For years, I’ve wanted to create a news outlet that focuses on positive stories. A place where we deliberately look for the uplifting angle. Not because negative things aren’t real—they absolutely are—but because what we focus on shapes how we think, and how we think shapes how we perform.
When the LIV Golf situation exploded, I watched the same pattern play out that I see everywhere: endless focus on conflict, controversy, and control.
The bashing. The suspensions. The fines. The lawsuits.
For a sport built on competition, the response wasn’t to compete better—it was to change the rules, control the narrative, and punish anyone who left. Like that kid on the playground who can’t beat you, so he just takes his ball and goes home.
The Article That Changed My Perspective
A few years back, I read a Golf Digest piece by Dan Rapaport about the LIV event at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland. The article captured all the controversy—protesters, resignations, raw emotions from 9/11 families, community backlash.
It was all real. All justified in its own way.
But reading it, I kept thinking: This story could go in a completely different direction. Not to dismiss anyone’s legitimate concerns, but to ask a bigger question about how we navigate conflict—in golf, in life, in our own heads.
So I wrote my own version. A thought experiment. What if we looked at this through a different lens?
The Lesson I Didn’t Expect
Here’s what struck me about the whole Portland situation:
The community was divided. Some members resigned in protest. Others saw an opportunity—economic benefit, exposure for the club, a chance to host world-class golf regardless of who was funding it.
Both sides had valid points. Both sides believed they were right.
And here’s the thing: the controversy was never going to be resolved on the golf course that week.
The players who showed up had a choice: get consumed by the external noise, or execute their process. The members who stayed had a choice: remain bitter about the division, or focus on what they could control. The community had a choice: let the controversy define them, or move forward however they saw fit.
This is the exact same choice every golfer faces on every single hole.
Download the FREE 5-Day Clubhead Awareness Tune-Up and learn the simple approach that makes golf easier, not harder.
Your Own Tour War
You step up to a shot. The lie is terrible—plugged in the bunker, no fault of your own. You have three choices:
- Fight reality: Get angry about the lie, the course conditions, the “injustice” of it all
- Replay the past: Obsess over the shot that put you here, the decision you made, the swing that failed
- Execute the next shot: Accept where you are, choose your best option, commit to swinging the club head toward your target
The first two options feel justified. You have every right to be frustrated.
But here’s the truth: Your rights don’t help you swing the club better.
This is the core of The Mike Quinlan Approach—focus on what you control (the motion of the club head) and let go of what you don’t (everything else).
The tour wars—both the real one in professional golf and the metaphorical one in your head—are about what you choose to give your energy to.
What the PGA Tour Got Wrong (And What You Might Be Getting Wrong Too)
The PGA Tour’s response to LIV was all about external control of things they couldn’t actually control:
- Who can play where
- What the consequences are for leaving
- How to punish defection
- How to win the PR battle
What if instead they’d focused on what they could control—their own product:
- Making their tournaments better
- Creating more value for players and fans
- Innovating the experience
- Competing on merit
They chose to fight a war they couldn’t win instead of playing a game they’d already mastered.
Sound familiar?
How often do you focus on:
- The slow group ahead (can’t control)
- Your playing partner’s score (can’t control)
- The unfairness of a ruling (can’t control)
- That one bad hole from six holes ago (can’t control)
Instead of:
- The motion of the club head (can control)
- Your tempo and rhythm (can control)
- Your target and commitment (can control)
- The only shot that matters: this one (can control)
The Forgiveness Question: Letting Go of What You Can’t Control
Here’s where this gets personal.
I’m not saying the Portland community “chose forgiveness”—they didn’t, and they didn’t have to. People process things differently. Some stayed, some left, and both were valid choices.
But here’s what I learned from watching that whole mess unfold:
When you can’t control external circumstances—and you usually can’t—your only path forward is through internal focus.
On the golf course, forgiveness isn’t about being noble or enlightened. It’s about letting go so you can move forward.
- Forgive the bad swing (it’s over, focus on swinging the club head well now)
- Forgive the bad score (it’s history, focus on this hole)
- Forgive the conditions (they’re not personal, adjust your target)
- Forgive yourself (you’re human, trust the motion)
Not because it’s the “right thing to do,” but because carrying that weight guarantees you’ll focus internally when you need to focus externally.
This is a fundamental principle in The Approach: external focus produces better results than internal focus.
When you’re dwelling on the past or worrying about conditions, you’re focused internally—on your emotions, your frustrations, your fears. When you shift attention to the club head, the target, and the shot at hand, you’re focused externally—on the task.
External focus is the language of performance.
The Real War: Process vs. Outcome
The tours fought over money, power, and market share—outcomes they couldn’t fully control.
They could have competed on delivering better golf—a process they could control.
You make the same choice every round:
Outcome thinking (Internal):
- “I need to shoot 79 today”
- “I can’t let him beat me”
- “This putt HAS to go in”
- “I need to fix my positions right now”
Process thinking (External):
- “Swing the club head smoothly”
- “See the target clearly”
- “Feel the rhythm”
- “Trust the motion”
The Mike Quinlan Approach is built on a simple truth: When you focus on the club head and the target—external cues—your body naturally organizes itself to execute the motion.
The same is true mentally: When you focus on what you control (your process) rather than what you don’t (outcomes), better scores follow naturally.
Your Choice: Internal or External
Every time you play, you’re in your own version of the tour wars:
The voice in your head criticizing your last shot.
The frustration with conditions you can’t control.
The pressure of your scorecard or your ego or your playing partners’ games.
These distractions will always exist.
The question is: Where will you put your attention?
You can focus internally—on your emotions, your positions, your mechanical thoughts, your outcomes. This creates tension, interference, and worse performance.
Or you can focus externally—on the club head, the target, the rhythm, the shot at hand. This creates flow, trust, and better performance.
Internal focus: dwelling on what you can’t control
External focus: executing what you can
The choice is always yours.
This is why The Approach emphasizes external focus at every level:
- Physically: Focus on the club head, not body positions
- Mentally: Focus on the target, not the outcome
- Strategically: Focus on this shot, not the scorecard
When everything points outward—toward the task—you get out of your own way.
Apply This Thinking to Your Game
If this perspective resonates with you, let’s work on applying it to both your mental game and your swing. The right focus—external, not internal—leads to better performance in every area.
Book your first lesson and learn how the Mike Quinlan Approach helps you let go of what doesn’t matter and focus on what does: swinging the club head toward your target.
Learn more about The Approach and discover why external focus beats internal focus every time.
The Mike Quinlan Approach teaches golfers to focus externally—on the club head, the target, and the shot at hand—rather than internally on positions, emotions, or outcomes. This shift in focus is the foundation of consistent performance under any circumstances.
