rickie fowler Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

Golf has a lot of parallels with Life

We love sports analogies, but many of those analogies really don’t work. In life we really do not have five power lifters to protect us from evil. In golf, as in life, you can get advice from other people but it is mostly up to you to perform. On Sunday we saw one of the best in the world in golf’s biggest tournament under perform when the pressure was the highest. Jordan Spieth fumbled the ball at the goal line.

Now, before anyone jumps on me for talking about Jordan, I really like Jordan for a number of reasons. I love the fact that he really never gives up. He is always out there trying to do better. His game is about precision and not power. For years commentators have marveled at the drives of Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson. We have been told that they are the wave of the future. Power. Jordan made all of these guys look foolish as he won the Masters and US Open last year.

In life we have those pressure moments. Sure, we don’t have millions of people watching our every move, but the pressure is on, nonetheless. Whether it is an important test that allows us to be certified as a lawyer, a doctor, a contractor or something else, it is pressure. Pressure can make us do stupid things.

On Sunday, Jordan Spieth was leading the Masters. He was struggling. He didn’t have his A game. He wasn’t hitting his targets. His driver was flaring to the right. Every now and then, his irons were also flaring. His scrambling was solid, but his putter was good. It was not red hot. He was leading by 5 strokes with 9 holes to play. Sounds easy. He bogeys 10. He bogeys 11. Now, he comes to short par 3. 150 yards. This hole is known for swirling winds, which make it hard to pick a club. The target area is small. Hit the ball short and you are in the water. Hit the ball long and you are in the bunker, which will make it very difficult to get a par from there. Seven strokes later he was staring at a quadruple bogey.

jordan masters

I have seen several folks who are very smart, but for some reason, they can’t pass the big test. They have taken the big test several times and they fall short. The track star who hits the last hurdle and loses the big race is kind of the same thing. I’m not sure why some people perform well under pressure and others simply don’t.

Here’s what I find interesting. Tiger Woods. There, I have said it. Almost no one mentioned Tiger Woods on Masters Sunday. Tiger Woods would not have lost on Sunday if he had a 5-stroke lead heading into the back 9. Somehow, he would have figured out a way to win. Once he had the lead on Sunday, it was a lock. So, how was Tiger able to handle the pressure and perform?

I think that Jordan Spieth will be fine. Rory Mcilroy, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler have shown that they can win on the big stage, but they have also faltered on that same big stage.

Congratulations to Danny Willett for winning the Masters. He played Jordan’s mistake-free game. He hit his targets. He played steady throughout the tournament.

I guess the take-home lesson is to take a deep breath. Slow down and don’t let the pressure get to you…if you can.

By ecthompsonmd|2016-04-19T19:18:41-04:00April 18th, 2016|Sports|Comments Off

Ryder Cup

I feel like I have to write something about the Ryder Cup because I’m a golf fan. Well, it was ugly. It was just as expected. The Americans were expected to lose and we lost. We simply were not as strong throughout our line up. We needed Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley to step up. Although Rickie Fowler played pretty well, the rest of the line up played average. The exception to this mediocre play was Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler. I really think that Fowler is a hair’s breath away from being truly great.

On the other hand, the Europeans got great performances from some of the guys we really didn’t expect to hit it out of the park. Jamie Donaldson played GREAT. Dubuisson played outstanding. He was steady and focused. World number 1 Rory McIlroy started off in a funk but played his way out of it. By Sunday, he was putting lights out. The biggest surprise was Justin Rose. He was great. He kept making shot after shot and putt after putt. It isn’t that Rose can’t play great. He can and he has. He seems to fall short in the Majors. He plays steady golf. He never seems to blow you away in a normal PGA format but in the Ryder Cup he was fabulous.

So, the Americans go home once again licking out wounds. I don’t know what the Americans could do better. I do think that there were a couple who should have been there but weren’t. The biggest name was Billy Horschel. He was playing the best golf in the world over the past month or so but he peaked too late for the Ryder Cup. I think that his passion and fire would have been great for the Americans who all looked a little flat. I also wonder from Brandt Snedeker would have been a better pick than Webb Simpson. Finally, Gary Woodland is an interesting player who was been solid all year. His game is really coming around. He could always bomb it off the

By ecthompsonmd|2014-10-02T13:39:26-04:00October 2nd, 2014|Sports|Comments Off

U.S. Open

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to watch the U.S. Open. It is just so hard.

Tons of balls in the rough. Impossible to advance the ball out of the rough more than 100-125 yards. The greens are ridiculously fast. Nearly impossible to put down hill. Everybody is stumbling. Surprisingly, Rickie Fowler posted a 67 yesterday. At the beginning of the week, I thought that Steve Stricker had a really good opportunity to win one. He is struggling today. Phil Mickelson was in the lead earlier and is now falling back. So far, the best round of the day – Jason Dufner. Who knows who’ll be able to keep themselves together, keep the ball on the fairway and be able to putt on these impossible greens? Who will come away with the victory?

By ecthompsonmd|2013-06-16T20:47:28-04:00June 16th, 2013|Sports|Comments Off