Why Did Kenny Perry Choke on The Masters?

I feel sorry for Kenny Perry.

Not because he choked in the biggest tournament of his life - The Masters, which was won in a sudden death playoff by Angel Cabrera.

Not because he would have been the oldest Masters champion (at age 48).

Not even because he'll be replaying the 71st and 72nd holes in his mind for the rest of his life.

I feel sorry for Kenny Perry because it didn't have to be this way.

For the Faithful who've been reading the various incarnations of my blog since the 90's, you know that I not only work with entrepreneurs and business professionals who want to get rid of their head trash, I've also helped athletes and coaches who want to end the "choke" syndrome.

"Choke" is the most feared word in the athletes' locker room, because it speaks of defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory. Even the word suggests constriction, obstruction, not being able to swallow or breathe. (That's why I said Kenny choked "on" , not "at" The Masters.) Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to Kenny Perry at this year's Masters. Sadly, it was all too avoidable.

The choke syndrome shows up in sports for one powerful, hidden reason: because the athlete didn't give themselves permission to win. Yes, this lies primarily in the realm of head trash, because as Yogi Berra said, "90 percent of this game is half mental." That's why this phenomenon shows up far more often in the more cerebral sports like golf, basketball and skating, and less in adrenalin-driven sports like football, basketball and auto racing (where the athlete relies primarily on split-second reactions).

So why did the dreaded choke happen to Kenny Perry at the 2009 Masters? The simple answer is, because he was leading The Masters after 70 holes, Kenny Perry was out of his Familiar Zone.

Kenny, the affable Kentuckian, has been grinding it out on the tour for decades, always coming just thiiiiiiiiiiiis close. But he'd been at the top of the 2009 Masters leaderboard since the first round. As I watched the coverage on ESPN and CBS, I kept thinking: "Uh oh, he's out of his Familiar Zone."

What do I mean, being out of your Familiar Zone? You've heard of the "comfort zone", right? By definition, if you've never done something before, you're not familiar with it. That's why one of the success clichés I bust is that of the "comfort zone", because it doesn't exist.

Think about it: if you're holding yourself back from the success you're capable of - and you know it - that's not comfortable at all. But it is familiar.

So Kenny had, over the course of several decades, become familiar with coming close, but not closing the deal. Yet the amazing thing is not how rare, but how commonplace this really is. Make no mistake: the guys on the PGA Tour are as mentally tough as any pro athletes in any sport. But what's incredible is how many become unglued just when they're about to seal the deal.

Athletes who are not familiar with winning often "choke" for the precise reason that they're not familiar with winning. For my money, this is what separates champions like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player from the rest of the field - the fact that they not only feel familiar with leading on the world's biggest stages, they allow themselves to win when it really counts.

That's the hidden reason that, just when Kenny Perry held golf's most storied tournament in his grasp... he let it slip away like so much fairway bunker sand. And the title of 2009 Masters Champion went to the equally affable Argentinian Angel Cabrera.

Three things I would have advised Kenny to do to claim the victory he had worked so hard for - and that any of us can do to give ourselves permission to succeed:

1. Use Afformations .

When you ask Afformations - which are empowering questions like...

Why do I love winning?
Why do I accept the victory?
Why am I so comfortable being in the winner's circle?
Why do I have Permission to Succeed?

...you automatically engage your brain's embedded presupposition factor to focus on why you are, in fact, allowed to succeed. It might sound crazy that you would need to give yourself permission to win, but ask Kenny how crazy it sounded at about 7 pm on Sunday.

Athletes and businesspeople alike have found that Afformations have helped them focus their minds and quiet their mind chatter, especially in the moment of truth. That might have been the most important club Kenny Perry could have pulled out of his bag on the 17th and 18th holes on Sunday at Augusta.

2. Find your Safe Havens.

A Safe Haven is a person who believes in you and reflects back to you what you're capable of, and still holds you accountable to your true potential. Two of Tiger's greatest secret weapons were his mom and dad, Kutilda and Earl Woods, who very literally gave young Tiger Woods not just permission to succeed, but permission to trounce his opponents.

