Reflecting on Rory’s ‘Masterful’ win

One only had to read articles on major sports site and they were full of articles on whether Rory McIIroy could finally win the one tournament that has eluded him for the golf grand slam. Of course the Master’s is not an easy tournament to win for many reasons and his first round seemed to bring up the ghosts of the past before excelling in the second and third rounds to put him on track for his first win at Augusta National. Of course I do not live in Rory’s head, however I cannot imagine the momentum shifts that occurred for him that would have challenged his mental game to the utmost of his abilities. Just when you think he had it there came a series of birdies, followed by bogeys, and then back to a birdie to win it. One facet of his final round, among many, that I find interesting was that he did not speak to his playing partner the whole time. His sport psychologist, the well known golf guru, Bob Rotella stated after that this was Rory’s game plan for the final round. One could argue that speaking with his playing partner could help to get Rory out his head or it could have been a distraction that could have cost him in the end. Rotella stated that “… if you believe you’re going to win, just play your game and assume that if you do that anywhere near the way you’re capable of, then you will end up number one.” Indeed, Rory had the belief in the end that he could win and he did. Belief, called ‘self-efficacy’, coined by a famous Canadian Psychologist, Albert Bandura, is an essential fuel that creates champions. At Sport as Life my goal is to work with athletes to install an unwavering self-belief, supported by mental skills, that will create success in their chosen sport and in life. I look forward to working with you in the near future to achieve this!