The Imp of the Perverse

This phrase was first used by Edgar Allen Poe.  Remember in the Tell Tale Heart a boarder kills an old man because he can't stand to look at his pale blue eye. He dismembers him and buries him under the floor boards of the house.  While he had been killing the old man, the old man had shrieked.  The neighbors call the police.  The boarder is all cool, calm and collected until he begins to hear the thump, thump, thump of a heart beat getting louder and louder.  Surely the police can hear it!  He screams and yells to pull up the floor boards to silence the heart.  Ok.  I remember that from school.  What's that got to do with golf?
  Oh, ye of little faith.  The "imp of the perverse" is a little evil imp sitting on your shoulder saying, "you dope.  You're going to get caught because you're an idiot." Just as the imp will sit on my shoulder during a round of golf and say, "you dope.  You're a lousy golfer.  You'll never be good."  Or, "so you think you can hit this shot over the water...right......". Or,  "you're up two with two holes to play.  Your three wood swing has sucked all day.  You'll never get on in two."  Or, "the bunker?   Hah hah hah hah!  You think you're gonna get out of this bunker?'  I guess you could easily say the imp is the opposite of positive swing thoughts.  The imp even gets to the pros.  Look at some of the melt downs of Mickelson, Scott, etc.  At the US Open a few years ago when Phil had a comfortable lead going into 18 and he chose to do some cut or something and then had a double or triple bogey  Yep.  That's right.  The imp was going, " go for it Phil.  You always take chances.  Go for it big guy."  And he did and he lost.  There are times when my girlfriends are looking at me while I'm swatting something away from my shoulder.  What's the matter?  A bee?  Biting fly?  No.  It's that darned imp telling me I'm going to chunk my short iron which I can't hit and  of which the imp is constantly reminding me.  Go the F*ck away!  Thanks Edgar.

A Woman Who Loves Golf