Faith, Golf and Patrick Keeling's Perspective

Patrick Keeling, winner of the 2026 Flogas Irish Men's Amateur Open Championship. Credit: Inpho

Standing in the evening sun at Seapoint Links on Sunday, I listened to Patrick Keeling deliver his winner’s speech. He thanked his team and his family, but what struck me most was how he framed his victory through his faith in God and in Christ.

As a Religion teacher, I didn’t expect to be standing there slightly sunburnt, reflecting on the connection between theology and elite performance—but that’s exactly where I found myself. Keeling made an interesting point: “faith in Christ has delivered me from stressing about things I cannot control as much. In his view, he had already “won” in life, so there was less pressure on the outcome of the tournament.

He spoke about how his faith has helped him let go of stress, especially the kind tied to things outside his control. Importantly, he wasn’t suggesting that belief guarantees success, or that results are predetermined by some higher power. Rather, he was describing a sense of inner calm, an anchoring perspective that allows him to compete freely.

He later referenced a passage from James 1:2 on social media,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

This passage encourages believers to see life’s trials as opportunities for growth. The idea is that difficulties test faith, build perseverance, and ultimately shape a more complete and resilient person.

In many ways, this overlaps with the rise of Stoicism in sport. Figures like Ryan Holiday have popularised its core message: face challenges directly, because struggle itself is what develops character. We see echoes of this mindset in athletes like Andrew Porter and others who embrace adversity as part of the process.

So whether through faith or philosophy, the principle is similar—growth comes through pressure, not avoidance of it.

My mind drifted as well to Scottie Scheffler’s press conference at The Open in Portrush, where some interpreted his comments as an existential crisis.

“This is not a fulfilling life,” he said. “It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart. – Scottie Scheffler

For him, his sense of self isn’t tied to whether he wins or loses. His identity is secure, regardless of results. That perspective doesn’t make competition meaningless - it just means that a missed putt or a missed opportunity doesn’t define who he is. And in a strange way, that freedom may actually improve performance.

This brings up an obvious question: if faith appears to help performance, should we all be searching for religious belief to improve our golf?

Maybe

But I think the takeaway is that real contentment comes when we separate our self-worth from our achievements. Now how you get to that, is up to you.

I think we may have seen something similar with Rory McIlroy after he completed the career Grand Slam. For years, that goal carried the promise of fulfilment—of confidence, relief, maybe even peace of mind. The sense that once I achieve this, everything will fall into place.

And then, inevitably, you wake up the next day and you’re still yourself.

That realisation—that success doesn’t magically resolve deeper questions about identity or purpose—can be unsettling. If I had to guess, Rory may have wrestled with this kind of thinking during the majors last season.

He may have arrived at a similar conclusion to Keeling or Scheffler, though from a different path. Because ultimately, there are many ways to reach that understanding.

Or, as the old Hindu proverb reads -

"There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading to the same place, so it doesn't matter which path you take."