How To Prepare For A Golf Tournament

Happy Monday,

I was going to write this one in a few weeks — but then last night happened.

If you watched Rory McIlroy win his second Masters, you'll know he essentially won with his ‘B-Game’ tee to green all week. But he managed his game brilliantly and made putts when it mattered.

That, in a nutshell, is what good tournament preparation actually produces. So here's the framework I'd want every golfer to have going into their next event.

This Week:

• Article – How To Prepare For A Golf Tournament

• Practice Challenge – 20 In A Row Putting

• Short Video – Draws Don’t Shouldn’t Go Further With Your Driver

How To Prepare For A Golf Tournament

🏌️ Rapid-Fire Takeaways

✅ Make practice harder than competition — tighten your targets by 10–30% and add real stakes to skills games, so that when competition arrives, it feels familiar.

✅ Identify the specific shots your course demands two to three weeks out, then practise those exact scenarios — not generic range sessions.

✅ A missed putt inside five feet costs almost a full shot — roughly twice what a topped 5-wood costs. Short putts don’t win you tournaments, but missing them will lose them.

✅ On the course, play with what you've got that day. Rory did it at Augusta. Allow for your shot shape, manage the ball — don't try to fix your swing between shots.

✅ Your competition day warm-up has three jobs: get ready, build confidence, and find out where the ball is going today. Whatever you find, play with it.

⛳ A Challenge for Your Next Round

The article above covers five themes. You don't need to implement all of them at once. Pick one theme and apply it properly for your next event.

🔷 High handicapper (20+): Play a full practice round and mark every shot on the card — including penalties, no mulligans. At the end, count how many putts inside five feet you missed. That number is your starting point for pre-tournament prep.

🔷 Mid handicapper (10–20): Before your next round, spend 10 minutes playing 20-in-a-row putting (see below). The rule is simple: if you miss, start again. See how long it takes, and notice which side you tend to miss.

🔷 Low handicapper (sub-10): Identify the two areas that will be key for good scoring in your next event. Pick a skills game for each area and set a score to beat — and don't leave practice until you hit it. Enjoy the feeling of pressure as you get close to hitting that score.

Practice Challenge

This is such a simple putting challenge, but you’ll be surprised how challenging it is to complete without missing.

Draws Don’t Shouldn’t Go Further With Your Driver

Not for you? No hard feelings —