Phil Mickelson mentally superior to Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach

As Phil Mickelson walked up to the eighteenth green alongside of Tiger Woods on Pebble Beach golf course on Sunday, it was easy to see who was in control of his emotions and more "inspired" by his circumstances and who was going through the motions, allowing his mental game to weaken with every missed shot.


Did Phil's ear-to-ear grin striding down the fairway belie an air of smugness? Mickelson could have shown a bit of haughtiness, chin high, blowing off Tiger as a mere afterthought. Lefty has “beaten” Woods straight up the last five times they have been paired together in the final round of golf events and the once ferocious Tiger hardly had any bite in his game.

No, that is simply not Phil. Instead, Mickelson remained gracious and maintained, “I don't believe anybody has benefited more from what he's done (Woods) for the game than myself.”

Not only did he handily win the ATT, Mickelson did so with a score of 64 and with Woods stumbling on a final three-footer. Phil’s expression when Tiger missed the putt? He looked a bit downhearted, like he really wanted Woods to succeed. Phil wants to beat Tiger with Woods at his best, not during his lowest moments.

Perhaps Phil needs to offer Tiger insights into his current mental strategy for staying in the game as the same malady seems to be affecting Woods on those short putts. "I've been a little bit lazy mentally," Mickelson said, "so it was a real effort for me to stay focused on every single shot and to not let my mind slip or wander or be lazy."

That being said, I would like to eat my words <chomp, chomp> from a blog I wrote a few weeks ago in which I considered that Phil Mickelson may be washed up (both physically and mentally) for the PGA Tour. Although I still believe that Mickelson is entering into “comfortable” events, it’s certainly not wrong to do so and will probably even increase his resolve and confidence in events. Also, his physical ailments didn't appear to bother him. Enbrel for his psoriatric arthritis must be working...

I heartily congratulate Mickelson on his 40^th victory (now ninth in all-time wins) on the PGA Tour and wish him the best of luck this week at the Northern Trust Open, an event he won in 1991 as an amateur (Telecom Open) and back to back again during the 2008/2009 seasons. I am rooting for Lefty in my weekly Twitter fantasy pool. Last week, my choice of Tiger Woods to win the ATT did not turn out favorably but I think I’m making the right choice this week. I will still be cheering on Tiger Woods too (no, I am not hedging my bet...)

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Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous

Tiger Woods ready to win at least three golf tournaments in 2012?

Tiger Woods kicks off his 2012 PGA Tour season this week at The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Woods has been working hard on a new swing with coach Sean Foley and his mental game is also looking sharp, leading one expert to predict that Tiger will win at least three times on tour this year.

Tiger Woods, SpyGlass Hill Golf Course, Round One

 

Steve Siebold, a former professional athlete (tennis player), mental toughness coach and author of the book 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of The World Class, has worked with athletes for twenty-seven years and has been pointing to a Tiger Woods comeback all along, but based on what’s he’s seeing now he believes this is the year of the Tiger.

Here’s why:

·   Tiger Woods' talent never left him; it was his confidence that disappeared. Now that he knows how to win again, he’s not going to stop. Tiger won his last PGA Tour start, The Chevron World Challenge on December 4th and finished third at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. His confidence is as high as it’s been in years.

 

In his first round of the ATT at Spyglass Hill Golf course, Woods fired off six birdies for an opening round of 68, hitting eleven of fourteen fairways and fifteen of eighteen greens in regulation.

 

·   His ball control is much better than it’s been, and he’s working the ball left to right and right to left comfortably. Both physically and mentally he looks really healthy and his competition should be scared. He’s going to win at least three times this season.

 

·   Pebble Beach will be a good start for Tiger. He won the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by fifteen shots. He knows how to win big on this track.

 

 ·  Woods has made adversity his mental training ground. The stress and struggles of the past few years have only made him that much tougher and he’s ready to dominate the game again.

 

 ·  Woods is hard-wired through years of world-class programming to focus on a vision and persevere at any cost. He doesn’t understand what giving up is.

 

·   Champions like Woods are professional failures. They know that success is based on a series of comebacks, and that setbacks are set-ups for comebacks.

 

The bottom line for Siebold? A bet against a champion like Tiger Woods is a bad bet. On the physical plane he has perseverance, on the mental plane he has toughness and on the spiritual plane he has artistry...so says Siebold.

 

I agree with Steve Siebold that a bet against Woods at this point in his resurgence is a strong one but it should also be weighed heavily against other golfers in the field. In this stage of his career, with negatives drifting behind him, I think that Woods has the potential to win several golf tournaments this season, including a major (U.S. Open perhaps? He won it before hobbling on one leg...)

 

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Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous