Jacklin's Championship Golf Thinking

I just saw golf Major winner and man responsible for changing the course of the now awesome Ryder Cup, Tony Jacklin, deliver his thoughts ahead of the concluding round of the 2010 Open Championship.

South African Louis Oosthuizen enjoyed a four-stroke lead going into the final day.

Jacklin’s advice was that he must “stay in the moment”. This reminds me of what I’ve heard tennis players go on about (twice, from Henman & Rusedski) when saying ‘stay in the present’. Scribbled down just after he spoke, here’s a précis of what Jacklin said,

You must stay in the moment.

Think about execution and not outcomes.

It’s a human trait to tend to want to know the outcome before it happens. This makes you rush things.

Then he made an interesting aside along the lines of,

the battle is often with yourself, not against others

And finally, leaning on his game-changing Ryder Cup captaincy, he gave a wonderful insight into how Celtic Manor skipper Colin Montgomerie might generate success,

it’s about how you get the players to leave their egos at the door,

how you get everybody together and create a wonderful team spirit,

and you certainly can do without prima donnas

Sound like fine advice for a bid team near you?