Will Justin Rose hold on tomorrow to win?

Last week Justin Rose held a three-stroke lead going into the final round on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, only to shoot 75 in the last round and lose the tournament. Missing a two-foot putt on the 9th green put a negative slant on the final round, and Rose followed it up with a terrible back nine!

This week Justin has a four-stroke lead going into Sunday. Will he hold on to win, or fall apart the final day like he did last week?

The mental side of professional golf is a mystery to many golfers, and to most of the viewers at PGA events. The crowd expects to see the greatest golfers in the world make one great shot after another, and can't seem to grasp the fact that these guys are only human.

A month ago Rose won Jack's tournament, The Memorial, charging from behind to take the trophy on Sunday. At the Travelers, he took the lead into Sunday. Is that the difference? He can charge from behind, but don't let him get in the lead, or he can't handle the pressure of being in the lead?

Believe it or not, most professional golfers do not feel comfortable leading a tournament. Look at what happened to Dustin Johnson when he took the lead into the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He shot 82 on Sunday, the second highest final round by a leader in the Open since 1911!

I remember when I was young and was first learning the game. I could not put two good nines together. If I shot 36 on the front nine, I would shoot 42 on the back. If I started with 43, I'd shoot 35 on the back. It took me about four years of playing golf, from 12 to 16 years of age, before I could put two good nines together.

Why was that the case with my game?

When I got older, I would enter amateur tournaments, usually one-day junior tournaments, and if I shot a good first nine, my back was not very good. Then I would enter my golf course's Men's Club Championship, which was usually a two-day event. If I shot well the first day, and was near the lead or leading, I would fall back the second day. It wasn't until I was around 25 years of age before I could put two good rounds together, and start winning.

By the time I was 30 until I was 40, I won our Men's Club championship nine times out of 12 consecutive years. What made the difference? I learned to play the course, not the other competitors.

When I stopped paying attention to what others were shooting, and set my own goal of shooting under par, I started winning.

I have seen PGA tour stars interviewed many times, and a common question they are asked is, "Do you look at the leaderboard when you are in contention, or not?" Some professionals watch the leaderboard, like Tiger Woods, when many others do not look at the leaderboard at all. Tiger likes to know where he stands at all times, and he loves to go face to face with someone who is contending for the lead.

Many players do not want to know where they stand. That is probably because they do not handle the lead very well, so they don't want to know when they are in the lead. Believe it or not, most of the 156 tour players that tee it up every Thursday are very similar in their ability to strike a golf ball.

What separates the Number one player in the world and the Number 100 player in the world is what lies between the ears. In other words, it is all mental.

So, where do you think Justin Rose lies in that mental game? Will he hang on to win on Sunday, or will he fall to his mental weaknesses like he did at the Travelers?

Let's watch him on Sunday and see if he appears to pay attention to the leaderboard, or if he seems to be playing his own game without wondering where he stands toward the final holes.