A quick update as I'm back from Nebraska. I missed the cut by 3 shots. It was a tough test weather wise as I had to battle 20-30 Mph winds on day 1 and then a bitter cold and mist on day 2 with semi blustery conditions. Handing out a grade on my game I get an A on my mental game which I am pleased about. Unfortunately my execution was more of a D. On a short, heavily tree lined golf course I hit 4/28 fairways which resulted in having to dial in my 6 iron runup hack under the tree limbs. This makes for a stressful grind when my competitors at the top of the leaderboard are giving themselves sand wedge approaches from the fairway. I could have the mental discipline of a Buddhist monk, but it only would take me so far when having to chip out from the trees. The most devastating blow was dealt when I hit a slight push flare 3wood in the 2nd round on a hole with internal OB to keep guys from taking a direct line at a hole on a short dogleg par 4. My ball settled right on the OB line and the rules officials had to measure whether I was in bounds with fishing line from one OB stake to the next. My ball was out of bounds by 2 inches when my ball was in the middle of the golf course property. This tested my mental strength to the max. I was pissed but I handled it well. Take that bad break away and hit it in the fairway more often and I would have been in a great spot to really play well. In a very weird way, I'm slightly happy with getting to test myself mentally right out of the gate after challenging myself on my last blog post. I never would have got to see how deep I could dig and what kind of composure I had if I would have been playing great golf where I never had to fight and patiently persevere.

Yesterday I played in a 1 day pro am in Hastings, Nebraska. I shot a 76 and have to give myself a D on ball striking and mental strength. It was a 5 hour 30 minute round on severely aerated greens. Both of these elements are things beyond my control and I didn't handle it well. I have to be tough and scrappy and patient. None of those 3 adjectives were part of my arsenal. I move forward from Nebraska having to be routinely better mentally and have to continue to believe in my shotmaking with confidence and trust. It's the time of the year I have to go play the course with my swing and stop trying to fine tune. I have to score with the mechanics I have in play. They are plenty good enough to compete. My perfectionist/OCD tendencies to tinker with my swing until it looks and feels perfect will not be a part of the equation moving forward. I'm going to be a bull dog-scrappy grinder with my swing and be really consistent with my mental state. I leave Saturday for 1st stage of European Q School in Portugal. I've been there before so I know what to expect. It's up to me to bring my execution, belief, patience, and mental tenacity from start to finish. It's a simple formula for success. I'm ready to bring it for the week! Thanks for your support. www.europeantour.com to follow my scoring next week. Belief! Trust! Execution! Mental Tenacity!