A Lesson Learned: Justin Timberlake Shriner's Hospitals Open

Nerves, nerves and more nerves can sum up last week's PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas, the Justin Timberlake Shriner's Hospitals for Children Open.

The first set of nerves is watching all the younger players fighting to keep their card or wanting to improve their position on the money list, fail to hit quality shots the last nine holes. With the exclusion of Scott Piercy, who became a father for the third time last week, no one had an excuse for playing poorly; it was all about controlling their nerves when the shots started to carry more weight.

Pressure no doubt affected George McNeill on the third playoff hole./Feldman/Getty Images

In Piercy, you could see the frustration of not handling the nerves late in the final round, when he broke an iron over his knee for missing the 18th green and hitting his ball into a hazard. I don't recommend anyone breaking a golf club, but this one reaction can sum up the emotions of the younger generation; get a hold of your emotions, and success is soon to follow.

The second set of nerves is that of the three players who reached the playoff, Chad Campbell, George McNeill and Martin Laird; nerves that began to show as they drew for numbers out of a hat to see who teed off first for playoff. Give these three credit -- each of them had either a Tour win or a pressure-packed situation in their career they could draw upon that helped them reach the playoff.

Campbell, 0-2 in his career in playoffs, is a four-time PGA Tour champion. Winning a tournament takes a lot of courage, and a great deal more ability to control your nerves. Unfortunately, Campbell still has to learn to overcome his nerves in match-play situations such as a playoff.

For McNeill, winning his rookie year on Tour at this same venue, TPC Summerlin, had to be a filing cabinet overflowing with previous experiences, enabling him to overcome a few poor shots in the middle of his round to birdie No. 18 to get into the playoff. Not having playoff experience was McNeill's downfall -- he hit his drive on 18 to almost the same spot on the right side of the fairway, in the rough, preventing him from controlling his approach.

The third set of nerves belonged to Laird, the tournament winner. It was almost a year ago when every putt he hit determined whether or not he kept his job, fighting to reach No. 125 on the PGA Tour Money List -- a feat he accomplished on the very last hole of the very last tournament of the year.

From that experience, Laird continued to learn from his mistakes as the round progressed and kept his nerves in check, even though he was arguably the least experienced of the threesome. A great example of this was his tee shot on 17 during regulation, which rolled through the green to a tight lie behind the hole, leaving little margin for error. His chip shot left a little to be desired, resulting in a bogey that put him back into the three-way tie.

During the playoff, facing the identical shot, Laird remembered his previous shot selection and chose a different course of action, providing him a realistic chance of continuing to the next hole. The adrenaline produced from that par save almost cost him, as he absolutely lambasted a 3-wood to a position in the fairway he was trying to avoid.

Again keeping his cool, he played the conditions and the odds presented him, and hit a shot that put the pressure solely on his competitor. Laird, whom the Golf Channel announcing crew recognized as having the best control of his nerves the entire day, earned the victory based upon his cool demeanor and nerves of steel.

How can you control your nerves like Laird? Simple -- put yourself in pressure situations more often, and learn from the mistakes you make in those situations. Having a fresh memory of a pressure-packed situation and how you handled that situation is the best medicine you can take. Remembering your reactions to your competitors' luck, or how your body felt when the match was on the line, can be tremendous information for you to have when the chips are really at risk for you.

Having this information is great; knowing how to use it is something else. The best way to use this information is to simulate situations that can chisel away at your nerves as often as possible. Make the stakes high during these simulations, allowing a good outcome to be rewarded and a poor outcome to be punished.

The more often you do this type of practice, the better your odds of holding your nerves in check when the situation really means something to you, whether it is at the craps table, the golf course or in a life situation that counts on your ability to be cool under pressure.

The next time your take a lesson from your local PGA Professional, ask your instructor to dedicate the lesson to pressure simulation. When it's complete, I guarantee you will feel it was the best lesson you ever took.

John Hughes is the Executive Vice President and National Director of Instruction for Advantage Golf Schools, one of the country's best golf schools as ranked by Golf Magazine. A PGA Master Professional, John oversees the daily operation of Advantage Golf School's award winning programs at 16 different high-end resort/private golf facility locations across the country, as well as the school's 50+ PGA and LPGA Instructors. His client list over the past 20 years includes a vast cross section of the world's corporate elite, entertainment celebrities, distinguished government officials, as well as male and female touring professionals, covering all skill levels of golfers. You can reach John by phone at 877-239-6609 or by e-mail, john@advantagegolfschool.com.