What you can learn from Rafael Cabrera-Bello’s and Phil Mickelson’s victories on The European and PGA Tours:
Star-studded final round leaderboards on both major tours had golf fans salivating at the prospects - Westwood, McIlroy, Kaymer on the European Tour in Dubai; Woods, Mickelson, Dustin Johnson at Pebble Beach on the PGA TOUR. For all intents and purposes it appeared that it was going to be a Sunday coronation of golf’s royalty on either side of the Atlantic.
The game had other ideas… Competitive golf is the greatest leveler. In two results that I am sure made the bookmakers happy, the underdog, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and the somewhat out-of-form Phil Mickelson out-classed the “class” to lift the respective trophies.
In Dubai, the 54-hole leader and world No 3, Lee Westwood battled a balky putter for a 2-under-par (70) final round and a 17 under par total.
Superstar-in-waiting, Rory McIlroy finished 14 under par after carding a 71 which included a double bogey. Former world No 1, Martin Kaymer faltered to a 2-over-par 74 which plunged him out of the top 5 into a tie for thirteenth place. All the while, 119th ranked Cabrera-Bello raced up the leaderboard as he took only 27 putts for a bogey-free 4-under-par 68, an 18-under-par total and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic title.
Many time-zones away, the odds-makers were installing Tiger Woods as the odds-on favorite to return to the winner’s circle at The AT&T National Pebble Beach Open. 54-hole leader, Charlie Wi (15 under par), along with Dustin Johnson (9 under par) who has had notable success at Pebble Beach, were getting a little attention from the pundits but Woods was certainly enjoying the lion’s share of the love. After rounds of 70, 65, 70 for 9 under par, Phil Mickelson had turned a few heads and a few sentimentals were holding out hope for him but after consecutive results of T49th, MC, and T26th he was hardly a force to be considered.
Luckily for Phil the game is played on grass and not on paper. Well aware of this, he surged out of the gates with birdies on holes 2, 4, and 5. An eagle on the par five, 6th moved him to 14 under par and solo possession of the lead after Charlie Wi stumbled early. Solid pars through the turn solidified Mickelson’s position at the top of the leaderboard. After a sublime “chip” 8-iron from 126 metres to two feet for birdie at the 13th his 40th career title was pretty well a cinch. For good measure he birdied the 14th and the 18th and signed his card for a final round 8-under-par, 64. By comparison his playing partner, the favorite, Tiger Woods stumbled mightily and made three consecutive bogeys on the front and two consecutive bogeys on the back nine for an uncharacteristic final round of 75.
So, what can we learn from Phil Mickelson’s and Rafael Cabrera-Bello’s performances this week?
• The truth about golf:
The truth of the matter is that the golf ball does not know who you are and the game does not care who you are. Who would have bet that the victors on each tour would have been Mickelson and Cabrera-Bello given the quality of the leaderboards going into the final rounds? I am sure that many a betting person would have laid significant money on Woods and Westwood adding to their Hall of Fame resumes. Always remember that the game is not played on paper and no matter whether you are underdog or the favorite you still have to play one shot at a time. Remember also that the game is very dynamic and anything is likely to happen at any time.
• It’s a putting contest in the end:
Certainly Cabrera-Bello hit his share of greens in regulation for the week in Dubai, but when the chips were down, his 27 total putts in the final round separated him from the other challengers. His total number of putts in the final round was four strokes fewer than the 31 putts Westwood took. For the record, Rory McIlroy took 34 putts in the final round. Similarly, Mickelson took only 26 putts for his final round 64 whilst his playing partner, Woods, missed countless short putts for his 3-over-par 75. In other words, don’t kid yourself; golf and especially competitive golf is a putting contest! Invest in your putting by devoting more time to it in practice.
• Play your game and stick to your task:
You cannot stop your opponent. Indeed it is that quality that makes strokeplay golf such a great game. All you can do is stick to your game, do your very best, add up your total and then see where it stacks up in the final analysis. Cabrera-Bello could have become engrossed in the leaderboards in an effort to see what the favorites were doing. Just as Phil could have easily paid undue attention to his playing partner, Woods. Both players are experienced enough to know that this is not a recipe for success and both did a wonderful job of keeping their attention to their respective games. So stay focused and keep grinding until the final putt has dropped – anything is possible and anything can happen at any time!
• Anything is possible:
In golf, more that in any other sport, the proverbial underdog has as good a chance of winning as anyone. Consider this list of major championship upsets: Larry Mize beats Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros (The Masters ‘87); Hillary Lunke defeats Annika Sorenstam (US Women’s Open ‘03); Francis Ouimet beats Vardon and Ray (US Open ’13); Y.E. Yang knocks off Tiger Woods (PGA ’09); Ben Curtis bests Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh (The Open ’03); Jack Fleck defeats Ben Hogan (US Open ’55). Surprise results and upsets have been commonplace since the first competitive golf shots were struck and they continue to be so each week. The record books are proof of that. On your day or your week you can win and you need to keep that frame of mind no matter the circumstances. Consider Mickelson’s comments in his post-round presser: “It just takes one week or one day to turn it around.”
Remember, the golf ball does not know who you are and it does not care what your resume looks like. Play your game; grind it out; keep trying – you never know when it will be your day.
Play well and enjoy our great game.
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