Webb Simpson, a man of deep faith, wins the US Open

 Webb Simpson´s win in this year´s US Open 2012 isn´t as surprising as it seems.

Last year Simpson won his first two PGA tournaments, and finished the year in  N° 2 position in total money earned just behind Luke Donald, with more than U$ 6 millions.

When he won for the first time last August I got interested in his case because he is such a religious person. And I then wrote an article about his win in my spanish language Blog called  "Webb Simpson gana su primer torneo PGA gracias a su fé".

His faith is so strong that he studied Religion while he attended Wake Forrest, under an Arnold Palmer Foundation golf scholarship.

Last night, during his multiple interviews as the new US Open champion, Simpson said a few things that are very interesting from the Mental Golf perspective.

1. "I had never prayed as much as I did in the last three holes of this tournament"

2. "Today I had the best warm up of the week. I just told myself: Don´t get too excited, don´t try and win".

3.  "I never really wrapped my mind around winning.  This place is so demanding, and so all I was really concerned about was keeping the ball in front of me and making pars".

4.  "I was glad he told me that (his caddie told him not to look at leader boards) because I've been a leader board watcher my whole life.  But with what pressure a Major brings I just didn't think it would do any good to see where I was at.  So much can happen, even if I was 2‑up or 3‑up or even 5 back, so much can happen during the middle part of the golf course, so I didn't look again".

5.   "I wanted to just come out (this year) and continue to improve my game, continue to improve my mental capacity to play well in tournaments.  And I've had a slow year compared to last year, but I've been pleased because I felt like I was getting better, up until now".  

Comments:

Prayer is very recommendable from the Mental Golf perspective. It´s something we can only do in the Present Moment and, also, for a believer to put what is about to happen in God´s hands can only give peace of mind when pressure is at it´s highest intensity.

A good warm up is essential to be as relaxed as possible, for good tempo and to not get "ahead of ourselves" on the golf course.

Not getting too concerned about winning is key. One of the main problems that arises from the psychological theory of conscious autosuggestion is the "reverse effect" (the harder we consciously try and achieve something, the more difficult it becomes to achieve it)".

To think only about the ball in front of us is something good, since it´s something we do in the Present Moment and ensures a better chance to play in automatic mode and with proper body/mind synchronization.

It´s the same for not looking at leader boards.........we have a better chance of "staying" in the Present.

To continue improving on a day by day basis is a great objective for any golfer. This we can basically control as opposed to winning that will always depend on the performance of others.

On the other hand, yes, Webb Simpson was not on my short list to win this US Open (he had missed the cut in his last two tournaments), but I must say that at the beginning of the week he was ranked 15 th in the PGA Tour´s greens in regulation statistic.

So, he certainly had the ability to do well at the very complicated and difficult Olympic.

Greens in regulation, in my opinion, is a great measurement of  a golfers ability to plan golf shots rigorously and conservatively, or as is better known, to have great golf course management skills, one of the key factors of modern Mental Golf.