How important a part of the game is good decision making?
Good decision making is probably the most important part of the game. It’s every bit as important as hitting a thousand golf balls a day. You can be as good a ball striker as you can be, but if you can’t make the right decisions out on the golf course then you’re not going to have a good round. Players are all different: the way you set up mentally, if you want to attack the hole, or play it more safe if the wind is blowing. You have to decide which club to play and how you want to approach the shot. So golf is all about decision making and you have to make those decisions within seconds.
Is decision making in some ways a gut instinct?
A lot of times you don’t want to over analyse a shot or situation and that’s something you learn through experience. Sometimes you have to ignore the exact yardage and go with what you really feel, because your adrenaline will mean you hit the ball a little further. So gut feeling is all part of what we do. I have played the game for a long time as a professional now and my experience tells me that a gut feel is a major part of your game.
Which past or present players sum up good decision making in golf?
I think the best ever was probably Jack Nicklaus. If you look at the great players, look at their records, and look at the [video] tape of what they have had to do to win, they have made good decisions at the right times. I’m talking about guys like Nicklaus and Ben Hogan, and guys like Tiger [Woods] and Graeme McDowell who have recently won major championships. I like to watch those guys, see the video tape and what they have had to go through to eventually win a golf tournament. You can learn from people like that. We only have maybe a minute to do the whole thing: make the club selection, get your wind direction and your shot selection. So there is not a lot of time to make your decision and a lot of time it is under stress and with a lot of other stuff happening. To make the right decision you have to use everything you have – including your caddy’s bit of advice – and go with it. In the modern game I think Jim Furyk is very good at that – he manages his game very well. And obviously Tiger when he was winning so often. He was the best because although he missed a lot of shots he was always able to play from where he missed.
And it is about making those decisions under pressure?
Exactly, you are under pressure all the time for four and a half hours. If you shoot 70 shots in a round then that is 70 decisions that you have made. You have to deal with that pressure.
Can you give an example of good decision making on the golf course that you are particularly proud of?
I’ve made some really good decisions at the right times and I’ve made some not so good ones at the bad times. Golf is quite a complex game and there are a lot of parts that need to flow together. A lot of times you see guys lose tournaments – particularly in majors – more so than guys actually winning them. It gets quite stressful, and at the end of the day, if you make the right decisions, you’ll probably win the golf tournament.
Is there still one more major in you?
Yes, absolutely, that is what I am working on right now. I’m trying to get my putting going as good as I can, as that’s the one thing that’s holding me back a little bit, and then I’ll just try and work on my confidence and try and get it going. Because I’ve got all the experience in the world, I just need to let it all blend in and happen.
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