Golf In A Parallel Universe Read Free Page B

expenses of travel, caddies etc. And each week you pay the expenses to play in a tournament. And only half the field make the cut. And then if you do not make the cut. No pay, no money, zilch. Try making a few missed cuts in a row and see how you feel.
    But this was my day. I beat the Big Boys. In Professional golf, on any given day, or Tournament the difference between the number one player in the world and the 150th player in the world is razor thin. Over the long run is where you see the difference. That's why see No Named players make a big splash with a big win, and then never hear from them again. But the top tier golfers continue to win and make a name for themselves and make a lot of money.
    I take another sip of my beer and then I start I think about my family. I have none. No one to share this with. I never married, no kids. I start to think about my parents. They died in a car accident my first year as a pro. They were driving to watch me in a golf tournament and had a terrible car accident and died on the scene. As I think about that, tears run down my face as I take on more sip of my beer. I miss them so much and wish they were here. At least they got to see me turn pro, it was my Dad’s dream, he was an avid golfer.
    At 32 years old, time's not on my side. With all PGA golfers, no matter if you are a top tier money winner or at the bottom. or somewhere in between there are three stages of your career.The first stage is the beginning part of your career. You are young and dumb and enthusiastic. You work hard play hard, have fun and look forward to a great career and maybe have some success.
The second stage is the middle part of you career. At this point, you know the business and the tour. You have some success, and may make some good money and believe you got it made. The you get a little lazy, stop working on your game like you should, and the next few years your game starts to deteriorate. Then you got the third stage which is towards the end of your career. You are burned out, your game is not where it should be and your body and mind is breaking down. That's where I am now.
    But here today, I am the Masters Champion. Miracles do happen. I am wondering if I should retire at this point and go out on top. I have a bad right shoulder that I hurt playing baseball when I was in highschool. I was sliding into home plate and my shoulder smashed into the catches knee pads. I broke my collarbone, clavicle and torn my rotator cuff. I recovered pretty well with a couple of surgeries but that was the end of my baseball career. But I took up golf, and the shoulder did not really bother me until recently. Now my shoulder bothers me quite often. The doctor said that tendinitis and calcium deposits have set in and it will degenerate over the years. So maybe retire now? Or play things out? I think about that the next few days.
    I start to feel better, and now it is Party Time. They told me to be at the banquet room in a few minutes for the party. This should be fun. This is uncharted water for me as far as golf parties are concerned. All after tournament golf parties are really just impromptu get togethers at the hotel, because you cannot plan for this, You never know who is going to win or be around. Some players stick around for another day, others take off.
    And there are three types of parties. One is a party after normal tournament win. The wives of the players usually get a group of players, caddies, and friends together to celebrate.
    The second type of party is the type of party in which unfortunately that I have participated in mostly, at least the last few years. And those are called “Missed Cut Parties." So the guys who don't make the cut after the second day, get together and get plastered. Laugh and cry together. The old saying “Misery Loves Company." And that is certainly true at Missed Cut Parties.
    And the third type is the Victory Party after a Major. Those are fun and usually have a lot of people show