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One On One

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One on One with David Toms

Glenn Monday sits down with the charitable David Toms.

BY GLENN MONDAYPublished: February, 2006

David Toms came up through the junior ranks. He won the 1984 Junior World Championship in San Diego and in 1991 qualified for the PGA Tour.

In 2001 he won his first major, the PGA Championship. When not playing golf, he’s busy building golf courses and helping others through the David Toms Foundation, which he created in 2003. This month he defends his title at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa. Here, he shares his thoughts on overcoming pressure on the course.

Glenn: You just came off the driving range. What were you working on?
David: I’m staying loose today, exercising my swing. I’ll focus on details next time.

Glenn: Do you have a key swing thought when you are under pressure?
David: Yes. Pressure can cause you to go too fast. I have to tell myself to slow down. Slow my body, my swing, and slow my thoughts down. I also tell my caddie to walk slower, and I try to breathe slower.

Glenn: When you get a little faster, the rhythm is thrown off. Does that cause you to lose your feel?
David: Yes, and it is such a mental game at the same time. There are a lot of things you can do to control your mind. I try to control what my body does by having the right thoughts.

Glenn: How does your body react when you are playing well?
David: A big part of my swing is rhythm and timing. When you have good rhythm, everything seems to go well. Things flow well with your arms and body. All tour players work on perfecting the synchronization of our arms and body.

Glenn Monday is a Los Angeles-based teaching professional and author of “Know Your Swing.” He can be reached at (310) 322-8924.