It was a long week at the Rahman Putra Championship on the ADT as thunderstorms affected play every round and caused long delays.
I finished the tournament T15th with rounds of (70, 71, 77, 64) (-6). The first two rounds I played extremely solid golf but was unable to make much on the undulating and tricky greens. Heading into the weekend, I was in great shape and was looking to climb the leaderboard in the third round. Unfortunately, my struggles on the greens worsened and ultimately led to frustration that affected the rest of my game and a 5 over par 77. As I reflected on my play after the round, I realized that my attitude on the greens had to change. I was trying too hard and thinking negatively after a missed putt. I made the decision that in the 4th round my only goal on the greens was to "free it up" and "think less". Basically, (see it, hit it) and to not worry about mechanics or whether or not it goes in.
The simple attitude change on the greens led to a bogey free 8 under par 64 and a rise up the leaderboard 27 positions to finish T15th. It was a satisfying way to end the week and a round that I will look to build off of and most importantly learn from. With a change in attitude, I was able to "black out" on the greens, eliminating any fear of missing.
I am currently home in Bangkok for the upcoming week before heading to Bali, Indonesia for the next event on the ADT June 25-28th.
All the best,
Josh