Golf In A Parallel Universe (8 page)

The next day is Friday. I have never felt so relaxed on a golf course in my life. However, I seem to have a new emotion today. I am very determined to play a good round today. And that is what happened. I played great today. I hit the ball like a pro. and that little voice in my head was thrilled and golf was fun for me again. I shot lights out today with a 65. And with that, I made the cut by one stroke.

On the third round on Saturday I had same feeling. Relaxed and enthusiastic and I shot a 70. And on the final round on Sunday shot a 69. I finished in the top 25 on the leaderboard and I made a little money. Not bad considering the way things started. I just wonder what will the future hold for me. “This may be a crazy ride” I tell myself.

I am playing this week in World Golf Championship Match Play in San Francisco. This is for the top 64 Players in the world last year. I am not in the top 64, but there were some drop outs this year, and I got an invitation since I am a Masters champion. I bet they are re-thinking my invite after my performance last week. But I bet my first opponent is happy about this.

This is a popular event. It different because it is “Match play." Match play is different than a normal golf tournament which called “Medal Play." In a normal “Medal Play” you play by score. Basically you are playing the course. Whoever has the best score wins the tournament. “Match Play” is different. You play head to head against one other player. If you win the first hole then you are one up on him. If you win the second hole you are two up on him. So who ever wins the most holes in a round wins the match. Also it does not matter if you win the hole by one stroke or five strokes, just as long as you win the hole. This starts on Wednesday instead of Thursday like normal tournaments. If you lose a match then you go home. If you win your match you keep playing until you get beat or win it all. However the losers the semi-final matches play an 18-hole consolation match for third place.

After last week's tournament, I feel extremely different in my attitude. The last few weeks I have had this enthusiasm, confidence and having a lot of fun. Except for the first three holes at last week's tournament. I still have that feeling but now I seem to have this incredible burning desire to succeed. I feel so competitive and I want to destroy the the field in the rest of the tournaments that I will be playing. And since this is match play, this will play right into my emotions. Match Play is different. You are playing only against your opponent not the course or yourself. A good match Player is someone who is very competitive and feels he can't be beat. That's the way I feel now. My opponent is the enemy and my goal is to destroy him. Monday night I make it to San Francisco and Tuesday is practice day. I work with Zack on the range and a practice round. He comments that I seem so serious and quite. I just told him that I am focused and to hang on tight, it is going to be a wild ride. “No more crap like last week, I am going to destroy my opponents in this tournament," I told him confidently. He is like “Uh, OK." I am sure he is thinking that if do like last week, we will be going home early. I have a good day on the range and we play a practice round with Joe Hamilton and Bob Stoltz. I am hitting the ball great. I feel that I am in a killer mood. I look at Joe and Bob and think how I want to destroy them if I play them in this tournament. I feel that everyone is my enemy.

Wednesday Morning I am set to play Dave Anderson. I am sure he doesn't know what think about me after what I have done recently. Winning the Masters and then that circus act I did last week making a fool of myself. The TV crew is also speculating on what they will be seeing from me today. But this day was mine. I throttled him. The day was over at the 14th hole with 5 down with 4 to go. I was in a “take no prisoners” mood and I was a little rude to him. I hardly even shook his hand after the match. After the match my Caddie Zack, looked at me like “What happened?” After the match, I got something to eat and relaxed for a while. I told Zack to go to the hotel and I will see him in the morning. I was getting ready to go back to the hotel. Then I decided that I felt like going to the range and hit balls. So I did just that because I am having so much fun hitting the ball. That little voice in the back of my head does not really seem to be all getting and cheery like before. Instead that voice is taking a more serious tone. I am enjoying every shot I hit. But I feel different today, much more determined. I feel a very strong determination to get better and better and dominate and destroy every player in this tournament. I still do not understand that little voice in my head and where it is coming from. It all started when I won the Masters. I guess I am losing my mind, that's the only thing I can think of. But I am having fun playing golf for the first time in years and I want to continue. Finally I call it a day. I get back to the hotel and relax. I always like to grab a beer and look out the window of whatever hotel I am at and reflect on where I am at and where I am going. I think about today. I played great! I was very competitive, and I destroyed my opponent. But I was a rude jerk today to him. I have never been like that before and feel a little bad. I will work on not letting my new found competitive edge spill over to my personally.

