April 28, 2008 -- Adam Scott won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in very spectacular fashion yesterday by making a long, winding birdie putt on the third playoff hole. While it was an exciting event, let's look a little deeper into the event and see if we cannot link up some history with what we saw today. History as Byron Nelson wrote it.

Byron Nelson would have been proud of how Adam Scott pulled through for his 6th career PGA Tour win. (WireImage.com)

Byron Nelson was one of the finest players and gentlemen ever to play the PGA Tour. All you need to know about Byron Nelson is that the Tour event that is his namesake has raised more money for charity than any other tour event in history, in large part due to Nelson's efforts. Nelson reeked of class and skill, charisma before there was such a word, and a very down to earth, straightforward manner. He played golf the same way. Nelson was known for his accuracy, his determination, his competitiveness and his winning ways, all the while being a gentleman on the golf course.

While I am not trying to compare Adam Scott to Nelson, there are several things that Nelson would have admired about Adam's round today. The first of those is his ability to deal with greatly changing weather conditions. With a severe drop in temperature to high 50's and upwards of thirty mile an hour wind gusts, every player was faced with conditions not often seen on the PGA Tour. Conditions that made comfort and birdies very hard to find, not to mention the confusion the conditions caused in club selection and course strategy. I think that Nelson would have admired Scott's round today because he dealt with the adverse conditions to pull out a victory. I also think that Nelson would have enjoyed today's round because in his day, ideal conditions and perfect golf courses were not the norm, in fact they were hardly ever found. To play through the weather and the wind and come away victorious was something that Nelson was very good at, and a trait that Adam Scott developed a little more fully today.

Scott birdied sixteen and eighteen to pull himself into a playoff with Ryan Moore. He was facing the very real possibility of losing a golf tournament that he seemingly had been in control of much of the week and walking into the final round today with a three shot lead. The lead disappeared pretty quickly in the cold and wind and by the time he reached sixteen, Scott had to make some things happen to gain a spot in a playoff. He very calmly birdied sixteen with a tremendous iron shot and, after getting through the 17th, birdied 18 to secure a spot in the playoff. This tenacity was evident on the back nine on Sunday as well as in the playoff, another trait that Nelson would have admired.

So you can see there were a lot of good shots over the weekend, a lot of dynamic conditions and changing leader boards for the eventual winner, Adam Scott. There was also a lot that Byron Nelson would have admired about Scott's play. But how can you use the traits of Adam Scott or Byron Nelson to help your game. Simple, take what these two players have in common and use it to your advantage. Obviously you know that tenacity is a shared trait between these two. You should develop your own tenacity on the golf course. Do not confuse tenacity with anger or frustration, but link it in your head with never giving up. How easy would it have been for Adam Scott, after watching his three shot lead disappear into a deficit, to just finish, take his cash and go home? Very easy I would think, but he did just the opposite. He let go of the past and focused on making good shots on the back nine as well as in the playoff. Now ask yourself, when was the last time you gave your all on every shot in a round of golf? This is probably not an easy question to answer for most people because they give their all on the golf course so infrequently. Because of this, when people get a bad break, like the weather for Adam Scott, they tend to give up and go through the motions. How many times have you made a disappointing bogey or double bogey on the first hole and mentally resigned yourself to not having a very good day? Why would you do that when there are so many holes left in the round? Each shot only counts for one, so do not weigh poor ones more heavily than acceptable ones or good ones. Try to maintain a very even, gentlemanly like keel to your golf game. Byron Nelson would never become upset or allow any one shot or hole to ruin his round, so learn from the namesake of this week's event and learn to forget quickly and focus on giving your all every shot. I am going to tell you what the most important shot is in each round: the next one. Case in point on Sunday at the Byron Nelson was the 17th hole. Scott did not hit a healthy tee shot and needed to two putts for a crucial par. At no point, I promise you, did he think that this hole would decide the tournament. Rather he just focused on the shot at hand and gave his all to make par, which he did. If he does not make par, he loses the golf tournament, but rather than focusing on the big picture, he focused one putt at a time, working his way to a par and setting up his most important shot, the next one. You cannot play golf properly in the big picture, only in the small amount of real estate that makes up your next shot, driver through putter, each shot is only worth one, and each shot is worth equal importance as well.

A lot of players think that when a good round goes bad, they choked. Choking on a golf course, or any sport for that matter, is very simple: It is because you took your attention off the shot at hand and started seeing in the big picture. How does Adam Scott hit his ball in the fairway on the 72nd hole if he is thinking this swing is for the tournament? It is not for the tournament, it is to advance a tee shot into the fairway. If it were for the tournament than you would not have to play all the other holes and all the other shots, just the tee shot on 18. Choking is something that is very rarely seen on the PGA Tour, but it happens to all of us in our weekly rounds. If we start out well we immediately start mapping out how we are going to keep it going. If we start out poorly we map out how to turn it around. In our head we are already working on totaling our scorecard and we may only be on number three tee. If you want to avoid choking, learn not to count. Tour players never count; they just hit shots and let someone else count. You should too. What good does it do you to know how many over par you are on number six green? None. So why spend time trying to figure it out? Just hit the shot in front of you and there will be plenty of time to add your scores up later.

Byron Nelson knew this because during his career he made a habit out of analyzing his play. He would sit down after a round and evaluate each shot and each situation, looking for ways to improve, both mentally and physically. That is a wonderful thing to do, but Byron knew he could only do it after a round, because during a round of golf he was focused on the next shot. I was fortunate enough to meet Byron Nelson and I asked him what the fastest way to improve was. His answer was simple and straightforward. He said "Understand that each shot is only worth one, you are responsible for only one shot at a time, so devote yourself to the shot at hand." How much harder would the game be if we not only had to play but we had to analyze as well? But we do that every time we play. Learn to play one shot at a time and add them and analyze them upon completion of your round, you will play the game the way it was meant to be played, one shot at a time, just like Byron Nelson always did and just like Adam Scott did on Sunday in Texas.

Rich Conwell is the PGA Head Professional at the Country Club of Culpeper in Culpeper, VA. During his ten years as a PGA Professional, Conwell has distinguished himself with his tireless efforts in promoting junior golf and his work with 'special needs' students and involving them in the game. Conwell and his wife Kim have two children, Drew (5) and Caitlin (10). He can be reached at rconwell@countryclubofculpeper.com.