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Defending champion suffering “black outs” over the ball

Published

10 years ago

on

Matt Every, No. 163 golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking, won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in both 2015 and 2014, which is interesting because those are some of his only noteworthy finishes on the PGA Tour in the last three years.

Indeed, last year, the win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was Every’s only top-10 finish in 2015. He missed 10 cuts in 26 starts, and the wins at the AP Invitational are Every’s only PGA Tour Ws.

Seemingly the ultimate horse for a course (Bay Hill), Every is an interesting study due to the above. However, in his pre-tournament press conference, the Daytona Beach, Florida-native offered up something even more interesting — and something that puts his night-and-day play in context.

Every told reporters he began having what he described as “blackouts” over the ball during the 2015 Hyundai Tournament of Champions. “You freeze over it [a shot] and you tense up and nothing, you can’t … it’s hard to release the club when you’re doing that,” Every said.

“After I won here last year, I went through this, I guess, a funk — kind of like blacking out over the ball. I hit these foul balls with my driver, and you just can’t compete out here when you’re reloading on the tee and then that stuff builds up. Like, you hit one and then it’s in your head and it’s hard to forget them.”

He indicated the difficulty occurs solely in competition on tee shots with a driver and leads to a high block that heads wide right, although it’s unclear on how many driver tee shots he experiences the problem.

“I just get over a tee shot and think, ‘What am I doing?’”

The golfer said he’s been working with a psychologist since last fall, and it seems the episodes are diminishing. However, Every did experience an episode at last week’s Valspar Championship.

Thus far in 2016, Every has made four cuts in nine starts. His best showing came at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he finished tied for 24th. He tied for 42nd at the Valspar Championship last week.

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Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

18 Comments

18 Comments

  1. matt

    Apr 3, 2016 at 3:15 am

    Me and my buddy were following matt on sunday at Valspar. He was at the bottom of the pack so we were one of the few following him. I gotta say he is one of the coolest and down to earth guys on the course. He noticed we were sticking close to him and he engaged with us quite a few times during the round. Having been to the tournament many times prior, I can’t think of another player who took time during their round to acknowledge their fans and it was pretty awesome. Hoping he can solve these issues as id like to see him on some more leaderboards in the future!

    Reply Report comment

  2. Chuck D

    Mar 20, 2016 at 4:44 am

    Wow, 2 time defending champ missed the cut?! Bummer!

    Reply Report comment

  3. Steve

    Mar 18, 2016 at 9:49 am

    Stop smoking the ganja

    Reply Report comment

  4. Ronald Trump

    Mar 18, 2016 at 8:39 am

    The guy is choke artist

    Reply Report comment

  5. Chuck D

    Mar 18, 2016 at 1:46 am

    Yeah Matt, get a green medical card and try some different trees till you find the one that eases blackout syndrome. Blackouts in golf?? Oy Vay!! Now that’s a good one, what’s next, blackouts at the 19th? Oh wait……..

    Reply Report comment

    • Pat

      Apr 1, 2016 at 2:33 pm

      Stupid idea. He will never pass the drug test. You sir, are a knucklehead.

      Reply Report comment

  6. ooffa

    Mar 17, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    OMG stop taking yourself so seriously. Step up and hit it. Wherever it goes it goes. Holy crap. Only one of two things can happen. You’ll have to work the weekend or you get the weekend off. Stop the silliness

    Reply Report comment

  7. DatSliceDoe

    Mar 17, 2016 at 8:55 am

    Welcome to the world of the average golfer…myself included. Get over the ball and ask myself, why am I paying to do this! What am I doing? How’d I get here!? lol

    Reply Report comment

  8. DS

    Mar 17, 2016 at 8:11 am

    This game gets in everyone’s head at some point. Played 36 in the men’s club match play. Shot 93 in the AM. For the PM round, I took every club longer than a 5i out of the bag and put them in my trunk (self-awareness that I’d be delusional enough to think I could hit D or 5W so took away the option). Shot 77.

    I love/hate this game so much and can’t wait to play/quit soon. ; )

    Reply Report comment

  9. AAdams

    Mar 16, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    These are trust issues within himself. Maybe carry a flask to take the edge off and not put so much pressure on his ball striking game. Probably needs better short game stats. He’s in a downward spiral. Nothing booze and playfulness cant fix. My recommendation would be to play some rounds purposely hitting the driver to the worst locations. Or maybe not even hitting the driver at all but visualizing from standing on each tee that you smoked one down the middle. Then drop the ball in the worst possible miss area and play for pars. See if you can break par this way.

    Reply Report comment

    • Double Mocha Man

      Mar 17, 2016 at 10:18 am

      Ah, the ol’ flask trick. Personally I carry, in a sippy canister, what I call my Italian Sports Drink. Pinot Grigio. Keeps the swing loose and lubricated.

      Reply Report comment

  10. Tim

    Mar 16, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    Wild shots are ‘episodes’? Hmm. I have at least 3-5 episodes every round then. Glad to know it’s some kind of condition.

    Reply Report comment

  11. Greg V

    Mar 16, 2016 at 1:06 pm

    I had to hit driver with my eyes closed for a while. That actually worked.

    Also, concentrating on sticking the finish can also be helpful.

    Reply Report comment

  12. CT

    Mar 16, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    Stop smoking so much pot

    Reply Report comment

    • Joe Duffer

      Mar 16, 2016 at 1:14 pm

      Perhaps a different strain?

      Reply Report comment

      • 299yards

        Mar 16, 2016 at 2:14 pm

        was wondering why Every’s symptoms were so similar to mine hahha being high and golfing definately creates couple blackouts

        Reply Report comment

  13. mitch

    Mar 16, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    I have experienced that before about 5 years ago. It is wild! I literally could not draw back. I finally just walked off the course and didn’t play for a while.

    Reply Report comment

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