Following Justin Thomas’ hoisting of the FedEx Cup, news of his list of 2016-2017 golf-related goals is everywhere this morning.
Eschewing paper and pen like the millennial he is, Thomas typed a note on his iPhone in late February outlining what he hoped to accomplish inside the ropes this season.
As you might suspect, he did most of what he set out to do. But a closer look at the list is interesting because Thomas focused both on results (winning a major) and stats (ex: +.25 in strokes gained: putting).
While you can’t say Thomas’ text document is in any way representative of what pros do, it certainly worked for him.
Here are the goals JT accomplished.
- Tour Championship: Y
- Win at least once: Y (Won 5 times)
- Be in the final 2 groups of a major on Sunday: Y
- Win a major: Y (PGA Championship)
- Make Presidents Cup: Y
- +.25 strokes gained putting : Y (+.289, 47th on tour)
- Above 1 strokes gained tee to green: Y (+1.33, 6th)
- Top 10 in all-around stats : Y (6th)
- Top 10 in half my starts: Y (Taking the Dell Match Play out of the equation)
- Under 70 scoring average: Y (69.359, third)
- Less short sides: Y (we assume)
And the two he didn’t, well, he didn’t miss by much.
- Under par on par 3/4/5: N (Thomas was under par of par-4 and par-5s)
- Top 30 in scrambling: N (Thomas finished 54th. It should be noted he was well outside the top 100 last season)
You don’t have to be a self-help expert to know goal setting is a powerful thing. And while it would be wrong to say Thomas went from one win last year to five wins (including a major) and winning the FedEx Cup solely because of a text document on his phone, it would be likewise wrong to suggest it didn’t play a part.
So pull out your smartphones or notepads and set some goals for the year ahead—although it’d probably be a bit overzealous to make “Tour Championship” the first item on your particular list.
from GolfWRX http://www.golfwrx.com
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