which is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n——<\/p>\n
By\u00a0the\u00a0time\u00a0Wyndham\u00a0Clark\u00a0stood\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a018th\u00a0fairway at Los Angeles Country Club, the light over the City of\u00a0Angels\u00a0was\u00a0low,\u00a0and\u00a0I\u00a0had\u00a0worked\u00a0my\u00a0way\u00a0around to the green to try to best get a glimpse of my client trying to close out the 2023 U.S. Open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our path to this point was both methodical and remarkably fast. Wyndham Clark and I first met only six months earlier, in December 2022. By that time, I had spent more than a quarter century working on the PGA Tour and with golfers from around the world on their mental approach. Wyndham was initially skeptical that working with a coach to help him control his thoughts would help him actually win tournaments. \u201cYou guys all say the same things,\u201d he told me when we first met. \u201cNothing works.\u201d He was saying the same things to his team \u2014 his caddie, his agent \u2014 even though those closest to him believed what I had to offer could help him unlock his potential, which was enormous.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not an atypical reaction, and it could be the same for people picking up this book: How could talking with someone \u2014 or reading about how to control our thoughts and emotions \u2014 produce better golf shots, lower scores, and better results? Is it psychobabble?<\/p>\n
Even\u00a0with\u00a0all\u00a0my\u00a0experience on\u00a0tour \u2014 and\u00a0all\u00a0the\u00a0success\u00a0my\u00a0clients\u00a0have\u00a0had,\u00a0more\u00a0than 25 majors and 120 PGA Tour victories \u2014 I run into those\u00a0doubts all the time.<\/p>\n
Wyndham\u2019s reluctance eventually waned. In February 2023, we met at a Starbucks near his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Shortly thereafter, we started meeting by Zoom every week. Over the ensuing weeks, Wyndham started to feel better about himself, and his golf improved. This wasn’t a straight line, and you’ll discover in the coming pages that the journey to better golf \u2014 just like the road to a better life \u2014 is almost never linear.<\/p>\n
He\u00a0beat\u00a0a\u00a0terrific\u00a0field\u00a0to\u00a0win\u00a0the\u00a0Wells\u00a0Fargo\u00a0Championship,\u00a0his\u00a0first\u00a0PGA\u00a0Tour\u00a0win!\u00a0My reaction that day (and his): This stuff works.<\/p>\n
Our\u00a0highest\u00a0highs\u00a0can\u00a0be\u00a0followed\u00a0by\u00a0some\u00a0pretty-low lows. Any\u00a0golf\u00a0fan\u00a0knows\u00a0that Wyndham’s 2025 season was rocky, marred by inconsistent play on the course and some unflattering incidents off it. At the PGA Championship, he hurled his driver in anger following an errant tee shot, snapping off the head and nearly hitting a volunteer.\u00a0At\u00a0the\u00a0U.S. Open, he took his frustrations out on a locker in the Oakmont Country Club clubhouse. Mastering our mental game\u00a0in golf\u00a0or\u00a0reaching\u00a0a\u00a0state\u00a0of\u00a0growth\u00a0and\u00a0self-improvement in life isn’t always a permanent condition. It takes more work over more years, and there are frequently hills and valleys.<\/p>\n
But\u00a0back\u00a0in\u00a02023,\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Open\u00a0just\u00a0more\u00a0than\u00a0a month away, Wyndham and I began talking more profoundly and thoroughly\u00a0about\u00a0everything\u00a0that\u00a0makes\u00a0him\u00a0who\u00a0he\u00a0is. We began digging deep.<\/p>\n
My nickname on the PGA Tour used to be \u201cStealth,\u201d because I worked quietly around the edges of tournaments with a wide array of clients, some of whom were comfortable being associated with me in public, many of whom preferred our relationship to be private. Either is fine. Discretion \u2014 particularly 25 years ago, when fewer people publicly addressed their mental health \u2014 is part of the job.<\/p>\n
A newer nickname, though, cuts closer to what I do. In recent years, one of the physical therapists who works with players and is part of the tour\u2019s traveling circus began referring to me as “Backhoe.” The reason: I dig deep. Every one of us has a past that\u2019s worth mining. When I begin talking with a client, we work to excavate all the material that’s under the surface, history that can prevent anyone from becoming their best as a golfer or being their best selves. We might not know what we\u2019ll find. It might not be pretty. It could be scary. But people don\u2019t come to me or stay with me unless they know \u2014 consciously or not \u2014 they want to dig deep.<\/p>\n
