In February 2022, Scottie Scheffler missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole of the final round of the Phoenix Open that would have landed him the first PGA tour win of his career.
Instead, he went into a playoff and had to sink an even harder putt after three holes to secure the win. Afterward, he said he learned that you don't have to be perfect on Sunday to win.
Six weeks later, Scheffler put that lesson into practice at The Masters.
He entered Sunday with a 3-stroke lead over Cam Smith, but his final round started far from perfect.
He hit his first two shots into the gallery.
His second shot on the 2nd hole landed in the bunker.
Following his drive on the 3rd hole, commentator Jim Nantz said, "We've never seen anyone that far left on the 3rd."
In fact, he was so far left, he had to move his ball out from behind the scoreboard for his second shot.
Smith, on the other hand, went birdie-birdie on the first two holes and cut Scheffler's lead to 1.
It seemed momentum had swung.
But that's when Scheffler reminded us what he learned in Phoenix.
After maneuvering out from behind the scoreboard, Scheffler and Smith had nearly identical lies below the green for their third shots.
But it was far from an ideal position.
The announcers wondered if they could even see the flag and said it wasn't possible to make it from where they stood.
Smith sent his shot past the hole.
Scheffler sank his for birdie.
Despite all of the early drama, Scheffler was -1 on the day after three holes.
And by the time they reached the 5th tee, his lead was bigger than it was overnight.
Scottie played far from perfect, but he only bogeyed two holes on Sunday (including the 18th after the win was already secured).
More importantly, no matter where he stood, his demeanor never changed.
He was the same steady Scottie all tournament long.
Scheffler had climbed to No. 1 in the world faster than anyone in PGA history.
Then he won the first major of his career and his 4th PGA tournament in 57 days.
So, how is he able to remain so calm on the biggest stage?
It's all about perspective.
Here's what he said before The Masters started:
“At the end of the day, if I win The Masters, it’s not going to perfectly satisfy me, and realizing that, I think, will make it easier almost to accomplish those goals just because you know it’s not going to change your life. I don’t feel any different because I made it to No. 1 in the world. It’s just some ranking that people in the media get to talk about, but when I come home, my life’s still the same…Your life’s not different just because you accomplished something.”
The people who perform well under pressure don’t feel the pressure.
It's not because they are super human.
They have just learned to put it all in perspective.
They have learned how to separate who they are from the results of their performance.
“If I win this golf tournament, it will change my life on the golf course, but it won’t change my personal life at home. Winning the golf tournament isn’t going to satisfy my soul or my heart. I know that going in, so I am able to play freely knowing that the rest really isn’t up to me. I’m just going to do my best.”
It is such a foundational perspective for elite performance that it’s the first mindset skill we teach in the Catching Confetti program.
Does pressure get the best of you or your team in big moments?
Do you struggle to manage the butterflies?
If so, check out the Catching Confetti mindset training toolkit here.
It has all of the tools and resources you need to learn who you are regardless of your performance and make all your hard work pay off when it matters most.