Better Golf Daily: The Mystery of Gum Chewing

This episode explores one of golf's most overlooked and surprisingly well-supported mental performance hacks: chewing gum. It opens with my personal observation of Tiger Woods chomping away through his iconic 2019 Masters victory and Collin Morikawa doing the same on Tour, then weaves in the neuroscience behind why — including research shared by Adam Grant showing that gum chewing increases cerebral blood flow, sharpens focus, and reduces stress, especially under pressure. Phil Mickelson's frontal cortex theory ties it all together with the practical on-course science. The episode then translates the research into a simple, immediately actionable strategy any golfer can use starting their very next round. The central message is that performance edges don't have to be complex — sometimes the gap between a drifting brain and a focused one is exactly two dollars and an orange flavor.