The practice fairway at Muirfield should have been a learner's paradise.
Woods, Els, Norman, Faldo, and Duval. All there with their coaches. You could see them going through their clubs, hear the instruction, see the tweaking.
Should be a learner's delight.
Should be. Isn't.
What I witnessed there broke my heart - and opened my eyes to golf's most destructive lie.
Kendal pointed out a man wandering from player to player. He turned out to be one of the country's top coaches.
But a few years earlier, he'd been a rising star on the European Tour.
After winning his first tournament, he had the golfing world at his feet. Sitting in the airport on his way home from his maiden victory, he watched the highlights from that day's play.
He liked what he saw... until the low-to-the-ground camera shot of his winning putt.
This guy was the leading putter on tour. The 20-footer went in for the win.
But he didn't like his stroke. He thought his technique was wrong.
His coach agreed.
I'm not sure if he ever "fixed" his stroke, but he's no longer playing golf on tour.
This once instinctive and natural golfer is now teaching other golfers the same technical approach that destroyed his career.
But that wasn't the worst story.
Another man caught my attention. He'd won twice in the mid-nineties. A true star with wealth and fame - every kid's dream.
But it wasn't enough. Safe with a two-year exemption, he decided to rebuild his already impressive golf game to "take it to a higher level."
He and his coach went to work changing his swing.
Two years later, he lost his tour card and was working as a player manager.
Then I saw Lee Westwood.
In 1997, Westwood had won on four continents. He had a distinctive swing, but it worked - just scan his impressive list of victories and earnings.
For whatever reason, someone suggested he alter his swing.
Lee wasn't having a good year. He'd jumped from coach to coach, missed cuts, and continually finished toward the bottom of the field.
The more he tried to "fix" his swing, the worse he got.
I watched him hit balls with one foot on a bucket. I can't tell you how ridiculous it looked.
The crowd was impressed. I bet half of them went home to attempt the same drill.
Why anyone would want to change Westwood's natural game was beyond me.
Golf culture says his swing is different, so it must be wrong.
I say let the boy play and don't deprive the world of a natural, instinctive champion.
Side note: I thought about taking this part about Lee Westwood out of this email. He's been a great player. Had an amazing career. But has he underachieved? Could he have been even better if he embraced his "natural" approach more from the start?
But the most heartbreaking moment came in a teaching tent.
A young boy was in a tent waiting to have a lesson. He had natural, free-flowing flair and was having a good time. He was impressive to watch. Plenty of power. Plenty of clubhead speed. He looked great.
The instructor stopped, watched him hit some balls, then told him he had a "closed clubface" and his swing was "too inside."
The boy was put into the "correct" position and reminded of his error.
That young boy could have been the next Tiger Woods or Sergio Garcia.
Any instinctive flair he had was probably changed forever when that well-meaning professional told him his technique was "incorrect."
Here's the tragic irony:
David Duval and Andrew Coltart were hitting balls nearby. Both have closed clubfaces and swing from the inside.
One was the reigning Open Champion. The other shot 61 to qualify.
The same "flaws" that were being corrected in that young boy.
The golfing world is full of these stories.
Ian Baker-Finch and Seve Ballesteros - champions who had it and lost it to technical "improvement."
What would have happened to Nicklaus, Palmer, and Trevino if they'd been told their techniques were wrong and tried to change?
After witnessing this destruction of natural talent, I made a decision:
I would never again fall into the technical trap. I would trust the natural learning system that had served champions for generations.
But I wasn't immune to the culture myself...
Tomorrow, I'll share my own qualifying story - and the putting struggles that nearly derailed my own natural approach.
Plus, I'll reveal the Open Championship Bundle I've created for golfers ready to embrace the same natural methods that I believe can help you on your own path to golfing mastery.
The choice is yours: Follow the path of technical perfection that destroys careers, or trust the natural ability that creates champions.
To better golf (the natural way),
Cameron