I last left you as I was about to begin OneAsia Q School in Los Angeles.  To get everyone caught up to speed, I did not obtain my card via the qualifier.  There were definitely positives to take away, even from what on paper was a "failed" mission.  I needed a pretty low round in round 4 to get partial status, and halfway through round 4 I was on track to get there!  I made a costly bogey on my 9th hole, then followed that up with a double bogey on 10.  From there, the damage was done and I couldn't recover.  After sitting back and processing the last two q schools, I took away the positives that in Florida I was one solid final round away from obtaining a card on tour.  In California, I inched fractionally closer, as I was only a solid final round back 9 away from obtaining status. 

    So what is it that needs to be addressed to get over that final hurdle?  Heck, that is the question every human being on earth is asking themselves in every line of work.  Well, the answer for me lies with a brutally honest look deep within me.  If you look at the banner to my blog, it reads 3 simple words.  Process. Patience. Attitude.  You would think if that is the theme of how I operate, I would be doing a good job of living up to it.  Well, I need improvement.  The picture above is obviously a look at a heartbeat.  How this pertains to me, is I have to do a much better job at playing "flatline".  If I take a deeper look, it is triggered from the perfectionistic qualities of my personality.  Well, in golf this can equate to death.  Perfect shots time and time again are unattainable. 

    When I make a birdie, I shrug it off as a ho hum occurrence, because mentally that is what I expect of myself. As soon as some adversity comes along in a round, I absolutely berate myself for my imperfection.  This is such a dangerous, miserable way to play. A burdensome slippery slope.  I literally could go 8 straight holes for instance, hitting nothing but exceptional shots, and then the moment a shot doesn't come off as desired, I tear myself apart.  This makes my internal confidence a dangerously fragile thing.  Living and dying by the results of each shot.  So, what needs to be better, a lot better, is this "flatline" mentality, especially on the back end of things.  All this perfectionism ties directly into process, patience, and attitude.  I can look at the OneAsia final round as proof.  I eagled my 8th hole of the day to get to 3 under for the round.  On the 9th hole, I made a poor iron swing and left myself in a really tough spot to get up and down.  Walking off the tee, I was internally beating myself up.  I then proceeded to not get it up and down from a tough spot, and my attitude, patience, and process were all shoved aside.  I failed to regroup, and proceeded to play the 10th hole really poorly, and just like that my tournament and week were over. 

    This is just one example of many I can think of that has surfaced that shows what has to change for me to get over the hurdle.  Hard work only takes you so far.  The rest is being able to channel my talent in the right direction.  So in order for me to correct this, it isn't a physical matter.  It is that space between my ears where I have to be really focused.  I have a mental motor pattern that is "brainwashed" into a certain routine.  I have to be able to adapt an acceptance of my swing outcomes, whether good, bad, or indifferent every time.  This has to be repeatable every waking hour of every waking day.  Break it down to golf is a game, perfection is unattainable, and I am fortunate to play this game for a living.  Once I get out of my own way, the results will come.  It seems so backwards.  By not focusing on the results, the proper results will find there way into my career.

    The more you try to hide from it though, the results or outcome do have a direct correlation to putting a score on the card.  It is through this truth that I have come up with a new target result goal.  The basic premise is of a 2/3rds principal.  If I can hit 2/3rds of my fairways, hit 2/3rds of my greens, and clean up around the greens by getting up and down 2/3rds of the time, I am going to shoot a great score.  This leaves me with the wiggle room necessary to accept these bad shots that will inevitably surface in every round.  I can chalk up a poor swing to being within that 1/3 window of errant acceptance.  In terms of applying this to putting, if I two putt 2/3rds of my greens and one putt the other 1/3rd, I will arrive at 30 putts.  My putting performance therefore will require the daily goal to two putt no more than 2/3rds of the time.  Once again, the errant acceptance buffer is in place.  There will be days where I outperform the 2/3rds guideline, and also days where I underperform the 2/3rds standard.  It also will be a great way to chart in my game what areas are working and need improvement.  I really am onboard with this and am excited to make this a big part of my campaign. 

    It still is very much a slow period/offseason to my golf season.  I will be headed to Alexandria, Louisiana for an Adams Tour event starting March 18th.  Following that on March 23rd, I will compete in the 1st Web.com Monday qualifier of the year in Mississippi.  Success for me will not come from hard work.  That is something I pride myself on.  True it is an important part to being an elite golfer, but for me my success will come from being better, much better, at acceptance of my poor shots.  Here's to a "flatline" golf game for 2015.  I know that is the key to unlock my true potential.  Thanks for reading and your support.