But I find it interesting to give it a try, on this
occasion, by using, what I consider to be, the three key factors
that allow exceptional Mental Golf to be played.
These factors are:
1. Confidence:
Nothing is more important to playing great golf than confidence. So, I have come up with a list of golfers who´s confidence is peaking, because they are winning, or due to recent significant improvement in their games.
My list includes Tiger, Mickelson, Westwood, Donald, McIlroy, Kuchar, Fowler, Mahan, Rose, Curtis, Zach Johnson, Dufner, Oothuizen, Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Harrington and Furyk.
2. Short game:
The Open course at Olympic Country Club, is renown for it´s small sized greens. In all probability this years winner will posses a great short game. In my opinion the PGA Tour´s year to date "scrambling" statistic gives us a clear idea about who´s short game is at it´s best. Scrambling is defined as the percentage of times a player achieves par, or better, when he misses the green in regulation numbers. As you can see, Luke Donald is king in this category, but many other players on our confidence list, also do very well.
On the other hand, Lee Westwood, who has had a lot of trouble making key recovery putts for some time now, is way off at place N°139.
3. Shot planning:
As you may know, to me, rigorous and conservative shot planning, is essential not only for shooting low numbers, but also for allowing us to "stay" in our unconscious, or intuitive, mode for "in the zone" golf. And, in my opinion, the year to date "greens in regulation", PGA Tour statistic, allows us to measure how players are doing in this key "course management" activity. It tells us the percentage of times that a player is on the green in regulation strokes or less.
You can see, here, that Westwood is number one, and that Luke Donald is way down in spot N° 92.
And who are my personal favorites to win this year´s US Open ?.
I will mention nine players, in random order.
Tiger Woods:
After his great win at The Memorial, his confidence is very high. His short game is at N° 19 and in shot planning he is N° 7.
What could get in his way?. In my opinion two things.
There is the lingering doubt about his new golf swing and just how reliable it is under Major tournament pressure (i.e. this years Masters). The second question is purely mental and is related to one of the principles of conscious autosuggestion. This principle says that if one wants something very badly, it becomes so much more difficult to achieve. And Tiger is obsessed with winning new Majors, and to surpass Nicklaus.
Phil Mickelson:
From the day that Dave Stockton fixed his putting, Mickelson is full of confidence. Phil is also N° 2 in the short game ranking, but has never been the best of shot planners ( he is N° 43 in this category), and it has probably cost him several Majors. If he can plan well he can win.
Since his first win several weeks ago, his confidence level is at an all time high, and he is now the year to date number one in the FEDEX CUP standings. He is a solid candidate to win, as he plans very well (N° 6) and has a very good short game (N° 17).
Luke Donald:
If he can plan well, he will have a great chance at winning. As with Tiger he is obsessed with winning his first Major and this could work against him.
Lee Westwood:
Westwood´s case is similar to Donald´s. If he can make some of those key recovery putts for par, he can win, but he, also, might be too obsessed with winning his first Major.
Justin Rose:
I wouldn´t be surprised if Rose won this US Open. He´s done a great job on the mental side with his coach, Gio Valiante, over the last two or three years. His confidence level is very high since he won in Doral, a couple of months ago. His key statistics are the best. N° 3 in planning and N° 6 in short game.
If you push me, my candidate is Rose.
Another pupil of doctor Valiante, Kuchar´s confidence level couldn´t be better coming off his great win at the Players, the so called fifth Major, last month. He is N° 10 in shot planning and N° 13 in short game, and his positive attitude on the course is second to none. And last but not least he hits the ball very straight, an excellent attribute for US Open courses.
There are two other great golfers who could be serious candidates come Sunday. I´m talking about Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker. Both have regained a high confidence level, have superb short games and are excellent shot planners.
I´m looking forward to an exciting US Open 2012. We shall see if my "mental method" is also good at picking Major winners.
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