The Masters starts this week and Tiger Woods is the guy to beat. After all, he has won seven out of the last nine events he has entered. This is not like Kansas winning the NC2A Title game last night…Tiger does not depend on out-of-my-rear-end last second shots to win his tournaments.
What Tiger has mastered (catch the pun?) in his golf game are those individual ingredients that lead to a low score. For those of you non-golfers, low golf scores come as a result of doing several things well. If you do these things well…putting, driving, hitting the greens in regulation, driving distance, driving accuracy, scrambling and ‘going for it’…chances are you will score well.
Here is the interesting fact: Tiger was 152nd in driving accuracy, which is his ability to hit the fairway off the tee. And, in driving distance, the measurement most of us use as our ’stud factor’ as in “oh my God, you hit that a ton!” he is 38th. His tour average is about 300 yards per drive. My son hits them that far. But, interestingly, driving distance and accuracy each add only one percent prediction power for tour players, according to Mark Sweeney, who does statistical analysis for some PGA tour players. So, as much as everyone loves to hit ‘em far and straight, doing so means relatively little on the end score. Tiger knows this…drive for show, putt for dough, as the saying goes. And for Nike endorsements, free Buicks and pretty blonde wives.
What matters most–hitting the greens in regulation, putting, scrambling (making par or better after missing the green in regulation—is where Tiger excels, finishing 1 or 2 in each of these categories. Basically, Tiger hits more greens than anyone else, from the woods, cart paths, weeds and portapotties. And, in putting, Tiger makes a whopping 30-60% MORE putts than anyone else from 10-25 feet.
In short, he pays attention to the little things. Jobseekers should do the same. Getting that right job is hard, but it is made up of several small things, which any of us can master:
1. Figure out what you can do for the company. What can you do for them?
2. Tell your story appropriately, even if you have to practice it.
3. Leave nothing to chance. Get there on time, dress correctly, be polite.
4. Ask for the job. Too many people leave the interview without a clear understanding of what will happen next.
5. Follow up. Be serious about getting the job. Don’t pester, but make sure they know you want the job.
Tiger wins and so can you.
6 users commented in " What Tiger Woods Can Teach Jobseekers "
First, turn in your Kansas badge.
Second, you said that Tiger doesn’t rely on out-of-my-rear-end last second shots to win. Then you tell us that the way he wins in large part is by scrambling. I suppose those portapotty shots don’t count as out-of-my… oh, never mind.
Oh, the shame…
Having left Kansas in 1967 for good, I still have and qualify for the Kansas badge, non-resident at least. When I said out of his ass shots, I think you will agree that Chambers’ last second shot last night, with guys hanging on him, was indeed pulled out of his very lucky, but deserving arse. No harm in being lucky at all. But I think Tiger is ‘luckier’ than most…and his scrambling is more of a golf term, than a last second shot to win a tournament with a walk off, holed putt from a sand bunker—the equivalent of Chambers’ shot.
IMHO.
Plus…I was really trying to work Tiger Woods, the masters, and the ncaa winner kansas into a posting. Google juice you know.
I know. But I just couldn’t pass up the shot. Besides, I was still drunk from last night’s celebration!
That shot was one of those “you’ve got God on your side, don’t you?” shots. I’ve watched these guys enough to know that they were unnaturally cold from the outside for almost the whole game, so I think the karmic balance definitely came into play in giving Chalmers that shot.
All true, but another important quality of Tiger’s is his will to win. How many times have we seen other pros get in a position to win and crumble? By contrast, it feels like Tiger is never out of contention no matter how many strokes back he is. Maybe we’ll see another example of this today (Sunday at The Masters).
I hope so, too. I think the stat guy basically broke down skills into quantifiable activities. WILL TO WIN is a combination of a lot of things, mostly un measureable, dont you think?
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