What Phil Mickelson's Collapse at the 2006 U.S Open Can Teach Us About Moving on From Past Financial Mistakes.

With the Ryder Cup approaching in a couple of weeks, one of my all time favorite sporting events, I wanted to make this a golf themed newsletter. Specifically, what the game of golf can teach us about how to work through mistakes we make with money. I started digging into Ryder cup history and looked for specific stories that would be a good parallel for this topic but none really fit the bill. There were plenty of examples of team's collapsing or not living up to expectations (I won't open up any of those old wounds for the U.S) but none that could really resonate with the point I want to convey about the individual experience. Once I expanded my search criteria, and with Phil making plenty of headlines this past year, it didn't take me long to think of Lefty's epic collapse at Winged Foot in 2006. If you are a fan of golf, I'm sure you know this story well. If not, there's a good chance you've heard the story in some capacity as part of the lore of one of golf's most polarizing and electric characters. Regardless, I'll provide a brief synopsis...

To set the stage, Phil had won the prior two majors coming into this U.S Open. Only Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan had won three consecutive majors and Phil was primed to be the 3rd. This is a tidbit people forget, myself included, and tends to get lost in the wave of drama of this story. Expectations were sky high, as he was to be appointed the ultimate rival and threat to Tiger's reign in professional golf.

The 2006 U.S Open was held at Winged Foot, widely considered one of golf's toughest courses and test of skill that has a history of beating down tour pros in big tournaments. Pair that with a USGA setup, most of the field was fighting to stay above par. After battling the whole week and a grueling 17 holes in the final round, Phil stepped up to the 18th tee with a one shot lead over Geoff Ogilvy and needed a par to write his name in the history books. Even as the pressure mounted that would fold most tour players, a bogey would land him in a playoff and with his pedigree, a lot of that pressure would be transferred to Ogilvy, still leaving him with a solid fighting chance. Most were expecting him to pull out a long iron or wood on the 450 yard par 4 to get himself in the fairway and play it safe but in true Phil fashion and to the shock of all watching, he pulls driver, a club he had been struggling with all tournament. What happened next over the course of 20 minutes was one of the most brutal downfalls in major tournament history.

The swing he made on that last tee box happened to be the worst he made all tournament- a push slice that bounced off a hospitality tent way left of the fairway. All was not lost though. His ball was still playable and he could punch out to the fairway and get up and down for par. Instead, he tries to cut a 3 iron around a tree that ends up smacking the trunk and rolling right back to him. The dread of the gallery and those watching on tv fully set in. The reality of a playoff becomes a certainty and the best possible outcome. He then proceeds to over cut the ball on the next shot and it buries into the greenside bunker, leaving an almost impossible shot. Just minutes earlier, he was about to lift the U.S Open trophy, now he needed to somehow make bogey just to crawl his way into a playoff. The shot out of the bunker came out hot and the chip in for 5 never had a chance. The unthinkable had happened and Phil was left completely shell shocked of the catastrophe he had orchestrated on one of golf's biggest stages.

If you don't follow golf at all or play yourself, you may be surprised that what happened to Mickelson that day is not something that is that rare of an occurrence on the professional level. You can google "golf collapses" and have plenty of options to read about or watch of the best golfers in the world failing in critical moments when it matters most. It happens every round in one way or another for us amateurs and the stakes we are playing for are bragging rights or a few dollars. One of the reasons I love the game of golf is that so many lessons can be learned about life not only from watching this happen to pros competing in the world's biggest tournaments but just from rounds we play with friends or family that are often filled with miscues.

I see a lot of myself in Phil when I play a round. And no, it's not his routine 300+ yard "bombs" off the tee, the immaculate short game, or really any of the positives that make his game elite. It's the gambler mentality of trying to do too much to get out of a bad situation. I find myself in these bad situations quite a bit when I play and I have the profound ability to find any tree I can hit my ball behind, regardless of where it is on the course. When that inevitably happens, much like Lefty, I will try and figure out a way to get to the green or as close as possible despite the horrible lie instead of taking my medicine, poking it out to the fairway, and at least giving myself a chance to get in for par at best or bogey. The difference is when Phil puts himself in a similar situation, he can hit those shots 90% of the time even under immense pressure. I cannot and the only pressure I face is completely made up in my head. What usually happens is I hit a worse shot, leaving myself in a worse position, and finish the hole battered and beaten with a score that is painful to write down on a scorecard. Another pit I fall into is that when this happens, instead of shaking it off and moving on to the next shot, I fume in frustration and fixate on what I just did and how I can erase it with a shot completely beyond my skill level or what makes sense. I usually hit another dumb shot and the train quickly derails off the tracks mentally. I lose confidence and can't seem to recover. This is exactly what happened to Phil on that Sunday afternoon in one of the biggest tournaments in professional golf.

So what lesson can we learn from this when it comes to our finances? Well most people, myself included, struggle with this same mentality when it comes to financial mistakes. Wayward tee shots, lost balls, missed 3 footers, etc. are pretty much a guaranteed to happen during a round. Likewise, mistakes will be made in financial decision making at one point or another in our life. It could be that you made a big purchase you couldn't afford, put off saving, bought a risky asset that put your portfolio at undue risk, or have developed a habit of racking up debt. Whatever it is or was, everyone has made a mistake that adversely affected their financial picture. We then tend to double down or overcompensate to try and recover immediately while beating ourselves up in the process. Or we become frustrated and hopeless and give up trying to make small steps that will improve the situation over time. Some of this is due to the pressure we put on ourselves because the stakes are high. Much like Phil was fighting to become U.S Open champion, we are fighting for our future of financial freedom and achieving our long-term goals. Once we see that we've made a big error, there's usually a heavy emotional response that drives us to take to take action we think will get us out of it the quickest but is not always the most prudent. This can lead to further damage and a vicious cycle that can be avoided.

If you find yourself stuck and in a bad lie from a bad financial decision, just know we've all been there. We've all made mistakes and regretted a decision that set us back. It's how we first respond, making small positive changes, and what we learn that will get us back on the path to success. Take some time to assess and get yourself back in play by making small steps. It could be setting up a plan to start chipping away at personal debt a little at a time, getting enrolled in your companies retirement plan and taking advantage of matching contributions, cutting down on spending to fund your emergency savings, etc. Whatever the case may be, taking time to plan and implement these small changes to get back in the fairway will greatly improve your chances of achieving your goals down the road versus trying to overcome them all at once, potentially putting yourself at greater risk and further setbacks.

Lastly, don't let the guilt or embarrassment prevent you from asking for help. Pro golfers rely heavily on their trusted caddies when they need help figuring out what the best play is out of a bad situation, what club to use with the right distances, or just talking them through the next shot to calm their nerves. Find someone you trust that can help you navigate the next shot and create a new path forward. You don't have to go at it alone.

That collapse in 2006 was not the end of Mickelson's career by any means. In fact, he would go on to win 16 PGA tournaments, 3 that included majors and is still competing for more at 53 years old. That success has not been without setbacks both on the course and off that has been well documented and he continues to fight through. Whatever your opinion of him is, and there's no shortage of those out there, there's little doubt in my mind that he will continue to fight for the next shot. Keep fighting for yours.