When under stress and pressure at work, it can be as hard as it is important to find a source of positive motivation to stay on course. How can you do it? Tiger Woods and Y.E. Yang did it, each in his own way, at this year’s PGA Championship. From their example we can take an unconventional “golf lesson” and apply it our own professional lives.
To appreciate their lesson, it is helpful first to set the context to understand how extraordinary the final round was for both of them.
Going into the tournament, Woods had seventy wins on the professional tour; Yang had only one. At a press conference before the final round Sunday when he was in second place, two strokes behind Woods, Yang reflected on their respective number of tournament victories and joked that his odds of winning, therefore, were an underdog’s longshot of 70-1. Reports from Las Vegas showed the actual odds being set around 200-1.
Beating Woods on Sunday in a major when he is in the lead is not just hard. Until this time, it was impossible. Under these conditions previously, Woods won fourteen times in a row.
One of the reasons Woods prevails is because he deals better with the pressure and distractions of being in the final pair of leading players on the final round. In fact, Woods averages almost four strokes better than his opponent when playing in the final pair, i.e., the two leaders going into the final 18 holes. The intensity and the stress that Woods tends to thrive on often causes others to unravel.
Y.E. Yang more than overcame this “Woods effect” with a terrific final round. For the second day in a row, on the two highest-pressure days of the event (Saturday and Sunday), Yang scored the best round among all the players.
Woods didn’t lose; Yang won.
It was fascinating as a competitive sporting event, but as I mentioned before, when it comes to motivation under pressure, Woods and Yang have something to teach us, and it has to do with the different ways that each has of showing their love of the game.
Woods is intense and wears his game face in competition, but he clearly has an abiding love of the game that shows up in his competitive success, his work ethic, and his commitment to help promote the sport through publicity and charity events.
He credits his father with helping him understand the importance of enjoying his profession: “One of the things my dad kept instilling in me was the joy of the game. He made it fun for me…What I try to instill in all my clinics is, ‘Yes, go out there and give it all you have, but more importantly, enjoy what you’re doing.’”
On the course, however, his love of the game is almost always mixed with a strong dose of competitive intensity. When Woods makes a great shot, he often pumps his fist in a fashion that looks as much like a boxer’s uppercut as a gesture of happiness. When he makes a poor shot, Woods often shows his frustration, swearing or tossing his club.
Whether in celebration or frustration, there is an underlying passion for what he is doing that drives his performance. Woods seems to know where is love of the game is, and can usually access the version of it that works best for him.
Yang is different in how he communicates and demonstrates his passion for the sport. Before, during and after the final round, he seemed to be focus on enjoying the moment. He said in a press conference before the final round: “I’m going to play my best. It’s my dream to be here with a chance to win. If I win that’s great. If I don’t, I’ve done really well and I’m happy about it.”
During the round he often laughed and smiled. He celebrated good shots and reacted to the crowd, even tossing a golf ball to a fan after making a good putt.
After the round, he joyfully hoisted his golf bag into the air over his head like a barbell. In a post-game press conference, he showed his sense of humor. In response to a question about whether he was anxious during the round he said that although he had pregame jitters the night before, once play started he was not very nervous. He said, “It’s only a game of golf. It’s not like we’re having a fight where Tiger might hit me with his 9-iron. That would make me nervous.”
The lesson here is to find your “love of the game,” even under pressure and stress, especially under pressure and stress. In your job, position, or role at work, what are the core elements that you have passion for? What is it about your work that you care most deeply and positively about? Remind yourself about what that is when times are calm, so you can find it when times are tough, despite temptations to overindulge your anxiety, adrenalin or frustration.
There is a little more to the Woods-Yang story. I think I saw one more version of Tiger’s love of the game near the very end of the match. In fact, it was the one time all day I recall seeing Tiger smile and show genuine happiness. It was a quick flash, after Yang made his winning shot on the 18th green and was celebrating. Tiger’s eyes softened for a moment and he smiled. One can’t know for certain, but it seemed he was thinking something like: “Of the millions of people watching right now I’m one of the few who really knows how great it feels to be Y.E. Yang right now, at the moment of winning a major championship. Good for him.”
If that is what Woods was thinking, then I have to agree. Good for Yang, and good for us too, to see both their examples, and be reminded that whenever a tangle of nerves and emotion takes over, your “love of the game” is still there. Your version might be like Tiger’s, or like Wang’s, or it might be altogether different. Whatever it is, find it, tap into it, and let it get you back on (the) course.
