Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2018 - 51

BACKSPIN
* BY MARK CRAIG *
Swinging in Sync
Playing up (or down) to your competition-
it defies explanation, but it's real nonetheless.
I
t's summer 2001. Four amateur hacks are playing in a
pro-am with Ed Dougherty, the defending champion of
what's now called the 3M Championship. They reach the
17th tee box at TPC Twin Cities. Yours truly eyeballs the 170yard
shot into a peninsula green with water in front and to
the left. With a mighty swing, I hit what I knew I was going to
hit all along: a fat, sick-looking baby slice that falls short and
right of the green.
Three more amateurs take the same swing. Same result.
We turn to Ed, our anchorman, for help. Surely, the burly
man with the Popeye forearms will carry us
into the clubhouse. After all, old Ed shot a
tournament-record 19 under par the year
before. Batter up, Ed.
Swing and a ... fat, sick-looking baby slice
that falls short and right of the green.
Our jaws drop.
Ed turns, shakes his head, thumps his
iron on the ground and scientifically
explains to us what just happened: " Well,
boys, " he says, " when you lie down with
dogs, you're gonna get fleas. "
Golf is a funny sport. It's an individual
game played without a pass rush, a hand in
your face or a goalie blocking the cup. Even
the competition stays still and quiet so you can concentrate.
So why in the world do playing partners affect a golfer's performance
as often as they do?
" It shouldn't, " two-time major champion Zach Johnson
Ed Dougherty
told ESPN.com in the summer of 2017, " But it does. If someone
is going strong, it can only help you. It can lead you to
playing better golf-and vice versa. "
In July 2017, I was back in Ohio where I grew up. I was
playing St. Denis Golf Club in Chardon with three friends
I've known my whole life. One of them was that guy in high
school who picks up whatever ball is in season, masters it and
shrugs his shoulders. I told him before we teed off that I was
going to break 80 for the second time ever and the first time
since 1992.
" Me, too, " said the guy who plays about twice a year.
He hit a good shot. I hit a good shot. And the wheels never
came off, relatively speaking.
I made a long birdie putt. He chipped in for eagle to win
the hole. Standing on 18, needing double bogey or better to
break 80, I wobbled. He wobbled. I'd like to say I recovered for
a birdie and a 76-but I did make the tricky side-hill slider for
double and a 79.
We tied.
Not exactly Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy going at it at
Hazeltine in the 2016 Ryder Cup, but let me have my moment,
OK? In that famous Reed-McIlroy lead
pairing, McIlroy made four straight birdies
on the front nine-and lost ground.
And as good as that pairing was, an even
better match was unfolding between Phil
Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. I was following
that pairing inside the ropes while covering
the tournament for the Star Tribune.
I've never witnessed two competitors feed
more off each other's performance than
that day.
They made 19 birdies between them.
Mickelson shot 63 while playing the par 5s
in even par. He sank a 22-footer for birdie
on the 18th hole, then Sergio dropped a
15-footer to halve the match.
Who knows how (or why) this happens so often. Perhaps
it's rhythm, tempo, walking pace or heartbeats syncing up.
Maybe it's the visual playing over and over on that six-inch
screen between your ears.
Good or bad, it happens.
" When you're playing with two guys who are playing
poorly, you kind of get dragged back with it, " former U.S.
Open champ Geoff Ogilvy told ESPN.com. " The mood goes
wrong ... and negative energy is negative energy. "
Or, as my man Ed put it back in 2001: " When you lie down
with dogs, you're gonna get fleas. "
Mark Craig is the NFL/Vikings columnist and a golf writer for
the Star Tribune.
mngolf.org
Directory 2018 MINNESOTAGOLFER
51
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Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2018

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