Fight your instinct to guide the ball to the target.
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Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — On paper, it’s a 130-yard short iron, followed by a tee shot and another mid-iron. Sounds doable for a PGA Tour pro, right?
But that’s the charm of TPC Sawgrass. It takes an otherwise ordinary set of golf shots and raises the stakes. The shots are still technically the same. But the context means you have to push more chips to the middle of the table.
Those of us not actually competing in The Players Championship this weekend, still have to face uncomfortable shots every now and again. We may face more of them, given our respective comfort levels. In particular I’m talking about shots that you either hit or you don’t, like clearing a forced carry or holing a short putt.
So what do you do during those moments? When it’s time to stand there and hit the shot, with no other option available?
Speaking ahead of the 2022 Players Championship, 2019 winner Rory McIlroy says it comes down to two things.
“The biggest things are trust and commitment,” he says.
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Nothing discernible should change during these moments, whether it be with your swing or your routine. Rather, your approach to both your swing and routine should intensify. You have to resist the urge to dial back and swing safely, he says, and instead learn to let go.
“It’s trusting what you’re doing and committing 100 percent of the shot you’re trying to hit, not to try to guide it, not to try to be too careful with it,” he explains. “It’s almost like you have to almost let go and give up a little bit of control. That’s certainly when I swing at my best and hit my best golf shots.”
As for how you do it, that’s the tricky part. It is, after all, somewhat vague. But the first step is knowing that so many golfers have a tendency to shrink under pressure. They swing softer, trying too hard to make something happens. In reality, they need a hearty dose of the opposite.
Let go, and swing freely for the fences. You may find more fairways along the way.
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