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Watching the Masters this week brings back memories of playing in the 9 major championships I was fortunate enough to qualify for. I only made the cut in one of them, but even that is something I consider to be one of the few great achievements of my playing career. I enjoy watching the majors now more than ever because having experienced the full effect of playing in those conditions I can appreciate more than most what is required to do well, and the herculean effort it takes to actually win one.
I always loved the practice rounds. Just being there and getting to play and practice with and next to the best players in the world was such a treat. I had friends playing that I knew from college days, like Fred Funk, Mark O’Meara and John Cook, and they were always nice enough to hook me up with great practice rounds. As I think back on the list of players I teed it up with on the Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays before the events, it is pretty impressive: Corey Pavin, Bob Estes, Loren Roberts, Craig Stadler, Tom Kite, Jay Haas, Curtis Strange, Jeff Sluman, David Duval, Freddy Funk, O’Meara and Cook, Jim Furyk, Davis Love, Steve Stricker, Scott Hoch, Eduardo Romero, Constantino Rocca, and others I can’t recall at this point. Duval was the most impressive. Furyk was the most studied. They were all super nice to me, going out of their way to make me feel comfortable knowing that I was a bit out of my element as a club professional in not only a regular Tour event but a major, which ramps things up a great deal.
I could easily have been quite happy to forego playing in the actual tournament. The practice rounds are stress free and enjoyable. In fact, being there and playing without having to keep score was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done in golf. Once the day of the real event rolls around, however, everything changes. Now I was facing some of the hardest courses under the most testing conditions in golf, and I had to post a score that millions of people would see. In a major every shot is difficult, and a miss that you could normally recover from now has the possibility of leading to bogeys or worse every time. Every shot, long to short, is demanding, and the putting is no bargain either. If you are not hitting it well the prospect of shooting a horrendous score looms like an approaching storm. People are everywhere, and I’ve had to tee off in front of thousands of people more than once.
Of course, my experience is vastly different from the players who are good enough to get into contention in one of these things. The prospect of winning carries with it a heavy weight that only a few can handle. It is incredibly hard not to allow the thoughts of what a win would mean to enter your mind before the event is over, which, as everyone knows, can lead to a fatal loss of focus. When I won the National Club Pro, a major championship for club professionals, I was playing so well and putting so well that I never really even thought about where I was and what I was about to accomplish. I just kept playing, and was able to grind it out to the end without getting in my own way. This is a state of being that happens only rarely, if ever, for most of us, which is why the winners of multiple majors are held in such high regard. One of the reasons I defend Tiger Woods so vigorously is that I know what it takes to do what he has done. If you ask me he is exempt from the kind of criticism leveled at him by television personalities. His record stands for itself and he should be continuously applauded for it.
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