What a comeback for Tiger! It’s been 11 years since he’s last won a major and there’s no doubt mindset played a major role. For the past ten or so years, Woods has had many well documented struggles off the golf course. The most recent being a back surgery that left him not only unable to golf but unable to move for a significant period of time which was followed by substance addiction and recovery.
Slowly though, Tiger regained mobility. He was able to walk, then putt, then work on his short and mid-range game and eventually drive again. He renewed his work ethic that won him the first 14 majors and was driven to once again pursue greatness in the sport he loves so much. That’s one of the strongest areas of his mindset – love of the game. It’s very clear when watching Tiger’s post Masters interviews, that he deeply loves the game of golf. How can you expect to maintain motivation and to compete well if you don’t love what you do? Although, an important point to make is that even though he loves golf deeply, it’s not the most important thing in his life.
During his interviews, Tiger talked a lot about how he was so grateful that his kids could be there to watch him compete and share in the celebration of his victory. Another thing he mentioned was how grateful he was when he was able to start playing with his kids again and more actively participating in their lives after his back recovered. Tiger seems to realize that success in golf is great but it’s not the “be all end all.” He keeps it in perspective. He said regarding the Masters that he “didn’t need to win but he wanted to.”
Throughout the four days, Woods played calmly and maintained strong confidence. He spoke into this – “I felt so prepared” coming into the tournament. He was extremely confident in his skills, his training and his past experience. Tiger said in regards to his win at the Tour Championship in September against tough competition that he came out of it thinking “Keep building on it and get the mind and body peaking for Augusta”
No doubt mindset was a major factor in Tiger’s historic comeback win at the 2019 Masters – all the golfers out there as well as other athletes striving for greatness can learn much from it.
- Play Football for the love of the game, but keep it in perspective – it shouldn’t be your number one priority – God, family and school are examples of more important areas of life.
- Work relentlessly in pursuit of your goals and when competitions come around, trust in your training and skills, and be confident in your best past performances. If you’ve done well before, you can do well again.
- Finally, let Tiger’s story be a lesson that no matter how far you fall, if you want it bad enough, you can rise again.