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Golf is such a mental sport, and those that do not play it do not understand this.
When I was in high school I worked at the TPC in Memphis, where the play the St Jude Classic. My job during the tournament was maintaining the golf carts during the event in case they needed a new one sent out for a scoreboard, if a marshall needed a new one, etc. My post was between the clubhouse, #1 tee box, and the club storage. As a result, I was able to meet most of the major golfers of the early to mid 90s.
One of the meetings that struck me the most was Payne Stewart. I gave him a ride out to his car most days of the tournament for 3 or so years. During his mid career slump, he was either at the top of the leaderboard or was in contention after the 2nd or 3rd round. He got in the cart, I complimented him on his round, and then he went on regarding his game at the time. His game was holding on by a thread, his putts were lucky to go in, etc., etc. It blew my mind how a guy that was a major figure in the sport was so defeatist. He went out the next day and shot an unspectacular 69 (it was an easy course) and finished 15th, in large part because he was missing putts.
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