For Sergio Acceptance Led to Inner Calmness

Sergio spoke about having that inner calmness in the final round of his great Masters win. For him, it was a new feeling in the heat of battle for one of golf's greatest prizes. He also spoke of having a sense of acceptance. He had accepted the fact that he might never win a Major. And he knew that he would be able to live with that eventuality. That being the case, much of the pressure was now off him.

Sergio has long been one of the greatest ballstrikers in the game. But he had been forced to learn the hard way that great ballstriking was simply not enough. In golf, at the highest level, everyone can hit great golf shots. The winners not only hit it great, but also miss it in the right places--especially at Augusta National. And the winners are able to remain calm, focussed, and unfazed by what is happening around them. 

Bobby Jones said that playing in a Major championship often left him with that incredibly uncomfortable feeling of running from something, but not knowing from whom or from where. To remain calm in the heat of battle is not easy to do. If it was, we'd have a lot more Major champions.

Now that Sergio has experienced that inner calm, the question will be whether he can channel it, or call upon it again. If he can, he'll be a different player going forward. I know in my best competitive rounds I've had that inner calmness. Unfortunately, I've never been able to call it up at will. It's either there or it isn't. I think, however, that that calmness is linked to acceptance. If you can accept winning or losing, you can just play your game and see what happens. 

I couldn't be happier for Sergio.