The £9 golf book that helped Rory McIlroy win The Masters

The early 2000s saw mindset coaching roar into the the golfing mainstream. 

Taking the focus away from the swing and the course and instead dealing with the mental side of the game we all struggle with from time to time, sports psychologists began working with some of the world's best golfers to help them deal with the internal battles that all golfers face.

What resulted was a bevy of insights into mindset coaching that everyone can use to play calmer, more enjoyable golf, with books like Zen Golf suddenly becoming must-owns for every golfer. One of the key tomes in this period was Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect, written by sports psychologist Dr Bob Rotella.

But while we tend to associate self-help golf books with frustrated amateur players, even the finest golfers of all time have turned to the wisdom of books to unlock something new in their game. 

And in a candid moment, Rory McIlroy himself revealed that Rotella's insights were a key part of his bounce back after the heartbreak he suffered in 2024 – a period that would ultimately end in his historic Career Grand Slam at 2025 Masters.

Speaking on Amazon's Rory McIlRoy: The Masters Wait documentary, McIlroy explained that he was first introduced to Rotella's book in 2017, listening to it on the drive to The Open at Royal Birkdale after missing the cut at the Scottish Open before talking to Rotella directly.

"I had known Bob for basically my whole career, so I was like 'why don't I just call him?'" McIlroy explained.

Rotella's work with McIlroy enabled him to reframe the tough luck and bad breaks that had plagued him so many times during his seven-year baron stretch without a major win, giving him the mental fortitude to play his best golf even as his lead disappeared going into the closing stretch of the Masters.

"We're all dealing with doubt and fear," Rotella explains in the film. "Failure never ruins anybody. Doubt and fear will kill you. 

"With Rory, we were anticipating that we were gonna miss all kinds of shots and putts. We're gonna get all kinds of bad breaks. But you have to see what you want, rather than what you don't want or fear might happen.

"We talk a lot about: 'How do you feel when you're playing your best golf? When you're happiest, most joy-fileld and really loving the game that you tell me you love." 

"When you walk off the golf course every night, if you can go into your hotel room, look in the mirror and go, 'I really loved how I felt out there today', then you know you gave yourself the best chance."

You can grab a copy for yourself at the link below.