucause I feel like that waterslide is good for my golf game!

I am excited to have a great week. I have shaken off a little bit of the mental rust that plagued me in the first two Web.com Tour events of the year, and I am ready to play Peter Malnati golf. In fact, I am ready to play an improved version of Peter Malnati golf because I am better physically than I have ever been. I will have a great week here in Cartagena. Stay tuned for pre-tournament updates and, of course, great tournament reports Thursday through Sunday. 

Thank you for following and believing in me!