How far can the madness in golf go? That it is a sport that pushes players to unforeseen mental limits is well known, but this Friday has provided yet another example of just how much golfers who compete every week can suffer.
Ryan McCornick knows this perfectly well and is experiencing it firsthand. The American plays on the Korn Ferry Tour and for the past few months has not been achieving the expected results. Missed cuts and poor play have been the general trend for a golfer who last year did have PGA Tour rights. The situation is causing the American a lot of frustration that he is not managing to channel very well and, as he himself admits, it is common to see him shouting at himself on the course or uttering all kinds of expletives.
In search of a solution to his situation and to see how he could improve his attitude on the golf course, McCornick got to work. “I’ve talked to many psychologists and read many books in search of a different mindset and none of that was working for me,” confesses the 33-year-old player.
What decision did he make this weekend? If you don’t want to shout, cover your mouth, the player read in a book, and that’s exactly what he did on the second day of the Club Car Championship at The Landings: “This year I haven’t had much fun on the golf course. Quite angry and upset, so I thought I had tried many things and decided to shut up, which is why I put the adhesive tape on my mouth.”
“I hoped it might help me. I can’t say if it helped or not. It certainly makes you breathe. I felt like Bane or Batman, gagged. I mean, I’m not proud of my attitude and I don’t want to create uncomfortable situations for my playing partners because I think it’s not fair to them or to me. This was my solution today,” confesses the player, not very satisfied with himself and the attitude with which he is facing this more difficult stretch.
Another direct consequence was the way he interacted with his caddie since he could barely move his lips: “Well, I wrote my doubts in the yardage book or pointed for him to read the breaks. I think it also simplified things with my caddie, and that’s positive,” said Ryan with some humour and irony.
The reality is that in terms of results, the measure did not help him much since after a round of 72 strokes, he was four strokes short of making the cut. We’ll see if Ryan repeats the adhesive tape experiment or if he finds an even more ingenious solution. We will keep you informed.
