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Final Push

Writer's picture: Ronan KleuRonan Kleu

Last week, the marquee event of every Swiss professional golfer’s calendar took place: the Omega European Masters at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre. This event offers us the opportunity to compete against some of the best players in the world, in front of a home crowd, on a course with breathtaking views. What more could one wish for?

 

First, I would like to congratulate my colleague Cedric Gugler for his outstanding performance—he showed true grit. I started out on Thursday from the 10th tee on a windy, rainy morning. Expecting the course to have softened a bit due to the rain, I hit my first tee shot perfectly straight into the water hazard beyond the fairway. I was shocked and definitely nervous, but I didn’t panic and made a 25-footer to save par. I then played solidly with the exception of one hole, signing for an opening round of 72. Conditions settled in the afternoon, which pushed me backward on the leaderboard, meaning I would need a subpar round on Friday to make the cut and play the weekend. I started the next day with six pars before birdieing holes 7, 8, and 9. I was still three under for the round on the 15th and hit a good drive. I relaxed a little too much, had a lapse in concentration, and struggled around the green, eventually making bogey. I was fuming. The feeling I get after “throwing away” shots is indescribable, and it’s something I am working hard to see from a different perspective. The rational evaluation of such a situation should be: “That just happened. It is now in the past. I cannot change it—only what lies ahead.” The real task is managing to process that emotionally. In those moments, it’s easy for negative events to determine your mood for the rest of the round, and it takes skill to bring yourself back to the present. I was therefore even more proud of myself for recognizing that this could have been a turning point and consciously bringing myself back to the present. I gave myself two good looks at birdie on 16 and 17, then hit a wonderful approach shot to 4 feet on the last hole. I made the putt for birdie and made the cut. Relief.

 

The third day presented its own challenges, with high winds and fast greens. Overall, I played solidly during the week and finished the tournament in 47th place on home soil. I also received some meaningful praise about my game from established DP World Tour playing partners, such as Eddie Pepperell.

 

A few events prior to Crans, I also celebrated my best finish on the Challenge Tour, with a 12th place in Finland. I was so tired the following week that I struggled in Sweden, narrowly missing the cut again in Poland. I learn so much each week and have realized that, with golf being such a volatile sport, it’s vitally important to approach each week as a separate entity with separate goals. Behavioral goals have been a more prominent theme for me over the last month, with a focus on “priming” each shot—making a deliberate practice swing to create intention—and on post-shot reactions. It’s fine to take a short moment to let out any frustration, but, as described above, one cannot let it carry over to the next shot. I truly believe that in the long run, focusing on things like this (rather than swing technique) will lead to long-term improvement, more consistency, and better results.

 

Nevertheless, it remains up to me to put all this into practice. I am currently ranked 122nd on the Challenge Tour rankings, with four events remaining before the postseason in China. Time for a final push!

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