IT is a game that breaks the strongest of wills, but professional golfers can be consoled that a shot at redemption is at their fingertips.
It is why Adam Scott could face the media yesterday with a gentle smile born of a deep feeling of satisfaction.
The 33-year-old Australian has a recent Open history that should bring a wince to his face but the intervening months since his collapse at Royal Lytham last year have included a victory march at Augusta.
Scott will never forget losing a four-stroke lead over the last four holes of the Open, but he can reflect on that sporting catastrophe with the philosophical air of a man who has been forged by disappointment rather than destroyed by it.
By winning the Masters this year in a play-off with Angel Cabrero, Scott became the first Australian to win at Augusta and, more crucially, overcame any doubts about his ability to withstand the pressure of being in contention at a major.
The biggest lesson was learned at Lytham, where four successive bogeys saw Scott slip one behind Ernie Els. The South African later said that many players would not have been able to overcome such a disappointment. Scott, though, has maintained his good form and is now a strong contender for the top prize at Muirfield.
What did he learn from that overcast Sunday in Lancashire, when the Open slipped from his hands?
"Overall, you have to be tough coming down the stretch and I wasn't tough enough that day," he said. "A four-shot lead is not enough if you're not going to be tough. Even if you are tough, four shots can only just get you over the line."
Scott said he had received advice from Tom Watson, almost incredibly once labelled a choker early in his career before compiling eight major victories. "I played a practice round with him at the Australian Open last year and he waited seven holes to bring up what happened at the Open," said Scott. The younger golfer told the great man what he thought had happened.
"He said that he had let one slip early in his career and he had told himself he would never let that happen again," said Scott. "He would just be tough and want it so badly. And sometimes maybe that has to happen for you to realise that. Coming from him I took it to heart."
Scott had the opportunity to put words into action as he moved into contention at Augusta. "I felt I played tough, especially in the play-off, because no-one's going to give you a major."
Scott has spent the last week at Muirfield, plotting his way around a course that requires a strategy beyond blasting a driver and then hitting an iron to the green. He conceded that his poor results in a series of majors had convinced him he had to change his preparation. He now focuses on majors, coming to the courses early.
"I want to feel comfortable when I am on every tee throughout the week and in any condition. The more I play the course, the more I feel that way."
He is practising more diligently, too, because he feels that his game needs to be honed to withstand the rigours of an Open weekend. "I play a little less, I practise a little more," he said of his regime leading up to a grand slam.
He believes that his upbringing on and off the course allowed him to absorb the blow of Lytham. "It's hard to console somebody," said Scott, almost talking of himself in the third person. But he was precise on what started the healing.
"I think it is all the good advice and guidance that I've been given on how to handle playing a professional sport or handle just being a person and having a decent perspective on that. Somehow that turned me into taking Lytham as a positive," he said.
"It just pushed me harder to try to get across the line in a major."
The Masters has been won in the interim, but the dark days of Lytham could be banished forever by victory in the sun of East Lothian.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article