MIND / 75TH ANNIVERSARY M
Faxon raise his hands higher at address. The change created a wider and more loaded turn on his backswing, which produced a shallower downswing and fuller release without the hand manip- ulation that was often Faxon’s undoing. “It helped me feel that at the top of the swing I had more time,” Faxon says. “I had an incredible week tee to green for me. I was able to curve the ball in all directions at will. I felt free, with little fear off the tee, and I hit a lot of fairways. It was how I wish I could have played all the time.” In such a state, Faxon found Riv- iera’s Golden Age design a source of shot-making inspiration, but Riviera’s greens that year were in poor condi- tion, and too many of his well-struck mid-range putts were frustratingly not falling. Faxon’s first three rounds of 70- 67-71 had him five under par, 11 strokes behind leader Ernie Els and tied for 21st place. However, he was only three strokes out of 10th place. That’s when Faxon’s longtime sports psychologist Bob Rotella weighed in. “The night before the last round, Bob took me by the shoulders and in a tone that really got my attention said that to- morrow would be a meaningful round of golf,” remembers Faxon. “He was looking me in the eye and telling me, ‘Let yourself do this. Don’t stop yourself from doing this.’ When I got up on Sun- day, I could still feel the weight of what he said and how he said it.” On Riviera’s gettable par-5 first hole, Faxon began with a big drive and a 5-iron to 18 feet, which he rolled in for eagle. Splitting fairways and flag- ging his irons, he followed with birdie putts of five, 45, 25 and three feet. On the par-4 eighth hole, he missed a five- footer for another but bounced back with a swinging 25-footer for birdie on the ninth to go out in seven under. Sud- denly, he was within three of the lead. Faxon heard murmurings of 59 and even winning, and he slipped out of the zone at the short 10th hole, failing to stiff an easy-for-him pitch and miss- ing a 12-footer. He birdied the par-5 11th, but on the 12th missed another five-footer for birdie. Then on the 15th, he three-putted from inside 20 feet for his only bogey when his downhill sec-
my putter just of sort of melded to- gether, and I poured it in.” His playing part- ner that day, Jose Maria Olazabal, em- braced Faxon. “He
ond putt was sent off course by a spike mark. “That was discouraging, and I mo- mentarily counted four lost strokes,” says Faxon, “but I remembered every- thing I had made and got back into the moment. Because I wasn’t wor- ried about my swing technique, which would cause me doubt and stress under pressure, that was easier to do. On 16, a par three I love, I flushed a 7-iron right over the flag and made the 18-footer.” After a par on 17, Faxon came to the final hole knowing he would need a par to have a chance to make the Ryder Cup. For the first time all day, he re- verted to his habit of leaning back and hit his only poor drive of the day, a pop up off the toe that expired in the right rough and forced a punch out short of the green. He stuck his 8-iron chip well, but it ran further than he thought it would, leaving a right-to-left 12-footer. “I had to make that putt,” Faxon says. “I embraced the pressure, even though that can put you on a mental tightrope because when you face an ultimate test and pass it, you don’t want that to feel meaningless. “Everything slowed down. The ball and the sweet spot on
OUT OF CHARACTER In his stellar round at Riviera, Faxon missed two five-foot putts.
told me ‘That was the greatest round of golf I’ve ever watched.’ For a guy I’ve always respected so much to say that, it was the coolest thing.” As much as reliving the round brings Faxon joy, it also leaves him slightly wistful. With his short game and put- ting, what heights could he have reached had he been able to produce such high-quality full shots more of- ten? What if he had avoided the deep dark path? Asked if he thinks he might have been a better player with no in- struction, he pauses and says pensively, “Probably.” Then Faxon chuckles at the unsolv- able mystery. “I mean, part of me thinks I was an overachiever, and part of me thinks I was an underachiever.” In the case for the latter, Riviera in 1995 is Exhibit A.
22 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULY/AUGUST 2025
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