| 26 March 2010
One of the things that makes me keep coming back day after day, range ball after range ball, is that somehow I feel like I grow a little bit as a person each time I take on the struggle that this game can become. Maybe you can't even get out on the course yet and your struggle is just to hit that ball. Or maybe your struggle is that you feel like you're the one holding the weekly foursome back. Man, my struggle is tournaments. I shoot a minimum of 10 strokes higher than when I practice; sometimes it gets ugly. Whatever it is, we keep coming back because we are learning about ourselves a little bit at time. Growing. Maybe even maturing.
Now you may not believe me, but the pros struggle with this too. They struggle with things on different levels, but they struggle with it. There was a moment Sunday. A moment when Jim Furyk bent over, arms on knees, waited for his group to clean up, where the sweat dripping from his head seemed to mask if not emulate his tears. It felt good to see Jim Furyk win. It felt even better for Jim himself I assure you. Jim had been on this 2+ year streak of not winning. Jim Nance or Johnnie Miller would know the numbers better than me. It doesn't matter. There are droughts, and then there was Furyk's drought. I'm glad it's over.
Golf is a game that is tough on the psyche. Jim Furyk didn't do anything different that allowed him to win this week. He probably hasn't changed his routine in years. He has a process, and for a while that process got him results. The dreaded "R" word. Results. As any competitive golfer would tell you, we all want them, and the outside recognition that comes with them. Unfortunately, golfers play the golf course, and the results are out of their control. What is in their control is practice, work ethic, training of both body and mind, and of course showing up to compete. But beyond that, the results are really out of control. So here is to Jim Furyk, who kept practicing, kept showing up, and kept that candle of hope flickering that this would be the week burning. Lord knows there were plenty when he looked good going into the weekend, but it didn't work out. And I bet Furyk would never say how much this drained on him, but it sure seemed like that on Sunday, bent over elbows on knees, a huge gorilla jumped off his back.
Sometimes results are tricky. Elusive even. There is only one winner every week, but each field starts with a lot of guys capable. All we can really control is what we do, and how we practice, but it sure is nice to be recognized every once in a while holding up a trophy.
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