:: May 09
::20 May 2009
I arrived back in the UK after an encouraging week at the Players Champs where I felt that I played extremely well and could of challenged for a top finish but gave away a lot of cheap strokes through 3 putts and other simple mistakes. I hit a lot more greens in regulation than I have been and gave myself every opportunity to play well.
Being back in the UK always ends up being very hectic for me as commitments always get crammed into the 1 week that I am home. It has been even more hectic this year travelling back with Leo where we have been taking him to meet all the extended family and friends. Maybe all this rushing around has resulted in my back flaring up again and I am really disappointed to report that I have just had to withdraw from the BMW PGA championships at Wentworth. This has been a tournament that I have always loved competing in and is the main reason we travelled back. So having to withdraw is very frustrating for me.
My goal for the rest of the week is to get fit and prepare myself for the 2 upcoming tournaments in America before the US Open. My schedule has been very hectic as of yet so even though I am injured I am going to try and use this time to re charge my batteries.
::08 May 2009
I am looking at this week as a fresh start. The Players is a great tournament and the course at Sawgrass suits my eye, so I don't have a problem with it as such. It's just that I don't have a very good record here. My best finish is 39th.
The greens are probably the hardest to read on tour, harder than at the Masters. Augusta's are just quick, difficult to putt on, but these are quick and you are not sure sometimes where the grain is. As a general rule, over here the grain goes south west but there are certain parts of certain greens at Sawgrass where the grain goes where the water is falling off. We don't need a compass to find south west because the yardage books have a compass point on each hole.
In my two tournaments since the Masters, I missed the cuts in New Orleans and Charlotte. I was four under par in the first round at New Orleans, really had things going and felt good and then inexplicably missed the cut. At Wachovia I had five birdies in my first round and still shot two over par. I like Quail Hollow but it is a course that hasn't been good to me. What do they say about horses for courses? I think I might be a mule on that golf course. I have tightened up my swing a bit lately. It was getting long and loose and I was getting out of rhythm. It doesn't look bad on camera and so it is not miles away.
When things don't go well I've had a tendency to change, or want to change, everything. Nick Bradley, my coach, says I need to trust what he wants me to do and not every time I make a bad swing to second-guess everything. I must believe in the team around me, stay patient and trust in my ability that it will turn around. I must believe in what has worked, trust it and accept that life is great. My life is great, believe me.
It has a whole new dimension after the birth of Leo, my son. I try to use him as an inspiration on the course. I have been in situations where I have thought to myself: “OK, I need to be a role model now. What did that look like? How do I have to act now?” Leo is a mini me. He looks like me. It is so cool to have a mini me right there. We can see traits in him of my grandfather who passed away just before Leo was born. Leo is my lucky charm. The first golf shot he saw me play I holed a putt for $100,000.
So many kids are taught that winning is difficult. As a kid I found winning easy. If I can, I try to be quite easygoing about it, and laid-back. I want golf to be fun for Leo. I want to spend quality time with him. I think I can use a lot of what I have learnt from golf and apply it to him.
