WHILE at St Andrews, what better place could I be to launch the UK version of my book, ‘No Fear – The Secrets Of Better Golf And Business.’ The American version, ‘Don’t Choke – A Champions Guide to Winning Under Pressure’ became the No.1 best seller on Amazon.com in June in the United States and further editions in South Africa, Japan and India are under discussion.
It’s a fascinating subject. I learned to love pressure, I had to. But I realised the first step was to acknowledge that I was feeling it and that I would continue to feel it regardless of when or where I played.
I talked myself into believing and accepting that during the course of a tournament I would hit bad shots, but then everyone else would hit bad shots, too. The key is to not to let a bad shot have a negative affect on your game – or your life.
Over the years I’ve seen so many players wreck their score because of one bad shot. I never did that. I simply refused to let any negative thoughts enter my mind. Staying positive is absolutely essential to being successful in golf and in life.
We all talk about the perfect swing in golf and I suppose Ben Hogan was the closest I’d seen to perfect. But it’s not just about how good your game is, it’s about how good you are and how you react to the circumstances.When I set out on the Tour I was small in height, I had to travel a long way, I was far from home and I had to suffer the demonstrations against me due to apartheid and coming from South Africa. My mother had died when I was eight, my father worked in a gold mine and my brother had gone off to fight in World War II. I had a lot going against me. I’d gone through a lot as a youngster.
I told myself that when – and not if – I play in a tournament, one thing I’ll never be scared of is winning. When I played in a big tournament and I had a chance to win, I won. I knew that the worst thing I could do was to think about the trophy, the winner’s cheque or the fame of winning. | My only thought was to win and I never once lost a tournament because I choked.
When I played the 1969 US PGA Championship in Dayton, Ohio, I was regarded as a racist in the United States because they considered a white South African must be in favour of apartheid. While I played, people were throwing things at me during my back swing, charging at me on the greens and screaming when I took my putter back.
I had to have police protection wherever I went. I lost the Championship to Raymond Floyd by one shot as a result of all that pressure.
The 1959 Open Championship at Muirfield taught me a lot. The weather on the final day was terrible, with a howling wind blowing, and I was eight shots off the lead. But the way I saw it was that everyone was playing the same course in the same conditions so I had to make up that margin.
I believe there is less pressure when you are coming from behind because you accept that you have to take risks. When you’re ahead you know that one small mistake, one bogey can start to put pressure on you because you fear making mistakes. I never feared mistakes. If I made a mistake it just made me more determined and more focussed to hit a great shot at the next hole to make up for it.
At Muirfield I felt it was the place to win my first Major. Despite being behind, I stayed positive and although I took a six at the final hole my score of 284 was enough to win.
I didn’t think it was enough to win it but it taught me the lesson that even when you think you have failed you may have succeeded and to never believe I would fail.
I’ve applied that mindset throughout my career and it has helped me overcome pressure both on and off the golf course.
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