To\u00a0begin\u00a0this\u00a0process\u00a0of\u00a0self-examination \u2014 of\u00a0digging deep \u2014 I always start by asking clients to send me two lists. The first: 10 things you\u2019re great at mentally, both on and off the golf course. The second list: 10 things you need to\u00a0improve. The framing is important. It\u2019s positive. These aren\u2019t\u00a010 things at which you\u2019re bad. They\u2019re 10 elements that need work. This process can spark a curiosity about what you do well and what you need\u00a0to\u00a0work\u00a0on,\u00a0and\u00a0that can\u00a0lead to clarity about what needs to get better and how to get there.<\/p>\n
![\""Mastering](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_usatoday_us_articles_590\/803f55f0799d3d3e45fc6792fba76962.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
“Mastering your mental health game” from Julie Elion.<\/p>\n
In the final round, Wyndham was paired with Rickie Fowler, a longtime fan favorite, in the last group of the day. Like Wyndham, Rickie was looking for his first major championship. Unlike Wyndham, Rickie had been in the spotlight for years. He had won The Players Championship, the PGA Tour\u2019s flagship tournament. In 2014, he finished in the top five of all four majors. He had 12 top-10 finishes in majors. Wyndham had only played in six majors, and never finished higher than 75th. By no fault of Wyndham’s, the crowd was going to be on Rickie\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
So\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0Wyndham\u2019s\u00a0goals\u00a0on\u00a0that\u00a0Sunday:\u00a0Whenever he heard \u201cGo,\u00a0Rickie!\u201d or \u201cCome\u00a0on, Rickie!,\u201d he simply deflected it and said to himself, \u201cI got this,\u201d and remembered his own goals. It was a way for him to take the\u00a0crowd\u2019s\u00a0energy\u00a0for his opponent and channel it into his own game. It was a way for him to stay focused not on what Rickie was doing, but on what he needed to do.<\/p>\n
“It was great walking by, hearing a lot of people chant for Rickie\u2019s name because it fueled the fire underneath me that I\u00a0could\u00a0do\u00a0it,\u201d\u00a0Wyndham\u00a0said\u00a0after\u00a0the\u00a0round.\u00a0\u201cMy\u00a0mental coach, Julie, told\u00a0me\u00a0… \u2018Every time you\u00a0hear\u00a0someone\u00a0chant, \u201cRickie,\u201d\u00a0think\u00a0of\u00a0your\u00a0goals\u00a0and\u00a0getcocky\u00a0and\u00a0go\u00a0show\u00a0them who you are.\u2019 I did that. It was like a hundred-plus times today, I reminded myself of my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Wyndham finally nestled that long putt near the hole and had just a couple of feet left to win a major championship, we knew. I felt so much joy for Wyndham and thought about our quick journey, from a phone call in December\u00a0to\u00a0a\u00a0meeting\u00a0in\u00a0February\u00a0to\u00a0a\u00a0breakthrough\u00a0first\u00a0victory on the PGA Tour \u2014 to this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A little while later, when I walked into the post-tournament party, the crowd started chanting,\u00a0\u201cMVP! MVP!\u201d The group tried to get me to drink champagne\u00a0from the massive U.S. Open trophy. I couldn\u2019t lift it, and it spilled\u00a0all\u00a0over\u00a0me.\u00a0What\u00a0an\u00a0amazing\u00a0moment\u00a0in\u00a0my\u00a0career.<\/p>\n
We can all do some version of what Wyndham Clark did in that final round of the U.S. Open. Sustaining that state of being is another challenge. But at any point in our lives, we can all set goals, put them into action, and positively affect how we play and how we live. I have watched this work with dozens of players \u2014 stars who have won the most prestigious tournaments in golf, lesser-known characters who simply wanted to improve, college golfers looking to find their way, and everyone in between. Get out the backhoe, and let\u2019s dig. Deep.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Book excerpt: Mastering your mental game by Julie Elion<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winning a major championship in golf isn’t just a test of physical skill. It’s also largely a quest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1586,6160,144,1513,1315,6159,424],"class_list":["post-14530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-players-championship","tag-major-championship","tag-mental-strength","tag-pga-tour","tag-rickie-fowler","tag-the-players-championship","tag-wyndham","tag-wyndham-clark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}