Competition
Many fans wonder how a young, healthy person can get tired playing a leisurely game like golf. They see the private jets, the caddies carrying their bags, the agents handling their affairs, the on-site day care, luxury hotels, fitness trailers and other amenities, and they wonder: Why can't a tour player work more than 25 weeks a year? For many fans, playing golf every day is what they aspire to do when they retire.What wears the top players out is the fact that they have to post their scores to the whole world. The psychological, emotional and physical toll of doing this is, believe it or not, profound. Every day is an annual performance review, and the only measure is the score they shot. There are no co-workers to blame; no place for them to hide. Knowing that, they try their hardest on every shot. The concentration level not only is intense, it has to be sustained. When Phil Mickelson is five over par with four holes to play and is headed for a 77, he knows it's going to be news. The media are going to ask why he missed seven fairways, and whether he's still haunted by Winged Foot.The result is that players go through episodes of burnout, and they start dying for a break. You'll notice that when they come back, they always talk about how nice it was to recharge, not how they slept in every day.For all my bluntness of players, the fatigue factor is something I understand and sympathize with. In fact, I get tired just thinking about how tired I used to get when I was playing.