Pressure is a Privilege

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One Big (Pressure) Thing

Pressure is a privilege.

Have I written about this topic before? Maybe, but listen up because it’s that important.

Sitting here watching The Masters unfold as I write this blog and man, talk about pressure.

I don’t know how these dudes even do it.

Rory McIlroy, man. I had anxiety for him.

No, not because I had bets on him, which were a complete rollercoaster. I bet him to win the tourney on Wednesday at +650 only to cash out for 300% gains Sunday AM before the Final Round thinking he would choke and then buy back in at -300 after he double bogeyed…

But because the guy hasn’t won a major in over a decade, never won a Green Jacket at Augusta and needed it for the Grand Slam. He’s been known to choke and no one gets more hate in golf media than Rory for not being clutch.

It must eat at him. I know it does.

And honestly, the criticism is fair. He missed two three-foot putts at the 2024 US Open to lose and give Bryson DeChambeau the Major title. Which is why Sunday’s final pairing of Bryson and Rory was so beautiful for the sports world.

First, let’s talk about a different type of pressure…

I’m not even just talking about winning the damn tournament, I’m talking about the pressure of not murdering someone off the tee box. As they say at Augusta, “the patrons” stand pretty dang close to the ropes and if that was me on the tee box everyone would be in serious danger.

But no, the real pressure for these pros is in each shot. It’s incredible. And only the ones that embrace this pressure are the ones that perform the best.

No timid golfer scared of the moment will ever win The Masters.

Just look at Rory McIlroy from this past Sunday. He fully embraced the moment. Maybe not those first two holes, and the final six, but he corrected everything in the playoff hole, and I’ve never seen a man so happy.

He earned that moment, one in which he very nearly choked in front of the entire world (12.7M viewers is the most since Tiger Woods won in 2019). And most of the world watching was rooting for him to choke.

But good for him, clutch gene kicked in and the superstar got it done. He’s lucky to be able to have so much pressure.

If he didn’t have to face that kind of adversity, he wouldn’t even be in a position to achieve greatness.

Let me further unpack that idea using an experience from my favorite NBA coach.

Flashing back to this moment of Boston Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla telling the media that Jayson Tatum is lucky he gets to deal with pressure.

If you don’t want to watch, here’s the exchange written out:

Reporter: “It seems to me that Jayson [Tatum] has to deal with unfair criticism.”
Joe Mazzulla: “Gets to deal with. He gets to deal with it. It’s the ultimate compliment… This is what you asked for.”
Mazzulla says Tatum should be honored to be criticized because he has the privilege of living his dreams in the NBA.

Mazzulla’s mindset is on a different level. As a C’s fan, I f***** love this.

This quote was last year during the Celtics playoff run. They went on to win the NBA Championship, Jayson Tatum’s first (of many?).

So yeah, if you’re feeling pressure at work, guess what? You’re lucky.

You’re lucky to be trusted with something that matters.

You’re lucky to be in the arena.

You’re lucky to have a shot that people are watching.

There are people who will never feel pressure, because they’ll never have the ball in their hands with the game on the line.

So, EMBRACE IT. Ride the lightning. Be the one who leans in.

Just like Rory McIlroy and Jayson Tatum did.

Pressure isn’t a problem, it’s a privilege.

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Favorite Thing(s) I Saw on the Internet This Week

1. A normal guy, Augusta National member played in the final two rounds of The Masters this past weekend. (FULL STORY)

Why? Because when there’s an uneven number of golfers that make the cut, a playing partner joins the pro for the round.

They call this player “the marker”.

Michael McDermott was this year’s marker. A CEO at a financial services firm.

Talk about pressure. What incredible office water cooler talk he had on Monday morning.

“How was your weekend, boss?”

“Oh yeah, played in The Masters. Almost beat Tom Kim.”

That is my dream. An unachievable one, but a dream.

2. My favorite sports newsletter since Morning Blitz 👀

Tired of soulless sports news reporting that sounds (and probably was) written by a robot? Or websites that take forever to load and are plastered with ads and auto-play videos? Or articles that are sparse in actual content, with clickbait titles designed to get you reading without delivering the goods?

Enter Press Sports: a one-stop shop for weekly sports news, straight to your email. We scour 100s of sources, then distill the top stories to give you a weekly newsletter jampacked with the good stuff – thoughtfully written sports news you actually care about. 

All in 5 minutes or less. And, it’s free.

Join 150,000+ smarter sports fans here at Press Sports.

The Polls

💰 Betting Corner

How’d last week’s Masters picks go?

Yeah, I hit winners.

Plus, my Diary “Lock of the Week” was Max Homa +100 to make the cut. He finished T12.

Lock of the week: DEN Nuggets (-145) win first round series vs. LA Clippers.

NHL and NBA Playoffs start this weekend, let’s lock in.