Jordan’s mental trick is crucial to his game

American proved he can empty thoughts under most intense pressure, like all the great players

Jordan Spieth won the Open on Sunday afternoon because he was able to “go quiet” when it mattered most. You see it when you look at the golfers on the range at the start of a major and you know that there should be no reason why any of them would not be able to win.

They all possess a phenomenal degree of talent and technical skill, but only a handful of them are ready emotionally and have what it takes between the ears to allow them to access that talent over four days.

Jordan is one of those guys. He is a talented young man who seems to have a clear understanding of how he works, and that is a huge advantage.

When I was watching the golf on Sunday, I heard all this talk about mental strength, and the ability to perform under pressure. The truth of it is, we all have the ability to perform in those circumstances but not everyone can access it.

To give you an example – if you can ride a bike you never forget how. But if someone says you could only ride it if you explain the physics and dynamics behind it – how you are riding on an inverted pendulum subject to the laws of gravity, centrifugal and centripetal force – then you would get so confused and uptight you would fall off.

It is the same with sport – so many athletes and sportspeople get noisy in their own heads and have problems playing shots they would execute 99 times out of 100 in practice.

Jordan Spieth did not do that at all on the 13th. The soap opera of finding his ball and working out where he was going to play it from meant he was immersed in the next step, rather than lingering on that atrocious tee shot.

He was present to the task at hand, not at what had happened before.

He was doing what I call flatlining – just existing for the next moment, not thinking about the shot after next. He came off 13, hit a perfect tee shot at 14 and that was it – everything that had gone before no longer existed for him.

He had created a situation where he could play his best golf – not worry about anything that would undermine his purpose.

On the 13th, Spieth was immersed in the next step, and not lingering on the atrocious tee shot

It is something all the greats have been able to do. Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Severiano Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods – all of them could go into that little place, nice and quiet, where they worked out what they needed.

Jordan did it on Sunday. By going quiet, he won the Open, and with it his third major title.

Ross Mackenzie is a performance coach who has worked with a number of European Tour players, including Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke.