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Tiger Woods is two down to J.B. Holmes, and fuming.
His second shot on the par-5 7th has found a cart path well right of the green. He has tree and cactus trouble. But the countdown to contact reveals how he goes from enraged to entranced, in a blink.
• T-minus three minutes to contact: Woods walks up to the green to survey his shot of less than 100 yards, muttering f-bombs under his breath.
• T-minus 90 seconds: Woods returns to his ball. More swearing.
• T-minus 27 seconds: Woods enters his routine. His mouth stops moving. He takes practice swings with his wedge, barely clipping the hardpan. He stares at a small window through which his ball must fly.
• Contact! He hits a perfect pitch through the desert scrub that checks and rolls to 12 feet. A stellar recovery from trouble.
• 12 seconds after impact: Cue: f-bombs, more muttering. Woods is still peeved about the swing that put him in jail.
• The lesson: Concentration is like a muscle. Strengthen it, and you can focus at will. Tiger's concentration is hyper-developed, so he can let his temper boil over, then return to the zone. His ability to concentrate adds another dimension to his invincibility; he allows himself to get what sports psychologists call "mad decisive," without the potential negative consequences.
