{"id":1044,"date":"2016-04-12T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T12:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/2016\/04\/12\/learning-from-masters\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T18:26:31","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:26:31","slug":"learning-from-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/?p=1044","title":{"rendered":"Learning From The Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:9549,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/espn.go.com\\\/golf\\\/masters16\\\/story\\\/_\\\/id\\\/15176844\\\/jordan-spieth-collapse-masters-most-shocking-golf-history&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>\nIf you watched golf on TV this weekend, you saw 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/golf\/masters16\/story\/_\/id\/15176844\/jordan-spieth-collapse-masters-most-shocking-golf-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">essentially melt down<\/a> on his last 9 holes in this year&#8217;s Masters. He was leading at the time and his meltdown allowed the steadier British golfer Danny Willett to win.<\/p>\n<p>John Farnam had some comments on what we could learn from this in his Farnam&#8217;s Quips that were published yesterday. He has graciously given me permission to reprint it here.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\n<i>\u201cPositive outcomes don\u2019t necessarily demonstrate superior play.   Superior<br \/>\nplay will lead to positive outcomes more often than will poor play, but<br \/>\neven poor players sometimes catch lucky.  <\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>It is when you confuse catching lucky with playing well, that demons sneak<br \/>\nin!\u201d<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>John Vorhaus<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Yesterday, I watched the final round of the four-day 2016 Masters Golf<br \/>\ntournament in Augusta, GA.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Not being a golfer myself, I still love watching these consummate<br \/>\nprofessionals play this game at the highest level.  Their skill is a wonder  to<br \/>\nbehold!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Jordan Spieth, last year\u2019s winner, was the odds-on favorite, and no<br \/>\nwonder!  He was ahead of everyone else for the entire tournament.  By  the last<br \/>\nnine holes of the final round, he was so far ahead, I thought, as did  many,<br \/>\nhe was unbeatable!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Then, demons crept in!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>And, I felt a kinship with Spieth, as he fell so suddenly, and so<br \/>\nignominiously, from glory, because I, and many of my instructors, have done the<br \/>\nsame thing- more that once!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>The question is: <\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>How much continuous, simultaneous bad news can you handle, and still retain<br \/>\n your sanity?  At what point do you unwittingly open the window, and let<br \/>\ndemons sneak in?<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>At its best, golf, like fighting, is a smooth, coordinated, orchestrated<br \/>\nflow of events, a seamless whirlwind of motion.  That is, until you:<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>1) Stray from the present tense<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>2) Get distracted and allow your concentration to dissipate<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>3) Start hesitating<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>4) Start getting in your own way<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>5) Try to alter an otherwise smooth-flowing technique right in the  middle<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>6) Allow doubt an vacillation to consume you<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>7) Are swept-up in rapidly-compounding disasters and discover that you  aren<br \/>\n\u2019t recovering quickly enough!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>During the final day of the tournament, there were three holes-in-one (by<br \/>\nother contestants), and the media, of course, swooped-in to cover those.<br \/>\nAnd, there were many other spectacular shots that also garnered the attention<br \/>\nfo  the media.  These events were as melodramatic as they were  irrelevant.<br \/>\n None of them materially affected the outcome.  They never  do!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Then we had the humble Englishman, Danny Willett.  A great champion to  be<br \/>\nsure, or he would not have been there, but I never heard of him until<br \/>\nyesterday!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Willett\u2019s game was devoid of \u201cgreat shots.\u201d  He played steady,  careful,<br \/>\nsolid golf.  However, he had no bogies either!  When Spieth  blundered, and<br \/>\nthe door opened, Willett gracefully walked through, and never  looked back!!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>And, if you&#8217;re wondering if there is a point lurking in the foregoing, it<br \/>\nis this:<br \/>\n <\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i><b>&#8220;It&#8217;s not &#8216;great shots&#8217; that save you.  It&#8217;s &#8216;little mistakes&#8217; that  kill<br \/>\nyou!&#8221;<\/b><\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>True in fighting, as well as golf.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>The Hollywood, overdramatized version of events always draws attention to<br \/>\noccasional, glamorous (and irrelevant) &#8220;great shots.&#8221;  Like the cavalry<br \/>\narriving in the &#8216;nick of time,&#8217; great shots always save the day, and we all<br \/>\nlive  happily ever after!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Rubbish!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>That manufactured nonsense only happens in movies!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>When you&#8217;re making little mistakes, episodic great shots won&#8217;t save you, as<br \/>\n we see!<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i><b>So, we concentrate on correcting mistakes.  It&#8217;s not glamorous, nor<br \/>\nentertaining, nor even interesting, at least to the shallow and  self-centered.<\/b><\/i><br \/>\n<i><b><br \/><\/b><\/i><br \/>\n<i><b>In fighting, as in golf, the wise work to eliminate &#8220;little  mistakes.&#8221;<br \/>\nThe &#8220;great shots&#8221; will take care of themselves!<\/b><\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>\u201cDarling, my legs aren&#8217;t so beautiful.  I just know what to do with  them!\u201d<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Marlene Dietrich<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>\/John<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you watched golf on TV this weekend, you saw 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth essentially melt down on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1939,1940,1013,1941],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fighting","tag-golf","tag-john-farnam","tag-shooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10672,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions\/10672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}