Michael Thompson on the rise!
Michael Thompson, the man from Alabama, had an outstanding last week. He not only managed T2 with McDowell but took home a staggering $695,916 as the prize money.
Not to forget, the experiences that he had were priceless, surely they will be of great help in the future.
After a very average record, Thompson came back strong at the US Open – a sign that he is a talented golfer, who has what it takes to do well on the big stage.
Thompson surprised almost everybody when he secured the first round lead astonishingly, but then in the next two rounds, he faltered and shot 75 and 74.
After his first round performance, Michael Thompson started receiving text messages and the media personnel gathered around him. He was in the spot light and complete focus was turned on him.
It is possible that the attention distracted him and had a negative effect on his performance in the next two rounds.
When he could not perform well in the next two rounds, the pressure was off him and he said, “I had to learn how to deal with all the pressure and go out and play the next day”.
Thompson also said, “It was something new for me. Obviously I struggled with it, but the only way you are going to learn is by going through it”.
On Sunday, he was playing alongside David Toms, who is known to be one of the calmest players on the tour, which surely helped him.
After his Sunday’s performance, he said, “I was more relaxed Sunday because the pressure from the media and friends and family was kind of off me, I was not in the spotlight anymore”.
A champion must learn to deal with the pressure from the media and his friends. If he can manage to do that, then he will surely do well in the major events of the calendar.
This is what exactly Thompson managed to do in the last round and came back strongly. In the final round, Thompson shot a 67, a major improvement from his third round of 74.
After the final round, Thompson said, “I couldn't believe I shot 67 in the final round at the U.S Open”. Thompson added, “I mean you cannot dream of that kind of stuff”.
Next up is the Travelers Championship and Thompson has shown the skills and the temperament to be among the top. His game has improved and he is definitely rising to the occasion.
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