During the “Playing Lesson with the Pros” on The Golf Channel, the lady student asked Padraig about the 'Luck of the Irish.' He said he definitely heard about it being Irish and living in Ireland but he danced around the subject,t really avoiding admitting that it existed or plays a big part in his successes.
As for luck, I believe there are good breaks/luck and bad breaks/luck, and I believe in fate and destiny. A person gets good breaks and bad ones in golf and in life. The key is to always remain positive and keep plowing forward toward reaching your goals which are your road map to reaching your destiny.
She next asked Padraig if he had any superstitions. He quickly answered with a resounding no. Even if he did he would not tell. He said that if you have superstitions your not suppose to ever tell anyone about them. They are private and are to remain private. If there is some reason for doom and gloom or whatever for revealing them, I don't recall him saying it.
I decided without fear of impending doom and gloom to reveal my superstitions that I had when I first turned pro. I was playing the mini tours, hoping to get out on the PGA Tour. I only had two, and they were perhaps quite innocent until I finally realized one morning one was a problem I couldn't avoid and had to correct. So from that point on, I immediately trashed it. I also trashed the other one and I can say from that day to now I am superstition free.
The first and innocent one was that I would only tee up a ball using a white tee. No other color could do. I think subconsciously I equated white with good in the scenario of white and black for good and bad. I am happy to say that now I tee off with all colors including black tees and drive the ball equally well, solid and straight, with tees of all colors of the spectrum, even the ones with company names on the sides.
Now, let's get to the Biggie Superstition that brought me to my senses and freed me from its chains that were dragging me down. I had this quirk of putting shirts off to the side and not wearing them when playing in a tournament, if for any reason I felt like I did not play good or at least well enough wearing it the last time I wore it in competition.
You first have to understand that at that time I was just a new pro playing in tournaments, trying to survive. I did not have a big time clothes contract or any other endorsement that would send me new logoed shirts every week to wear once and donate to charity. I was like all amateur golfers, buying what I liked, and wearing them to play until they faded into becoming only practice or work around the house shirts.
Well, this one morning I am playing in a big tournament near home. So when I open the closet and start looking for a 'GOOD PLAYING SHIRT,' I can't find one! There is not one on the good side. They are all on the bad side. I was playing pretty good golf, but I realized as far as shirts were concerned, it seems it wasn't good enough. Since I had no new golf shirts not used yet, and had none coming in from my non-existent endorsements, I was faced with quite a dilemma. Play with a bad shirt or go buy a new one. In fact looking at the closet with all the shirts hanging in the bad side, I needed to buy a whole new wardrobe of new shirts as I knew a shirt endorsement was not shortly in the works.
The next and even crazier thing I found myself thinking about was trying to figure out which one I played the least bad in, or from the positive spectrum the one I played the best in. That is when reality and common sense, and the amount of money I would have to spend on new shirts, hit me like a brick, yelling at me that this was crazy and needed to end.
So, right then and there I decided that this good shirt / bad shirt superstition had to go. It was stupid, and really not even good for my attitude and disposition about my playing ability. Bad playing shirts only focused on and bad or poor playing. It was all negative and to play well you have to focus on positive. You have to realize and know when things are bad so you can fix them. But one needs to remain in and focus on the good and stay positive.
So, I put all my shirts in the middle, chose a pair of slacks and grabbed the shirt that matched best with the slacks and looked bright and happy to go with my new attitude. I now only wear 'Good Playing Shirts.'
The 'NO Superstition' Surge!