PGA Tour’s Hierarchy of Needs
Every week in professional golf we see a variety of different stories coming from a multitude of Tour players. Here, we do our best to break those down into the PGA Tour’s Hierarchy of Needs.
What in the world am I talking about?
There was a famous psychologist named Abraham Maslow who came up with the basic Hierarchy of Human Needs. Basically ranking a system of what are the most important motivators for humans ranked in order. Instead of me explaining the entire thing, here is a visual which should help paint a picture of what I’m talking about.
Look I know it sounds complicated, but don’t worry here a quick link for you to check it out if you want to learn more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs
So here is the deal, we are going to take each level and assign a player from this past weekend to a “basic golf need” based on how the previous week in professional golf.
Physiological Needs– Who was the guy that needed to survive this week the most?
Safety Needs– Who needed the most protecting this week? Either from themselves or the course
Belongingness Needs– Who was the, “I’m just happy to be here,” guy?
Self- Esteem– Who gained the most confidence from this week?
Self-Actualization– Who outperformed themselves this week?
So let’s do it
Physiological Need: PATRICK CANTLAY
Cantlay could have been put into a few different categories this week. Obviously, he gains a ton of confidence with his win this weekend at the ZOZO, but I am more impressed with how he “survived” world numbers 2 & 3 in Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas. Surviving is a term that I use loosely because he chased them down on Sunday with a 65. However, Cantlay is a guy many people have been high on for years and has not been able to stare down the best players and get wins. This week he proved to himself and to the world that he has no intention of just surviving on Sunday. He fully intends on going after the best players in the world.
Safety Needs: RORY MCILROY
This one felt obvious. I do not know if you have heard this or not, but Rory has recently become a new father. (Joking because it is all anyone talks about) So naturally he has been dealt a lot of distractions in the past few months. Understandably, those things can cause any human to place their mind elsewhere. It would have been extremely easy for Rory to let his opening round 73, which caused him to snap a club, lead to him calling the week a wash. In typical Rory fashion, he bounced all the way back and shot in the 60’s in the following three rounds for a Top 20 finish. Attitude goes a long way and him showing that type of mental toughness is a great sign for him leading into the Masters in just a few weeks.
Belongingness Needs: TIGER WOODS
As much as it pains me to say, Tiger simply punched the clock this week. As the defending champion, at a course he has had a lot of success on, he finished T72 out of 77 players. Tiger has officially entered the “game reps” portion of his career. And I do not necessarily think that it is a bad thing. He seemed aloof and rusty this week but that is to be expected. On the flip side, his back seemed healthy and he mostly was “happy to be getting competitive rounds in.” It is going to be a tough pill to swallow watching Tiger be a non-factor in tournaments that are not a major, but this week is exactly what he needed before he starts his prep work for Augusta.
Esteem Needs: JORDAN SPIETH
“Roads were made for journeys, not destinations.”- Confucious. This quote unfortunately does not apply to Jordan Spieth. Jordan has been a long and dark road in recent years. The difference for him is that his destination, is Augusta National. Jordan historically plays extremely well there but seems to not play well anywhere else recently. The Masters might be his best chance to get off the road he is currently on and hop back on route to winning tournaments. This week at the ZOZO he had three rounds in the 60’s and finished with a 67 on Sunday. If Jordan can use this past weekend as a motivator and eliminate the one blow-up round, look for him to have a lot of confidence as he starts to journey towards another green jacket.
Self-Actualization Needs: ALLY MCDONALD
A lifetime of work is always validated when you get your professional win. This weekend at Reynolds Lake Oconee, Ally McDonald did that in stunning fashion. There is no player better on the LPGA right now than Danielle Kang, and Ally did not flinch as Danielle chased her. Ally was the only player in the field to shoot in the 60’s all four rounds and by all standards, asserted herself as someone who can step up in the big moments. Plus, it was awesome to watch her play while having a handful of pontoon boats in the background beeping their boat horns after her birdies.
