For musician Pat Monahangood things have come in threes.
As the leader of the pop-rock band Train, Monahan is a three-time Grammy winner. And as a long-time golf junkie, he played Augusta National Golf Club three times.
In a recent episode of GOLF’s subparagraph podcast, Monahan traded stories with co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz about what it’s like to walk Georgia’s famed grounds and how his expectations on that stage differ from those of his day job.
On tour with Train, expectations are sky high. In Augusta, Monahan keeps them grounded.
His best result in three visits? A 79.
“Breaking 80 is my goal,” Monahan said. “You guys want to break the norm. I want to break 80.”
Stoltz wondered if this milestone came quietly or with some late drama.
“What did you do on the 17th and 18th?” Stoltz asked. “Did you double, double and barely make it or did you somehow get in?”
Monahan didn’t hesitate.
“I’m definitely the kind of guy who barely does that,” he said. “If I have a round that looks like I’m going to go in at 75, it’s going to be a 79.”
The exchange brought up a well-known golf truth: the mind can be a player’s toughest opponent. “It’s amazing how powerful that brain is,” Knost noted. Monahan agreed. It’s a lesson that was reinforced during his last appearance on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Amwhere the intense pressure to perform alongside his professional only made matters worse.
Deep down he knew that playing partners on a golf course are different from a concert crowd: nobody cares how you perform as long as you keep up the pace.
Monahan will soon have another opportunity to test that mentality. A fourth trip to Augusta is on his calendar this month, and he’s preparing the only way a self-aware golfer can: by taking a lesson to work on a few things.
“Like anything,” he said. You can watch the whole episode here.
