That’s not what Furyk’s game was about today, other than lipping out on #15.   He didn’t score at all the first three days, then he hits 18 greens in regulation for a record round.

What can us amateurs takeaway from this achievement?  First is an idea by Lucius Riccio, where your score = 95 – 2 * GIR.  Riccio analyzed golf rounds of tens of thousands of amateur golfers to find this formula.    GIR is key to scoring, so you would not be surprised that a record-breaking round came with 18 GIR.  Using that formula for Furyk, you get 59, so it’s not a bad formula.  To break 80, you’d want 8 GIR.  Obviously, you can’t 3 putt, and a one putt or two wouldn’t hurt.

The second thing is think of the pressure on Furyk.  Yes, he’s a professional, and of course he’s had his fair share of critical putts to win tournaments.  That last 18 inch putt may have had as much pressure as as his 2003 US open win.  He stuck to his routine, and he was focusing on the shot at hand.  Not what he did before, and not what the shot he was about to hit would mean.  The ONLY golfer to shoot 58 in history, that certainly puts our weekend golf outings with friends into perspective.  When you stand over that putt for your personal best, whether it’s 89 or 79, keep it in perspective.  None of the shots leading up to this putt should influence this putt, nor what it means for your personal best round or winning skins from your group.  It’s ONLY an 18″ putt that you’ve made thousands of times.

There’s one more thing to do, you can prepare for that critical putt.  Tell yourself several times per round on inconsequential putts “this putt is for my personal best, I’ll break 80 for the first time!”  You can even do this on the practice green.  Pretend various putts are that one critical putt you need to win the match, break your personal goal, or win the skins from your foursome.  Then when you face that last putt on the 18th hole, you can be like Furyk.