5 MENTAL MISTAKES YOU SHOULD NEVER MAKE ON THE GOLF COURSE

Most golfers lose way too many shots to poor mental decisions and not knowing how to systematically approach each shot and control their emotions to maintain confidence. This article will show you the 5 most common mental game mistakes that most golfers make and how to eliminate them.

1) Don’t analyze your swing, or think about it while swinging

2) Don’t think about your score (unless you really have to)

3) Don’t beat yourself up, be your own caddy and remember it’s just a game

4) Don’t just aim at the fairway or green – have a very precise target in mind

5) Don’t forget about your routine

This is a guest post by David MacKenzie from Golf State of Mind

SOURCE: practical_golf.com

R&A to fill Open Championship void with virtual battle of the ages

Jack Nicklaus never had the opportunity to face world number one Rory McIlroy at the Open Championship but the R&A has brought the champions from different eras together at St Andrews using archive footage and modern technology.

With golf’s oldest major cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the R&A has launched ‘The Open for The Ages’ which will see McIlroy, Nicklaus and other past champions such as Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros “compete” over the Old Course.

The virtual tournament will be played through a combination of seamlessly edited archive footage, modern graphics and fresh commentary, with the winner decided through a data model based on career statistics and voting by fans.

The event, which runs from July 16-19 – the original date for this year’s Open – will culminate in a three-hour final round programme that will be broadcast globally through The Open’s social media channels.

“Golf is one of the very few sports where this concept can be created and brought to life,” Martin Slumbers, chief executive of R&A, said in a statement.

“The way in which the sport is filmed allows us a truly unique opportunity to re-imagine history and bring together the greatest players from many different eras on a scale which has not been done before, either in golf or in other sports.”

The Open, which was due to be held at Royal St George’s, is the only one of this year’s four majors to be cancelled because of the pandemic.

SOURCE:  ESPN.com

Justin Thomas trying to get a handle on Muirfield Village ahead of Dublin Double

DUBLIN, Ohio – Justin Thomas has a strange case of the Jekyll and Hyde thing going on at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

In six visits to Jack Nicklaus’s emerald gem for The Memorial, he’s missed the cut in 2015, 2016 and in his most recent visit, in 2019.

In his other three starts, he tied for 37^th in 2014 and finally got into contention with ties for fourth in 2017 and eighth in 2018.

Go figure.

We’re talking about the No. 5 player in the world who won the 2017 PGA Championship and the FedEx Cup and was the PGA Tour Player of the Year. Is just one of four players to win five times, including a major, in one PGA Tour season before his 25^th birthday, the others being Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. He’s been No. 1 in the world.

At 26, he’s won 12 Tour titles, including two this season in the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges and the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

But Thomas can’t get a consistent grip on Muirfield.

“There’s obviously some things that I need to figure out about this golf course and things I need to do better,” Thomas said Tuesday at his sometime nemesis.

He hopes he gets things ironed out quickly as the course first hosts this week’s Workday Charity Open and then next week’s Memorial.

Adding to his 7,500-yard equation is the fact the course will play much differently this week than next in an effort to relieve stress on the course that will bear nearly 800 rounds the next two weeks. That means Workday will feature slower green speeds (around 11 on the Stimpmeter) which will allow for new pin placements, some never seen before; shorter rough (3½ inches); and multiple tee boxes.

“I’m taking these practice days probably a little bit more seriously and trying to figure out why I haven’t done as well those years,” Thomas said. “Obviously not playing well is a big part to do with it, but I still feel my game is good enough where I should never miss a cut a couple times at a place that I feel fits my game like this one does.

“But I’m not going to go out there and spend six hours hitting from different places I’ve never hit before. I only have so much time in a day where I can be focused and pay attention and get a lot out of it. The important thing is I’ve played the course enough and I’ve hit it a lot of different places on this course before to where I know a lot of it for the most part, but I’ll just go check out some of the little changes here and there.”

Thomas tied for 10^th in the Charles Schwab Challenge when the PGA Tour returned after a 13-week break because of COVID. The following week, he tied for eighth in the RBC Heritage, then missed the cut at The Travelers Championship.

“I didn’t really have many expectations coming into the first three events because I knew I was going to be rusty,” he said. “It was good to play some good golf. I just felt like I had just a bit of a bulky putter and I was disappointed to play so poorly at Travelers. But I just had a week off, got a little rest and tried to just enjoy the time off because I realized pretty quickly how much of a grind golf is, even without fans and all the adrenaline rush. It definitely wears on you, so it’s important to get your rest.

“I expect to play well and have a chance to win, but that being said, I need to get a little bit more comfortable and execute a lot better for that to happen for what’s happened in the past.”

SOURCE:  golfweek.com