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 Zen Golf News Update - August 2004
Vijay Singh Wins PGA Championship Carlos Franco Wins Greater Milwaukee Open ************************** Upcoming Local Events Southern California Zen Golfers: (714) 567-3600. For more information go to: www.bowers.org Chicago Area Zen Golfers: *** Vijay Singh Wins PGA Championship Congratulations to Vijay on winning his third major championship, the PGA at Whistling Straights in Wisconsin. This moves Vijay to #2 in the World Rankings, top of the money list by more than $1 million, and likely will get him Player of the Year. As his 20 th win on the PGA TOUR, it gives him a lifetime exemption. It is truly a high point in his career. Coupled with his discipline in physical workouts and swing technique practice, his mental maturity has propelled him to the top of the sport. He has won 11 times in the two and a half years since starting his work with Zen Golf. Dr. Parent was there for the practice rounds and the first two days. Some comments: “Walking the Monday practice round with Vijay was delightful. The pros (he played with Paul Azinger, Mike Weir, and Scott McCarron) were discussing the course, talking about which tees and pin positions the PGA would use to set up the course, the impact of the wind, the expected winning score. They all expected it to play every day like it did on Sunday. On Putting: Vijay had new-found confidence in his putting, after switching from belly putter to standard, as well as left hand low to right hand low. It’s a mark of how great an athlete he is to be able to make such a radical change in equipment and technique and then win the Buick Open in his first tournament. That was two weeks before the PGA, taking the week off in between. I told him that I thought his switch to the standard putter and right hand low was good for him, and he seemed pleased with the further confirmation. An Interesting Coincidence: During a discussion last June at Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament with two other coaches about putting styles, Steve Nicklaus (Jack’s youngest son) chimed in with a very pointed statement: “Tell me any of the great champions of golf that putted left hand low. There aren’t any.” On the Mental Game: Vijay didn’t have any questions for me; he felt tremendous confidence in all aspects of the game. Following the principle of “don’t mess with success,” I didn’t make any major recommendations, just support and reinforcement of his good habits. It was great to hear him in an interview saying that the issue for him succeeding this week was not about swing mechanics, but committing to the shot he planned to play. He said, “I’m swinging well, so if I commit completely to the shot I intend, there’s no reason it won’t come out the way I want it to.” That attitude manifested brilliantly the first three days. It seemed like in the last round there was a little less than complete commitment on several tee shots and putts, but he certainly roused his level of intensity for the playoff and carried the day. On Playing with Tiger: Several media folks asked about the issue of Vijay being paired with Tiger the first two rounds, noting that in previous head-to-head matches, neither had played all that well. I said that it wouldn’t be a problem, partly because of Vijay’s growing confidence, and also because it was a threesome that included John Daly, with whom Vijay enjoys playing, as he did at the Buick Open. Vijay wasn’t intimidated – he was nine strokes lower than Tiger over the two days. Vijay as a Lefty: Here’s another expression of Vijay’s athletic ability. On the fifth tee, Vijay asked Mike Weir if he could try his driver. Vijay teed up a ball, practiced a few left-handed swings with the driver, and then proceeded to hit a beautifully high, straight drive about 275 yards down the left center of the fairway. Everyone went wild over this, and the other pros started to make comments about needing to hit it past that one or be very embarrassed. They all managed to, a couple of them just barely. Then Vijay teed one up and without a practice swing hit it right-handed with his own driver, past everyone else’s. All the talk after that was about what Vijay’s handicap would be if he played a whole round lefty. He said about 10, but the others all had him as a 5 or 6. Other Players: Most of my time at the tournament was spent working with two players, Carlos Franco and Tim Petrovic. Both had very good rounds Thursday, but the cold, early tee times they both drew on Friday made for a tough start and over par scores. Tim missed the cut by one. For Carlos it was his only round over par; he finished tied for 31 st. Todd Hamilton: It was very nice to walk one practice round with the reigning Open Champion, a friend of Tim Petrovic’s. He’s very personable, appreciated our discussions about expectations from self and others, and asked for the Zen Golf audiobook to listen to in the evenings. He had the low round of the day on Sunday. Shaun Micheel: We had spoken briefly late last year; this was a particularly meaningful time to talk with the defending PGA Champion. He had battled back from a poor first round to shoot 68 and make the cut. We spoke about pressures and expectations after winning a major, and did a Zen Golf putting lesson on “How to Make Every Putt,” starting with “putting to nowhere.” He said it felt helpful, and asked for a copy of the book. He played under par each of the last two rounds, finishing tied for 24 th. Shaun was one of the few golfers this year to make the cut in all four majors.” ***
Carlos Franco Wins Greater Milwaukee Open Carlos Franco started working with Dr. Parent last year at the PGA Championship at Oak Hills in Rochester, NY. Dr. Parent called him the night before the final round as he led the Milwaukee Open, reminding him of key points they had worked on. He played an even-tempered, smart round of golf and won for the first time in five years. They also had an interchange the night before he played with Tiger at the Buick Open, the two of them finishing tied for third behind John Daly in second and Vijay winning his fourth tournament of the year. Carlos attributes a large part of his success to improved focus and composure through his Zen Golf work.
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Next Zen Golf School – October 16&17 The September Zen Golf School, Labor Day Weekend, is full. The next Zen Golf School will be a Two-Day School at: Rancho San Marcos Golf Club, Santa Barbara, California October 16&17, 2004 9am-5pm each day, including: Zen Golf Seminar with Instructional Materials; On-Course and Practice Area Instruction; Range, Cart and Green Fees; Lunch; Autographed copy of Zen Golf and 4-CD Zen Golf Audiobook $995 per person Limited to twelve participants Please email to Info@ZenGolf.com to register or for more information. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if there are other topics you’d like to see addressed in our Zen Golf Newsletters. Next issue will include international news.
Yours in Clarity, Commitment, and Composure,
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