Tiger has often said that his mom was, ironically, the one who instilled his famous killer instinct (did you see that stare he nailed Phil Mickelson with?) and told him, "When you are ahead, step on the throat of your opponent. Don't let him back in the game." I think he listened.

3. Find Your Because.

Tiger has transcended the game of golf not only because of his amazing abilities, but also because of his desire to pass along the love of the game to young people around the world. While Tigermania may not be what it used to be, he still inspires like few athletes in any sport.

Sometimes knowing that you're doing more than hitting a little white ball into a tin cup can put things into perspective. Kenny Perry is a truly likable, hard-working guy we'd all like to have a few beers with. He would have made a fantastic Masters champion for that very reason.

Kenny Perry, 2009 Masters runner-up, we salute you.

* * *

Noah St. John, Ph.D. is the author of The Secret Code of Success: 7 Hidden Steps to More Wealth and Happiness (HarperCollins) and founder of SuccessClinic.com.

He helps people get rid of the "head trash" that's holding them back and enjoy more wealth, more freedom and more abundance in every area of life and business. For a free book excerpt, visit SuccessClinic.com

Comments

[TotallyAmazed]

Whatever the cause, and your opinions for Kenny Perry's loss sound pretty good, it was very hard to watch. For those of us who flog that stupid ball time after painful time and get NOWHERE, we could feel his pain through the endless miles of cable.

Chad Campbell had more or less lost it the day before and was probably only in the play-off because the golf gods needed just one more poor soul to bring to his knees in typical Masters' Sunday afternoon tradition. They are a feisty lot you know - those wicked golf gods.

Your description 'head trash' is perfect. It will screw us up and it's only ourselves who can get around it. Having said that, I have no clue how you put those thoughts out of your head when need be. How on earth do you NOT think: 'All I need to do is play like I have been playing.' Then you hit a shot that looks like some yahoo raking leaves, and the next thought is, 'Well, that's not how I have been playing. I'll go back to the aggressive shots.' And, on and on it goes until you only need to make a putt that you've been making for 3 days with both eyes shut, to go to the next hole. No wonder Kenny was toast at that point.

I hate the trash golf drags into my head.

... yet, I'm too darned stupid to stay home and clean the house. /TA

[Noah St. John - Huffpost Blogger]

I hear you. One of the methods I recommend to take out head trash in the moment of truth is Afformations, which are empowering questions that change your subconscious thought patterns.
For example, if Kenny had afformed: "Why am I right here in this moment?" that would have caused his mind to focus and be present, which would likely have improved his shot execution.
It's well-known that players who start thinking thoughts like, "Wow, I'm about to win The Masters... I'm leading on the 71st hole at Augusta... This is the biggest moment of my life..." what invariably happens next is, "Whatever you do, don't screw up!"
And then, as you said, you're toast.
If you'd like to learn more about Afformations, Dr. Susan Corso wrote an insightful piece on them: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-susan-corso/afformations-a-new-kind-o_b_168911.html
Hope this helps.

[NMGreenChile]

Kenny choked because he has that very weird figure 8 swing. That swing has more hitches than a Lancaster, PA church on Sunday morning. His swing has too many moving parts and when the pressure is on... the inconsistencies will surface. A young guy like Furyk might pull it off, but when your 49 and the nerves are as brittle as ice, that swing will not be repeatable under pressure.

Thats my 2 cents.

[pmc617]

I'm a believer in all the mental stuff, but Kenny Perry has won many times on the PGA tour and in the past year he has been as good as any. He made the Ryder Cup team and played well. He had a caddie he trusts, whispering positive thoughts in his ear the whole way. But when it came to 'closing time', he choked. He suddenly could not hit shots that any pro can hit on a Thursday. Too bad, but it happens to the best of them.

[Noah St. John - Huffpost Blogger]

You're right, it was too bad - because Kenny had already shown he was more than capable of making those shots.

Perhaps that's what makes the "choke" so painful to watch - because it bespeaks of the lost opportunity.

"Of all the words of time and men,
The saddest are these: It might have been."

[HeevenSteven]

Here we have a career "journeyman" "grinding it out" on the pro tour for years, a life many of us can only dream of. He finishes the masters in a 3 way tie, another fantasy. Only one can win, so the other 2 choked???? Give me a break..