Over the years there have been all kinds of estimated statistics tossed about concerning how much of the game is physical and how much is mental. You can go with the classic Yogi Berra approximation that the game is 50% physical and 95% mental, but I believe, that once you develop some physical skill for the game, the execution of a shot is 75-25, mental vs. physical. No scientific study devised by short game gurus or mental gurus or swing gurus has produced that stat. It's 49 years of playing, watching, observing and teaching that has fashioned that estimation.

There is no doubt that golf is the supreme mental game. Absolutely no question. Any skepticism? Just observe the final round of the U.S. Open, in particular the final hole. Experienced professional golfers at the top of their games mentally wilted at a time when they needed to be rationally razor sharp. Not since the days of Jean Van de Velde have we seen not one but two consecutive colossal meltdowns.

Monday morning, if you went out to the spot in the fairway 175 yards from the green and gave Montgomerie a small bag of balls, how many times do you think he would make a six? Two, maybe three? But Sunday afternoon, Monty short circuited, and physically produced a most horrid golf shot. Then came Phil and Phil's Phans. Then there's Phil, standing on the 72nd tee, just four hits away from the ultimate prize and a boyhood dream. All the weeks of training, mental and physical, were tossed out the window. Pelz, Smith and company became totally expendable. What the hell was he thinking? And there's his trusting sidekick, Bones? What the hell was he thinking? Were there flashbacks to Van de Velde's caddy? When Phil's hand touched that driver headcover, Bones should have slapped him silly.

Proof enough? Some of the best in the world have their mental acuities crash worse than a hard drive on your new computer just when you're loading your favorite program.

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