This past weekend saw the conclusion of another exciting Valero Texas Open. In years past, this golf tournament has been a knock the pin down, make birdie after birdie, record score after record score type tournament. However, though we certainly saw some great scores this week, the most intriguing storyline was the conflict of styles between the two playoff participants -- Justin Leonard and Jesper Parnevik.

As I watched the tournament conclude, I realized that more amateur players could probably identify with Jesper Parnevik's final round that eventual champion Justin Leonard's round. Justin played great, a steady diet of fairways and greens that kept putting him in position to make birdies and move up the leaderboard to chase down Parnevik. He deserves a lot of credit for his play and for becoming only the second person to win the Texas Open three separate times. The other? -- Arnold Palmer. Congratulations to Justin on a tremendous accomplishment.

Jesper meanwhile, refused to give up, no matter where he kept hitting his golf ball. And every time it seemed he had put himself in a position to fall back, he came up with a way to hit a shot or make a putt that kept him in contention. So for this week's "A Lesson Learned", let's talk about Jesper Parnevik.

In the first three rounds of golf, it seemed Jesper could do no wrong with his golf ball. Still, he didn't feel as comfortable over the ball as his score would indicate. In fact, in interviews he openly discussed his lack of trust in his swing and his lack of feeling while over a putt. Somehow, he was still three shots up when the fourth round began. Jesper, nervous throughout the day, was hoping to kick a six-and-a half year drought from winning on the PGA Tour -- but even more, knew he was in danger of losing his TOUR card for the first time in his career.

And though trying to play safe and put himself into good positions, Jesper really seemed to lose his swing during the back nine of the final round. He was spraying all of his shots; left, right, they seemed to miss in all directions. These are the worst kinds of misses, since there doesn't even seem to be a consistent miss. Haven't we all been there before? To his credit, he never showed his disgust for what was occurring or a "why is this happening to me?" type attitude. He showed a remarkable ability to focus on the most important shot -- which was the next shot at hand, regardless of what had just happened the shot before. And because of this, he kept putting himself into position to save his score, whether it meant making a great par or even a great birdie.

And there is the lesson for all of us from this week's action: No matter how bad it seems, stay focused on where you are and what you need to be doing, and execute the next shot. Believe that you can hit the shot that you need to be hitting, no matter what has happened in the past. Keep thinking clearly and stick with your game plan. You can control your next shot, not the one that just occurred.

Keeping your focus and a positive outlook can pay great dividends, even when your swing is a little off. And sometimes, your swing seems off for awhile and then suddenly comes back to what you expect. That's the nature of golf. Parnevik's wild round was capped off by a great birdie on no. 17 and a superb par save on 18. He may have come up short in the playoff, but he certainly found a way to save a round and in the process, his career, on a day when his golf swing wasn't totally in synch. Wouldn't it be great for all of us to be able to find a way to get the most out of the rounds when we aren't as in control as we'd like to be?

Craig Renshaw is the PGA Teaching Professional for Lake Winnipesaukee Golf Club in New Durham, N.H. He spends his winters as the Teaching Professional for Advantage Golf School in Scottsdale, Arizona and Ken McDonald Golf Course in Tempe, Arizona. He is a CHEK Biomechanical Specialist and instructor for Katherine Roberts for her Yoga for Golfers Certification. He can be reached at crenshaw@lwgcnh.com or by phone at (603) 569-3055.