My Strategy to Finish a Strong Round
You can easily become distracted in golf–if you allow yourself to. One of the biggest distractions is thinking about your score while playing.
Focusing on your score can cause problems for you especially towards the end of a rounds:
- You are playing your best round then you bogey two consecutive holes. You start to think, “I ruined my round now.”
- You are leading in a tournament and the golfers start narrowing the gap on the remaining few holes. Your mind drifts as you start worrying, “What if I let this slip away? What if I choke and lose the tournament?”
- You are not fully on top of your game and you start doing the math in your head wondering about your final score, “I need to birdie the next two holes to even have a chance of a respectable score.”
In our Golf Mental Game Survey, one golfer requested some insight on improving focus while playing a round of golf:
“How can I finish off the round when playing well and not focus on my score?”
You are not alone. Many golfers request assistance with focusing and finishing strong to close out a round.
It may sound strange because the purpose of playing golf is to score the lowest score possible but this can cause tension for some golfers when playing well at the end of the round…
How can you shoot a low score without focusing on your score?
You see, focusing on your score is counterproductive. Focusing on your score creates mental and physical tension that interfere with your swing. Golf requires 100 percent of your focus on every shot.
The score is just a product of each shot and each hole. To play your best, you need to learn how to immerse yourself in the moment.
For example, one of the most difficult tasks in the PGA is heading into the final round atop the leaderboard and winning a tournament. While the other golfers in the tournament are trying to chip away at the lead, the leader needs to be focused on playing each shot individually rather than computing scores in your head.
At the 2020 Memorial Tournament, Jon Rahm needed to be focused and finish strong to take home the tournament title. To add to the potential distraction, the victory would give Rahm the number one spot in the rankings.
Rahm had a four-stroke lead heading into the final round and was able to hold off the pack, despite a 3-over par on the last day, to win the tournament.
After winning the tournament Rahm commented on his approach on
the last four holes during the final round.
RAHM: “Just to try finishing making pars. It’s no easy feat to just make pars out here today [due to challenging course conditions]. So that was my ultimate mentality. Forget what happened before and just focus on what I had to do at the moment. At the moment, I had to hit the fairways, hit the greens, and keep going.”
Rahm’s strategy of “hit the fairways, hit the greens, and keep going” helped him stay focused in the moment and give each shot his full attention.
When playing well, you have to keep your foot on the gas and not protect the lead to finish out a round strong.
Mindset to Finish Strong in Golf
Challenge yourself to keep going for birdies or solid pars. Don’t try to avoid making mistakes or bogeys as you will play it too safe during the round.
Think about having a birdie chance on two of the remaining three holes to help you go for it and not protect your score.
Learn Proven Strategies to Perform with Confidence!
Do you suffer from fragile self-confidence after missed hits, playing with strict or high expectations that undermine confidence or the inability to play freely and relaxed on the course?
If you suffer from lack of focus, low self-confidence or other mental game obstacles on the course, you cant reach your true golf potential…
Successful golfers have learned how to perform with ultimate confidence in competition, so we’ve developed The Golfer’s Mental Edge Workbook and CD program to help you do this!
The Golfer’s Mental Edge program includes the top 8 mental training sessions I do with my personal students to help them boost their mental game and improve consistency on the course.
The Golfer’s Mental Edge program includes 8 confidence-boosting CDs, MP3 audio recordings and an 8-session golfer’s mental edge workbook.
The Golfer’s Mental Edge: An 8-Week Plan for Ultimate Confidence
Boost Your Self-Confidence And Focus With Expert Mental Game Coaching!
Master mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn can help you overcome your mental game issues with personal coaching.
You can work with Dr. Patrick Cohn himself in Orlando, Florida or via Skype, FaceTime, or telephone. Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
What are our mental coaching students saying?
“To play well, you have to believe you can play well. Confidence goes a long way in golf. Patrick has developed a great system for helping me improve confidence and my overall mental approach to golf.”*
~Brian Watts, 11-time Winner on the PGA Japan Tour
“The mental side is everything in golf—the
ability to see your shot or line and trust that you can hit that shot
or putt. Dr. Cohn has helped me trust my game and putting stroke.”*
~Frank Lickliter, PGA Tour, Nike Tour Winner