I was kind of surprised when I tuned in near the end of the Zurich Classic on Sunday, to hear Woody Austin utter the words, “I choked my guts out” in his post-round interview. He seems like a straightforward, honest guy, but I was surprised to hear that coming out the mouth of any professional golfer. I was even more surprised that he uttered similar comments to himself on the course while the walls crumbled around him.

Choking is a terrible situation to be in. That which comes easy any other time is nowhere to be found. A lifetime of muscle memory and mental composure are out the window. Nothing is working right and it keeps getting worse.

My guess is that it happens to most people at some time or another, at least those who find themselves in stressful situations. For professional golfers, it all boils down to a mental lapse of epic proportions.

I find it fascinating that many professional golfers can’t even acknowledge that they’re choking.

I’ve heard it said that Jack Nicklaus was prone to blame external influences for bad shots. Caddy, course, whatever. It’s not that he was a poor sport or tried to put up a facade. No, it was that he was so mentally focused and committed to each shot that he was actually convinced that something else was to blame.

Professionals don’t even like to hear about choking. Johnny Miller caught a monumental amount of flak for even suggesting that Peter Jacobsen was facing a shot in the 1990 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic that was, as Miller put it, “…the easiest shot to choke I’ve ever seen in my life.” Jacobsen pulled off the shot and won, but Miller was harshly criticized, including becoming persona non grata. According to Miller, Jacobsen didn’t speak to him for eight months.

I’m not sure how I feel about Austin’s reaction on Sunday.

Even a brief study of the mental game of golf shows that confidence is key and that remaining focused on each shot individually is crucial to success.

In essence, if you think you’re choking, then you are.

Once you come to that point during a round, then I’m not sure if recovery is possible. It’s easy to see why professionals don’t want to even hear the word.

I have to credit Woody Austin for coming clean after the round. There was no controversy and no mincing of words. He just laid it all out there. Unfortunately, recognizing the situation during the round did him no good.

Refreshing honesty aside, the only way to recover in that situation is to regain a positive attitude, forget the previous shot(s), and focus and commit to the next shot. Really, choking is the result of the failure to do these things. If you hit a bad shot and can’t let it go, then you’re setting yourself up for another. And another. And another. Before you know it, you’re choking.

Let go of the bad shots and focus on the here and now. Keeping a positive attitude is the only way to avoid falling victim to the dreaded choke.

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