Arnold Palmer's rule # 2
Keep your temper under control
In the final of the Western Pennsylvania Junior when I was 17, I let my putter fly over the gallery after missing a short putt. I won the match, but when I got in the car with my parents for the ride home, there were no congratulations, just dead silence. Eventually my father said, "If I ever see you throw a club again, you will never play in another golf tournament." That wake-up call stayed with me. I haven't thrown a club since.
Throwing clubs, sulking and barking profanity make everyone uneasy. We all have our moments of frustration, but the trick is to vent in an inoffensive way. For example, I often follow a bad hole by hitting the next tee shot a little harder -- for better or worse.
