Own The Shot -- Good or Bad

Stacy Lewis, 2014 ShopRite LPGA Classic Champion, wins
after an embarrassing 3-putt on the par-3 17th hole on Sunday.

Having watched soon-to-be world #1 Stacy Lewis three-putt from inside two feet on the par-3 17th hole on the Seaview Hotel Bay Course at the ShopRite LPGA Classic Sunday afternoon, I'm feeling a bit better about some of my own golf gaffes.


Then at The Memorial Masters' Champion Bubba Watson double bogeyed a hole he'd previously birdied and eagled, and world #1 Adam Scott shot shot himself in the foot too, and 20-year old Hideki Matsuyama survived a playoff against Kevin Na and claimed his first pro victory.

Bubba Watson's pink driver failed at a crucial moment

All those failed putts, wild drives, and miscalculated approaches . . . Lewis and Watson and Scott owned every one of them.  There were no flimsy excuses offered.

Lewis shrugged her shoulders after she finally put the ball in the cup and dropped a shot off her lead, and took off for the 18th tee to play her 54th hole and finish up the day.

I made one bad decision . . . Bubba Watson 

The fact is I didn't hit enough good shots . . . Adam Scott

It wasn't the wind or the condition of the greens or some whispering fan or arthritis in the right hip or an uneven teeing ground, not even a buzzard creating a shadow as it overflew the playing field that fueled those shots gone wrong.  It was golfer error, plain and simple.

And the good shots?  The ones that transformed contenders into champions?  Well, nobody has any trouble taking credit for their good shots, even when good shots, like shots gone wrong, involve a mysterious combination of skill and luck and the best any of us can do is assess the situation -- the lie, the prevailing wind, the distance -- select the most likely club to get us where we want to be next, line up and take our shot.

After I've done the best I can to advance the ball, the outcome is in the hands of the golf gods.  My part is to accept that outcome and go hit the ball again . . .