20 July, 2008
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By PGA professional Nevil Bland
At least a dozen players will be able to look back at the end of the last day and say 'I should have won the Open this year'.
The last round promised to be a mixture of experience versus youth and nobody can be blamed for expecting the younger players to crumble over the last nine holes in the unpredictable conditions. A player could suddenly find himself thrown into contention from the misfortunes of others and the way they coped with that realisation may well have been the determining factor in deciding the champion.
Simon Wakefield and Chris Wood were both handling the situation very well and were consistently taking one extra club into the greens and making relaxed three quarter length swings which gave them the air of being in control and calm.
There is an urge to take less club and hit harder under pressure but smooth swings and even tempos will always produce more forgiving mis-hits. Remember this golden rule - consider what the shortest possible club is that you can reach the flag with (not just the front of the green) and ensure to take one more club than that.
The tendency is to overreact at the results of shots, or at the bounces and lies that you encounter. You need to make a conscious decision to 'underreact' which was in evidence from the more experienced players today. Focus more on the process of a shot rather than the outcome and just keep hitting the ball until you run out of holes - simple!
Three of the players in contention each had a good psychological outlook for the final round which helped them stay calm, but for different reasons. Padraig Harrington has worked hard with Dr Bob Rotella on accepting the outcome of every shot, no matter what it is, Greg Norman entered the Open purely as preparation for the Seniors equivalent and Ian Poulter was quoted earlier this year as saying that he believed if he played well that no-one in the world could beat him - few could argue with that today.
Nevil Bland is head professional at Brocton Hall and can be contacted on 01785 661 4850 or at nevil.bland@foremostgolf.com
Read Bland's Blog from day one, day two, and day three