:: July 10
11 JULY 2010
I was excited to get to the AT&T national event at Aronomink because I'd heard great things about the golf course and also my form was obviously good even though I had a bad final round at the Travelers Championship in Hartford. The other reason I was excited is that I learned a couple of valuable lessons during that final round and was hopefully I could get the opportunity to put it into practice by getting into contention again.... And that is exactly what happened!
I opened with a solid 69 that got me into the tournament nicely but it was Fridays 64 which set up the week. I think that was the lowest round of the week. That opened up a 1 shot lead and as I headed into another exciting weekend I knew this was the opportunity to implement the previous weeks lessons which were basically that I got a little out of my rhythm and played on the quick side. I felt great on Saturday and shot 67 to open up a 4 shot lead. The course must've been tough on Saturday as none of the other leaders could get anything going. This set up the the same opportunity as the week before but this time I wanted a different result. But in order to gat that result I was after I had to stay completely in the moment and be as free and loose as possible and stick to my rhythm. That is how I played. I felt very calm from the 1sy green to the 18th green. I felt the heart start to pump on 18 as I knew I was about to win!
I looked good all day especially after making an eagle on hole 9 to go 5 ahead. But I 3 putted 10 & 11 to keep it interesting! I heard the commentators were jinxing me by tracking my number of holes without a 3 putt stat! Thanks guys! Ryan Moore put in a strong finish to pile on the pressure down the stretch but I was really proud of how I played really steady hitting every green on the back 9 and finishing with 7 straight pars to win. I joked early in the week that this was my US Open as the course presented some of those challenges and par golf coming in was rewarded.
It was great to put another win on the board so soon after winning the Memorial and to close out a tournament from the front. After these experiences hopefully the closing will get easier! The challenge is to stay focused and keep thinking clearly to get myself into contention regularly.
That is how I see it going into the open at St Andrews. The wins won't help me on Thursday, I must just go out with a great game plan and be committed and if that's good enough to put me in with a chance again I have some great memories and experience under my belt.
Thanks for all your support and thanks to everyone at home who has been staying up late to watch me play.
Justin
