3 moments of introspection, from 3-star professionals

Tommy Fleetwood meditated on meditation.

Playing this week at the DP World Tour event in India, he was asked if he still does yoga, and pro popular said that unfortunately he had stopped. But deep mental immersion, an activity he did as a yogi, was still very much a priority.

Meditation, he said, had helped him through some lean times. And it has been a factor this year, one of the best of his career.

“I remember I was really struggling with my game and I was in a bad place,” Fleetwood said. “Having the worst period of golf I’ve ever had, I feel like a part of — as much as I worked and all the decisions I made to try to get my game back at that time, I feel like meditation was a big part of that. Because I had to rebuild my confidence and things like that.

“I still do that to this day. I might be a little sporadic with it, but I really feel like it’s a powerful tool and I feel like it’s very, very important. I think there’s a lot of goals that I set or visualizations that come in a week or a tournament or you know, wherever, and I feel like meditation is a big part of it for me and it helps.”

Deeper things. Which was a theme.

Fleetwood? He also spoke about the loss. Rory McIlroy? He talked about opinions. Ben Griffin? He talked about the ban. Cheers to journalists in India for mining moments of introspection.

The exchanges are below, with the questions in italics. And some additional thoughts follow the Q&A.

Tommy Fleetwood in defeat

How do you get back up? I remember watching St. Jewish Classic Rosey wonand all top five finishes, but then you’re going to win the FedExCup, how do you do that?

“I think the first obvious thing is that whatever happens, I mean, what’s the point of letting it have a negative effect on whatever happens next?” Fleetwood said. “I mean, it’s just ridiculous.

“It’s obvious, but then it’s definitely harder to do. I think always with me, whenever I had to do an interview after something like that happened, I felt like it was really important. I feel the same feelings as everybody else. I could have been riding a motorcycle or upset or angry. But I really wanted to try and get back in as soon as possible and see the positives of these things because there you can see the positive things. things you can do wrong.

“But you’ve got to play next week or the week after that or the week after that, and there’s absolutely no point in letting anything negatively affect what’s going to happen next. All those times when I’ve come so close, had a bad week, and then so many people that week — there’s times when I’ve played tournaments and I’ve been so happy to finish 20th because I’ve had such good things there, because I’ve had good things there. in.

“Of course there are things I’d like to improve on and things I know I may have done wrong, and I’m going to work on those things. I’m not going to lie to myself and say everything was fine. I know I got things wrong.

“But the important thing for me is to give yourself the best chance every time you go out and play, having a positive attitude and a good mindset is very important for that.”

Is it harder now that you’ve won the FedExCup?

“Not really,” Fleetwood said. “I think there are different challenges for everything. When things are going well, one of the hardest things any athlete has to deal with is your expectations. You have to manage your expectations. Like I say, different things have different challenges.

“You know, I’ve missed winning so many times that I’ve always known that I’m not going to let one win change anything. My game is still where it was, you know, the week before Atlanta. And even on Sunday, my game is still the same, even when I walked off the 18th green and I know that I have to improve to be the best player that I think I want to continue to be.”

What to do with the quote: At the FedEx St. However, two events later, he broke through.

Now we know at least one reason why.

Rory McIlroy on opinions

Many congratulations on all that you have achieved in your career so far. You’re one of the greatest athletes of our generation and as you said, being treated as a professional – when you talk about the landscape of sports, very different from what it is now, do you think the days are gone when people watched sports for the pure joy of it, just for the love of it, as opposed to now you watch sports to have an opinion about the player, about the coach, about everything that’s going on? I specifically ask this because obviously after what happened at the Ryder Cup and how the situation got out of hand. Do you think the landscape sports viewing, enjoying watching sports, has changed in having an opinion now?

“Yeah, I would say so – it’s a great question,” McIlroy said. “I would say that deep down at its core, the core of watching sports, is the realistic reality show that we have. We don’t know the outcome. We don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s amazing. There’s very little content on TV these days that can do that.

“So my sport will always be what it is, and I think most sports fans watch it because of that. But yeah, there’s – you know, you start to see – look, it’s a big business, and big business and money comes from having opinions about things, and the more eyes on things is ultimately a good thing, if it can be used in the right way.

“But yeah, it’s definitely changed. When people watch sports for the gambling aspect and they put money on the games, that’s something that especially in America, it’s a changing landscape. But I think at its core, watching sports, whatever it is, is still very pure and it’s still pure competition, and I think that’s an amazing thing.

“But yeah, as an athlete and knowing that you’re going to be criticized for your performances, good or bad or whatever, I think at this point in time and in this modern world, that’s – I wouldn’t say it’s a price to pay, but yeah, you just – it is what it is.

“I think athletes nowadays have to do a better job of blocking out the noise. So not going on social media, trying not to read anything into yourself — easier said than done. But I think the more athletes these days, if they can do that, I think it’s better. I think it’s better for their performance. I think it’s better for their mental health, and I think it’s better for their mental health and for their long sport.”

What to do with the quote: Yes, this is an opinion about an opinion about opinions. With that thought, I still go back to what McIlroy said at the Ryder Cup, after the abusive behavior of the fans, when he noted that while he heard a lot of negative comments towards him, he didn’t hear a lot of support for the Americans. I think that says a lot.

Ben Griffin is stopping by

Your golf journey, I imagine very few Indian golfers are on the verge of giving up. What lesson can you share?

“It’s important to always follow your dreams,” Griffin said, “but it’s also really healthy to take a break sometimes during those dreams and just take a step back and look at it holistically in a way and be able to learn from your journey.

“For me, I left the game completely. I was working a job for a few months there and it was a good time for me to honestly take my mind off golf completely. I had no intention of going back to golf. And it’s crazy that it’s worked out the way it has. It’s been quite the journey and you know, I’m just trying to let things happen at the same time and as hard as they come.

“It’s a very difficult challenge to get to the top of this sport. There are many different paths and a big part of it is playing golf in tournaments and places all over the world starting out and not making a lot of money, and then just trusting the process.

“I’m fortunate to have had so much support not only from my family and friends but also from sponsors to give back to golf, and it gave me an opportunity to not only play for myself, but I felt like I had to play for them and work hard and make sure I was doing the right things off the golf course to make sure I was doing my best. It was a lot of sacrifice and lifestyle change, but it definitely paid off, it was rewarding, but obviously. enough travel.”

What to do with the quote: Griffin’s story has been well-documented over the past few years — and one of the best stories came from GOLF’s Josh Berhow, which you can read here. But what stands out to me is that he always answers questions about his ‘journey’ eloquently. That should tell you something.

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