I recently had the privilege of playing a round of golf with Charl Schwartzel, the reigning US Masters champion and at the time the No 11 ranked golfer in the world. It was quite an eye opener for me, and sadly I saved my worse golf for the last two months for the occasion, which gave me less opportunity to admire a master in action than would have been if I could at least have put my ball closer to his more often!

The things that immediately impressed me were firstly, a professional like Charl simply does not miss puts under 10 feet, or certainly he did not on that day, and that on the few occasions when he gets himself into trouble, he recovers with some exceptional bunker shot or chip. Professionals massacre par 5’s, making a birdie out of each and every one, but as for the rest of their game it is much more clinical and relaxed – they don’t try to murder the ball or hit it for absolute miles that most players imagine and talk about.
If I hit my driver hard, I can hit it the same distance that Charl is hitting his but the difference is that he is hitting his in a very relaxed way, is not trying half as hard as I am, and consequently he is in the middle of the fairway much more often while most of my friends and I are busy looking for our balls! It was a fantastic privilege, and he has a wonderful mental attitude, where he is very focused on his golf, does not like to talk too much, although in a social round of golf he does, and will no doubt go on to win many more major tournaments.