Adam Crawford explains how the theme of redemption runs through the core of the sport of golf and why that attracts us to the game.
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Golf, at its core, is about redemption.
It doesn’t matter the level of golfer that steps on a tee box, he just might hit the greatest shot of his life.
It doesn’t matter if you shanked the previous shot through a greenside mansion, you might hole out from the bunker.
And it doesn’t matter if you are standing over a 75-foot putt for bogey on the 18th hole to shoot 123—if you make that putt; your golf game has been redeemed.
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Though he did not need to sink a 75-footer on the 18th green at Doral this past weekend, I’d imagine Dustin Johnson feels redeemed.
It was a little more than six months ago that Golf.com broke a story about Johnson being suspended from the tour for a third failed drug test. At least to me this came as quite a shock. I remembered his first failed test in 2009 that was supposedly for Marijuana, but I quickly forgot about that incident when he nearly won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
But none of that matters today because Johnson secured a win at the World Golf Championship Cadillac at Donald Trump’s Doral. One of the most competitive fields in golf.
“I’ve grown-up in the last 4-5 months.” Johnson said.
Johnson’s story is not unique. Golf has been giving people second chances for as long as it’s been a game. Second chances are ingrained into the nature of the game.
In 1949, coming off a win at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship the year before, Ben Hogan and his wife were struck by a Greyhound bus head on. Doctors told Hogan he’d never walk again, much less play golf. Hogan went on to win six majors after the accident, including the 1950 U.S. Open, barely a year after his accident.
Tom Watson battled alcoholism early on in his career.
Bubba Watson was seen as a player no one wanted to be around because of his short temper and terrible antics on the golf course. For the love of God, now look at what he’s doing:
Tiger Woods (despite not returning to his previous form and running out of time to catch Jack Nicklaus) has won PGA Tour Player of the Year honors twice since his fall from grace. Golf, the sport with possibly the most frailty, is also the sport with the most possibility for redemption.
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Unlike other sports (with the possible exception of tennis), golf is far more mental than it is physical. It is a game that is played inside your head. When a basketball player comes down the court and spins off a pick to sink a 15-foot jump shot, he’s hit that shot in practice 5,000 times. That type of shot doesn’t exist in golf.
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Golf is a sport of redemption because despite the frailty of the human mind, if a player can manage to grasp and embrace his inner critic, stifle the doubts, then age is not a factor, size is not a factor, strength is not a factor, he can win. And one win is all it takes.
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While players hit thousands of short putts and thousands of balls on the driving range, but no two shots are the same. The venue changes from week to week. The holes change from day to day because Mother Nature has a say in how things will play out.
A player can have the greatest swing on the planet, but if he doesn’t believe in it, then it won’t work. Muscle memory can only carry you as far as your mind will hold it up. A case in point is the great Tiger Woods. One year Woods was on top of the world. Merely a few years from being undoubtedly the greatest golfer in history, and then all in one night, it came crashing down. And it wasn’t because of an injury.
Golf is a sport of redemption because despite the frailty of the human mind, if a player can manage to grasp and embrace his inner critic, stifle the doubts, then age is not a factor, size is not a factor, strength is not a factor, he can win. And one win is all it takes.
Dustin Johnson is but one example of why golf is the sport of comebacks. The case studies are endless of golfers who have come out of college making a splash. Only to crash and burn once again and see their career fizzle away faster than the foam on draft beer.
But unlike basketball or baseball, where it takes a player 80 plus games, or 160 plus games to really redeem themselves, it only takes one tournament for a golfer. It can all come back as fast as it all disappeared.
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The average man doesn’t play golf because he expects to be on the PGA Tour some day. The average man plays golf because he knows if he loses his $20 Nassau on Saturday, it’s likely he can show up on Sunday and win it back.
The average man also plays golf because it’s one of the most mentally demanding sports and when you conquer that pressure shot, it’s like you’ve summated Everest for those three minutes until you shank into another greenside mansion.
That’s why there are more than 30 million golfers in America.
Dustin Johnson looks poised to win a major this year. I can’t say for sure he will because it’s golf, but I can say his swing looks great and his smile looks better. He’ll also become a dad soon. And if the thought of losing your golf career because of poor choices doesn’t shape you up, then the thought of raising a human being will.
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Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons/Brian Patrick
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