Can Kevin Na Overcome His Inner Demons to Win the Players Championship?

What Kevin Na managed to accomplish on Saturday afternoon at TPC Sawgrass was nothing short of amazing.

The fact that Na was one of only three players in the field without a bogey on his card during Round 3 was not in itself amazing.

The fact that only one player in the field posted a lower score than Na’s 68 on Saturday was not amazing, either.

The fact that Na hit 79 percent of fairways and 83 percent of greens in regulation was impressive, but nothing out of the ordinary for a touring pro currently leading one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

The amazing part of Na’s round was that he managed to do all of that while battling one of the worst cases of the driving yips seen in the history of professional golf.

Many great players have battled inner demons and cases of the yips while on the greens, but it’s incredibly rare for a professional golfer to have as much difficulty as Na has simply bringing the club back while standing on the tee box.

Hubert Green suffered from a terrible case of the “waggles” during the early 1980s, and Sergio Garcia also had trouble pulling the trigger with his driver and long irons during the early 2000s.

The main difference is that in most cases, players who are battling demons on the tee box and with their long irons have difficulty saving their careers, let alone their rounds.

On Saturday afternoon, Na managed to fight off the demons, post a round of 68 and hold the tournament lead heading into Sunday.  

Garcia would attempt to battle demons off the tee and then hit his drives 30 yards off line.

Green’s career essentially came crashing down in the early '80s. He won just two tournaments after 1981, although he did manage to pull off a miraculous victory at the 1985 PGA Championship.

Na, on the other hand, would waggle up to eight times, step away from the ball, scold himself, apologize to playing partner Zach Johnson, address the ball again, waggle another five times, take an intentional miss, scold himself again, waggle a few more times and then pipe a 300-yard drive right down the middle of the fairway and walk off the tee like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Forget the effect that this mental block may have on his career, Na didn’t even let the demons take over his round.

On the par-three 17th, one of the most intimidating holes in all of golf, Na stepped up to the tee, waggled twice, hit his tee shot onto the green and two-putted for an easy par.   

One the 18th hole, which is one of the toughest drives on the course with water to left and trees and to the right, Na stepped up to his ball and striped it down the center of the fairway without a hitch.

The demons once again took hold of Na while he was attempting to hit his second shot on 18. He waggled a number of times, scolded himself and then knocked his approach shot to within 15 feet and walked in his birdie putt as if he were just finishing off a stress-free round of 68.

As the pressure begins to mount on Sunday afternoon, it’s highly likely that Na will have even more trouble pulling the trigger with his driver and long irons.

Perhaps overcoming the demons for two consecutive days to win one of the biggest tournaments in the world is too much to ask of any player, let alone a player who has just one PGA Tour victory to his name.  

But if Na does manage to fight off the demons for one more day to capture the 2012 Players Championship title, it would certainly be one of the most amazing wins in the history of golf.

Players have battled through injuries and personal problems to win big-time tournaments.

But very few have overcome what literally amounts to a mental injury the way Na has done so far and will once again have to do on Sunday afternoon.

Who knows what Sunday will hold for Na, but if Saturday afternoon is anything to go by, it’s bound to be interesting.  

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