“I always feel a bit better about everything, a bit better about myself, after I have a chat with him,” Rory McIlroy said of Dr. Bob Rotella, the legendary sports psychologist who has become a key figure in his quest for a grand slam. Known for guiding top players, Rotella has worked closely with McIlroy in recent years, helping him manage expectations and the mental weight of past disappointments, especially at The Masters. “I had a good conversation with Bob about not pushing too hard too early,” McIlroy shared after his second-round 66 at Augusta, making it clear that Rotella’s influence has been instrumental in his success. And it seems another pro golfer has taken a chapter from the Masters champ’s book.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Mixed Bag on Spotify, 2025 Evian Championship winner Grace Kim opened up about how working with sports psychologist, Dr. Julie Amato, has already started reshaping her mental game. “I was probably a little bit of a mess in my mind,” Kim said candidly. “There are a lot of good things, and there are a lot of indecisive things. But to be able to kind of put that into perspective… and really just lay it down on her and lift them in the right order — I think that’s helped a lot,” Grace Kim said, just days after delivering one of the greatest final-round comebacks in women’s major championship history.
Trailing by four shots with seven holes to play, Kim stunned the field at the Evian Championship in France, producing a jaw-dropping eagle-birdie-eagle finish to post a 67 and force a playoff with world No.2 Jeeno Thitikul. Despite hitting into the hazard on the first extra hole, Kim chipped in for birdie to stay alive, then sealed the win with another eagle on the second playoff hole, joining the likes of Karrie Webb and Minjee Lee as only the fifth Australian woman to win a major.
The latest LPGA major winner reflected on the early stages of her relationship with Dr. Julie Amato, the sports psychologist made available on tour, noting that although they’ve only had two sessions so far, it’s already been impactful. “I was just kind of leaning onto her and letting things go… just, yeah, pretty much just laying it all onto her — how I got this far and, you know, what I want to achieve in the future.” Kim admitted that prior to this, she had never worked with a mental coach before, saying, “Up until this far, I’ve never really had a sports psychologist of my own.”
Credits: Grace Kim, Instagram
Kim credited her coach as her biggest mentor but acknowledged that she needed help aligning her thoughts. “I really relied on my team,” she said. “My coach was probably my biggest mentor… but I think I kind of knew what I was doing and still felt off. She’s [Dr. Julie] helped me align certain things.” It’s a small but telling example of how mental clarity can make all the difference, something one of golf’s most trusted minds has long understood.
Bob Rotella says golf is a ‘game of mistakes’
Dr. Bob Rotella, one of the most respected sports psychologists in golf, firmly believes that success in the sport hinges on mastering the mental game. “Golf is a game of mistakes by definition,” Rotella once told Golf Monthly. “The bottom line is you’re going to make a lot of mistakes every time you play golf.” Even the top players in the world, he noted, average about 12 greens in regulation, meaning they still miss six per round. For Rotella, this reality isn’t something to fear but to accept — a reminder that perfection isn’t the goal, but rather the ability to recover, refocus, and play with confidence despite inevitable errors.
Rotella’s career has been built on helping athletes do exactly that. A former director of sport psychology at the University of Virginia, he has written bestsellers like Golf is Not a Game of Perfect and Putting Out of Your Mind, which focus on the mental strategies needed to thrive under pressure. He’s worked with numerous Open champions, including Padraig Harrington, and estimates that around 70 percent of players on tour now work with sports psychologists. His mission is simple but powerful: to teach athletes how to stay clear-headed and “get out of their own way” when it matters most.
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