Failure Taught McIlroy Winning

He now sees the beauty of failure

22 year old Rory McIlory was one of the biggest news makers in professional golf in 2011. This young and phenomenally talented golfer captured the imagination of the golf world as he surged to the lead in last April at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Unfortunately, the pressure was too intense and he blew a 4 shot lead with a final round 80. 

The key is how you react
Many observers worried that this crushing failure would scar his psyche and as it had so many other golfers in the past. This was a devastating loss and a huge disappointment. The way Rory responded proved again that it’s not what happens to you it’s how you respond to what happens to you. McIlory told Brian Keogh of IrishGolfDesk.com “the Masters was huge for me, it was a huge disappointment at the time but reflecting upon it… it was probably the most important day of my career so far.” In fact, if I look back on my career in 20 years that day in Augusta was probably the defining moment in my career. It was definitely the point where I reached the crossroads in my career where I could keep going the wrong way or really take responsibility for myself and say ‘right, this is what I’ve got to do to get better and win, and improve as a player.’”

He re-evaluated everything about his game. He worked hard to improve weak areas. He made a lot of adjustments in his entourage, his support team and even changed his agent. He took responsibility for all areas himself and positioned himself to win.

Take responsibility and good things can happen
A few short months later, the young golfer had a completely different result in a major championship.  He electrified the golf world with a decisive victory at the US Open – which many say is the most challenging golf tournament of all.  Because he had taken responsibility for his previous collapse he was able to stay strong and handle the pressure when it came time to win again.  By winning he sent a loud message to us all that if you respond the right way to devastating failures in your life it can open the door to even more staggering successes.  

Failure can open the door to winning, it all depends on how you respond.  

Notice Tiger Woods Coming Back?

He’s baaaaaaack!

Tiger Woods is climbing the charts again. Did you pay attention to what happened this past weekend in Australia at the PGA tour?

Greg Chambers won the The Emirates Australian Open Championship.  Finishing second was John Senden. Did you notice who finished third? Tiger Woods! He actually led the tournament for the first 2 days despite the fact that he is usually a slow starter.  ...And the next week he delivered the clinching point in the 2011 President's Cup in Melbourne, Australia by winning his singles match 4-3 over Aaron Baddelely.

It looks like Tiger’s golf game is coming back.
NO surprise to me. Soon after his disaster he started playing golf again. Pretty soon, he had fallen off the charts.

In some of the rankings he had fallen down to the 150^th player in the categories of putting and driving. At the time when people were jumping on him the worst I told my nephew, who is a mini tour player, Tiger would be back because “He’s meaner than the other guys/.”

To me, Tiger is a guy who wants it more.
It’s not that he’s better and more talented. He has developed himself more than everyone. The criticism hits him deeper. It’s not the criticism that brings him down, he just despises it. It’s not that he can’t take it, he doesn’t want to take it because he knows he doesn’t have to.  

He’s a born winner.
There’s a saying that winners win and losers lose. When you make a big blunder of course you’ve got to accept responsibility and spend some quiet time with your maker and the people involved to work things out the best you can.

But, at some point, you’ve got to work things out and get back to what you do.

Winner's Book Club Selection of the Week: Ben Hogan: An American Life

What are his WINNER'S CREDENTIALS?

Hogan captured a record-tying four U.S. Opens, won five of six major tournaments in a single season, and inspired future generations of professional golfers from Palmer to Norman to Woods.

Book Description

One man is often credited with shaping the landscape of modern golf. Ben Hogan was a short, trim, impeccably dressed Texan whose fierce work ethic, legendary steel nerves, and astonishing triumph over personal disaster earned him not only an army of adoring fans, but one of the finest careers in the history of the sport.

Yet for all his brilliance, Ben Hogan was an enigma. >>read more>>

Stuff from My InBox: Golf Truths

You’ll find these are very, very accurate...  

A two-foot putt counts the same as a two-foot drive.

Never wash your ball on the tee of a water hole.

There is no such thing as a friendly wager.

The stages of golf are Sudden Collapse, Radical Change, Complete Frustration, Slow Improvement, Brief Mastery, and Sudden Collapse.

The only sure way to get a par is to leave a four-foot birdie putt two inches short of the hole.

Don't play with anyone who would question a 7.

It's as easy to lower your handicap as it is to reduce your hat size.

If you really want to be better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age.

If your driver is hot, your putter will be ice cold; if you can hit your irons, you will top your woods; if you are keeping your right elbow tucked in, your head will come up.

Progress in golf consists of two steps forward and ten miles backward.

One good shank deserves another.

It takes 17 holes to really get warmed up.

No golfer ever swung too slowly.

No golfer ever played too fast.

One birdie is a hot streak.

No matter how badly you are playing, it's always possible to play worse.

Whatever you think you're doing wrong is the one thing you're doing right.

Any change works for three holes.

The odds of hitting a duffed shot increase by the square of the number of people watching.

Never teach golf to your wife.

Never play your son for money.

Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.

The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about the golf swing.

It's surprisingly easy to hole a 50-foot putt when you lie 10.

The statute of limitations on forgotten strokes is two holes.

Bets lengthen putts and shorten drives.

Confidence evaporates in the presence of fairway water.

It takes considerable pressure to make a penalty stroke adhere to a scorecard.

It's not a gimme if you're still away.

The more your opponent quotes the rules, the greater the certainty that he cheats.

Always limp with the same leg for the whole round.

The rake is always in the other trap.

The wind is in your face on 16 of the 18 holes.

Nothing straightens out a nasty slice quicker than a sharp dogleg to the right.

The rough will be mowed tomorrow.

The ball always lands where the pin was yesterday.

It always takes at least five holes to notice that a club is missing.

The nearest sprinkler head will be blank.

Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe.

You can hit a 2-acre fairway 10% of the time and a two inch branch 90% of the time.

Out of bounds is always on the right, for right-handed golfers.

The practice green is either half as fast or twice as fast as all the other greens.

No one with funny head covers ever broke par (except for Tiger Woods).

The lowest numbered iron in your bag will always be impossible to hit.

Your straightest iron shot of the day will be exactly one club short.

No matter how far its shaft extends, a ball retriever is always a foot too short to reach the ball.

If you seem to be hitting your shots straight on the driving range, it's probably because you're not aiming at anything.

A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours.

The only thing you can learn from golf books is that you can't learn anything from golf books, but you have to read an awful lot of golf books to learn it.