Analysing Koepka’s pic and why John Rahm won The Masters

 

Brooks Koepka Photo

When I saw this photo posted by Brooks Koepka, I thought: “Here we go.

“Cue golf journos or pros/coaches coming to analyse it and/or write a column on why Jon Rahm won.”

Since nothing seems to be forthcoming, I thought let me break it down for you. Bear in mind I’m being full of nonsense.

A thread…

A few things stand out in this pic but I’ll focus on just two.

First, is how Rahm’s caddy doesn’t seem interested in the joke or whatever was said.

His body language is removed from the interaction. For all I know he is watching two ladybugs act very unladylike.

Secondly, Rahm – while smiling – is not completely into the ‘joke’, at least not as much as Koepka and caddy are.

His body language appears closed off, his fingers interlocked, suggesting he’s ‘guarded’ and not as comfortable as he could be.

At this point let me also say, I’m no body language expert or psychologist, just being full of nonsense.

Those who watched the Masters will know that on Sunday (I suspect when this pic was taken) Koepka had his worst round of the week, while Rahm cruised to a comfortable come-from-behind victory.

I also suspect the reason they are waiting has something to do with Patrick Cant(Make Up My Mind Quick Enough And P)lay.

We are told Cantlay was the main reason that the final group had to wait at almost every hole. He BTW denies this and has blamed the groups in front.

Having played sport at an amateur level, I do know this: Momentum is key to victory or defeat and the final group had their momentum broken at almost every hole.

Could this have played a role in Koepka’s demise? If you add Rahm’s magnificent round to the equation, absolutely.

Having also watched over a thousand hours of golf coaching videos (I’m guesstimating here) I know that what you do between shots is just as important as the shot itself. I can’t remember which online coach said this, but it’s great advice, for me at least.

The thinking is: to be “switched on” for each shot you need to be able to “switch off” between shots and that helps you stay sharp. Being switched on for four or six hours straight (depending on who is playing in front of you) leads to mental exhaustion and I guess poor results.

Again, having played enough amateur sport, I also know that you never want to completely ‘switch off” because that makes ‘switching on’ again very hard.

To partially quote a line from the movie Tropic Thunder: “You never go full re….d”.

If you’ve ever experienced a ‘shock’ defeat against an inferior opponent, its most likely because you were cruising along with little to no challenge to speak of, and maybe you made the common mistake of completely ‘switching off’.

This hands the momentum to the opponent and gets them back into the game which does very little for you in return.

By the time you realise this, you’re up sh*t creek without a paddle because “switching on” is a process and not actually a switch.

Now I’m not saying Koepka underestimated his opponents, but he may have ‘switched off’ too far and just couldn’t ‘get going’ again.

Let me also says that I don’t know Brooks Koepka and I don’t know what makes him ‘tick’ so I’m definitely not the guy to turn him into a Masters champion. I barely know how to shoot sub-80 rounds consistently.

Maybe this was the only time Koepka laughed throughout round and maybe Rahm was the ‘joker, in this pairing.

Since I didn’t watch the whole of Sunday’s play, I may have missed Rahm juggling tennis balls on the 12^th tee (okay, in the age of social media, I would have seen that in some form or other) but I hope you get my point.

My other point is, we allow ourselves to be duped by coaches who claim to know why this and that works in golf when in reality, different things work for different golfers.

There is no one fix for all problems. If that was the case, we would all see overnight improvement.

And isn’t that the beauty of golf? It’s like life, somethings just cannot be explained.

I’ve lost to guys who were drinking beer and smoking weed for 18 holes., okay don’t explain that.

Of all the sports I’ve played none are as rewarding and as frustrating as golf. It is one of the most polarising games I know.

People either love or hate it, there’s no in between.

And since I’m being full of nonsense let me close by saying this, maybe we don’t choose golf but golf chooses us 😉