Creative Intelligence on a soggy golf course

See more wet images from this year's US Open on Triblive.com

What the U.S. Open Taught Me About Mindset, Emotion, and Letting Go of the Playbook

I wasn’t planning to watch the U.S. Open. It was on in the background while my husband offered live commentary from across the room. But as I listened, and then watched, what unfolded was something far richer than a golf tournament. It was a slow-motion study in emotional unraveling, resilience, and creative decision-making under pressure.

The weather outside Pittsburgh had wrecked what was already a challenging course. Rain left the fairways soggy and the rough borderline unplayable. The course was, quite literally, one giant puddle. And with it, the usual rules - the strategic logic that these pros train for - washed away.

What’s left when you lose the illusion of control and have to toss out your skill and swing mechanics that were ingrained muscle memory? The players who rose were the ones who could regulate their emotions, get creative, and let go of the script.

The Ones Who Fell Apart

Being a professional athlete means being fit mentally and physically. But one by one, I watched players unravel.

Tyrrell Hatton was the most vivid for me. Trapped in wet grass beside a bunker, he tried a high-risk chip shot only to land just past the wet sand, right back into more tall, soggy grass. He quietly exploded: slashed at the grass with his club, yanked his towel from his caddy’s hands. The course had beaten him, yes, but so had his own nervous system.

Sam Burns, too, came undone. He was already spiraling when he found himself standing in a literal puddle and asked for relief. Denied,  more than once. You could see it. The frustration was boiling over. And that moment didn’t just hurt his score. It confirmed an internal narrative that had already taken hold: this isn’t fair, and I can’t recover.

And maybe the conditions weren’t fair. But fairness doesn’t win professional tournaments. 

Presence does. Adaptability does. So does what I call Creative Intelligence. The ability to stay emotionally centered, shift perspectives, and make grounded decisions even when the landscape changes.

The Ones Who Recalibrated

Not everyone unraveled. Robert MacIntyre seemed on a different path. He had played early (starting the day placed not particularly well in scoring), but finished the round strong. Then he sat in the clubhouse watching the field struggle. One by one, his name crept up the leaderboard.

Earlier in the week though, he was one of the unraveling ones. In a live interview during the broadcast, he shared that he had been angry and frustrated. He knew he couldn’t play like that. Not here. So he spoke with his coaches, and with someone who “helps him with his psychology,” as he put it. He said he got his head straight.

That mindset reset paid off. And when the ultimate winner (more on that in a sec) sank his final putt, MacIntyre clapped from the clubhouse with visible respect. His expression seemed to say: What can you do? The guy earned it.

The One Who Let Go of the Old Story

The ultimate winner was J.J. Spaun, who stood calm in the storm.

He wasn’t supposed to win. This was only his second time advancing in the US Open. And a year ago, he was ready to quit golf entirely. He said he was burned out. Defeated. But then, mid-flight on a plane, he happened to watch the movie Wimbledon (no, seriously … the rom-com with Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany about a fading tennis pro rediscovering his spark). Somehow, that movie planted the seed for one more run.

Earlier in the tournament, Spaun admitted that in the past, a good round would trigger a fear spiral; like, “if I played well today, I’ll probably tank tomorrow.” But not this time. This time, he stayed calm. Even when his ball hit the flagstick earlier in the day and rolled all the way back off the green. Even when the course turned to a lake. Even when nothing was working the way it should.

And on the final hole with the entire course watching, Spaun smacked a wet 64-foot putt to clinch the win. It was the longest putt made all tournament, by anyone. 

He looked like he might black out! He looked stunned, almost out of body and in complete disbelief. While checking his scorecard, he shook his head like, “How did that happen?”

Why This Mattered to Me

I talk a lot in my work about Creative Intelligence (CQ); the ability to integrate imagination, emotional agility, and thoughtful action in the face of challenge. What I saw on that drenched US Open course was CQ made visible:

• Hatton and Burns: Overpowered by emotion, trying to force control in a system that no longer cooperated, letting their nerves sabotage their chances.
• MacIntyre: Stepped back, asked for help, recalibrated, and watched that mindset carry him up the board.
• Spaun: Let go of the old story (“I’ll fall apart eventually”) and found a new story that carried him to the big purse. 

I’m not particularly interested in golf, but I’m very interested in high performers and how they react to the unexpected, to constant change, and to having their plans blown up. I’m interested in what people do when their playbook stops working, when conditions change, and when the pressure mounts. And I’m interested in seeing how they cope when it just doesn’t seem fair.

It’s easy to stay composed when things are going your way. But when the course turns to puddles and your ball reverses itself off the green, your emotional posture becomes the game.

What an illustration of Creative Intelligence in action.