For musician Pat Monahan, good things come in threes.
As the frontman of the pop-rock band Train, Monahan is a three-time Grammy winner. And as a longtime golf junkie, he has played Augusta National Golf Club three times.
On a recent episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast, Monahan swapped stories with co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz about what it’s like to walk on that famous Georgia course, and how his expectations on that stage differ from those of his day job.
On tour with Train, expectations are sky-high. In Augusta, Monahan keeps them grounded.
His best score in three visits? A 79.
“Breaking 80 is my goal,” Monahan said. “You want to break par. I want to break 80.”
Stoltz wondered whether that milestone came comfortably or with late drama.
“What did you do at 17 and 18?” Stoltz asked. “Did you earn double, double and barely do it or did you get in there a little bit?”
Monahan didn’t hesitate.
“I’m definitely someone who barely does anything,” he said. “If I have a round that looks like I’m getting to a 75, it’s going to be a 79.”
The exchange led to a well-known golf truth: the mind can be a player’s strongest opponent. “It’s amazing how powerful that brain is,” Knost noted. Monahan agreed. It’s a lesson that was reinforced during his recent performance at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where pushing too hard to perform with his pro only made matters worse.
Deep down, he knew that playing partners on a golf course are different from a concert audience: no one cares how you perform as long as you keep the pace going.
Monahan will soon get another chance to test that mentality. A fourth trip to Augusta is on his agenda this month, and he’s preparing the only way a confident golfer can: by taking a lesson to work on a few things.
“Like everything,” he said. You can watch the entire episode here.
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