The next day, round two. I play Larry Simons. He is a good player and has been around for a while. I have the same competitive fire as yesterday and I destroyed him. We finish on hole 16, 3 down two to go. At least today, I looked normal on the outside And I was not the jerk I was yesterday. Zack just looked at me. “You were right, this may be a wild ride," he said smiling and shaking his head. I am sure he is as confused about me as I am confused about myself.

Day 3, next victim is Dave Johnson. He is a very good golfer. We were pretty even the first few holes. But then I dominated down the stretch. Finished again on 16, 3 down and two to go.

Saturday Day 4. Cooper Jones, the 5th player in the world ranking in the world falls to my competitive dominance and I win on the 17th 2 down with one to go. Now people are starting to wonder about me.

Sunday Day 5. Final round.I am playing Cory McCullough. He is the number one in the world. I am sure everyone is not knowing what to think. Jim has been good lately but sure this schmuck cannot beat the number one player in the world. Wow, a five day tournament if you go all the way, this is something new to me. The last few years, I have struggled to make the cuts on tournaments and was out in two days. Jerry Churchill is not working the telecast on this tournament. Little did I know he was watching me on TV.

Jerry was home by himself, his wife was shopping. He nervously sat down to watch this match. He has been seeing the progression of Jim’s game and tries to think about how he should handle Jim. As he sits on the couch to start to watch the match he sighs, “This boy does not know what he is going through. Someday we will talk," he said to himself. He watches intently as we start the match.

Cory is up first and he is one of the longest hitters on the tour. He crushes the ball right down the middle a good 325 yards. He seems to be pumped. “We are playing with the big boys now," I say to myself. But I am not intimidated. I hit a good shot about 285 yards down the left side, a good shot for me. My second shot is pin high, left side of the green about 25 feet from the cup. Cory nails it 2 feet from the hole. I miss my 25 footer, he taps in his easy birdie. One hole, one down, not a good start. Hole two, he bombs another drive down the middle. I hit a good drive also down the middle. Amazing, I am 40 yards behind him. My second shot is 5 iron and I push it. I am just off the right side of the green. He hits an easy 8 iron six feet from the hole. I get up and down for a par, and he makes his birdie putt. Two holes and I am two down. Hole three more of the same. As we are walking down the fairway, I marvel at his stature in the game. I have never played with him before and only talked to him a few times. You can really see the talent and the composure, He is so much different from the other players. I guess like any other sport, you have the average, the good, and then the elite. He is cut from a different mode and definitely in the elite class. He has the complete game. He has all the shots along with the mental toughness and composure. And he is a good guy. A good role model for the game. I feel myself getting a little intimidated. We both par hole 3. So I am down two after three holes. Hole 4 is a par three 220 yards. He hits a four iron just on the front of the green. I hit a smooth high two iron perfect, right at the pin. Perfect shot! It hits about two feet in front of the pin and ends up about 3 feet past the pin. Cory two putts for a par and I knock in my birdie. “What do you think about that big boy?," I say to myself. So now I am just one down which is a hell of alot better than 3 if I would have lost this one. So we continue to play. I am no longer intimidated. I got the eye of the tiger back in me and I am ready to destroy him. But he is so good. This will be tough. I play well, but not able to gain any ground, we half the rest of the holes on the front nine. So after nine holes, I am one down.

Meanwhile Jerry Churchill is intently watching on TV. He grabs a glass of Ice-tea and prepares himself for the second nine. The TV commentators are building this up. “Where did Jim come?” from they say. A few weeks ago he was a no-name pro. Then he wins the Masters and now he is going head to head with the number one player in the world in this match play event.

On hole number ten. I tell Zack that I am going to be aggressive and go all out for this. I am going for the pin on every shot, “If you do that then you will be playing right into his hands," Zack replied. He went on. “You will make mistakes and he will have easy pickings and the match will be over before you know it. He is number one in the world for a reason. He has the talent, and he does not make mistakes. The way you are playing you can hang with him. Don’t do anything stupid.” He’s right, If I blow it by doing something stupid, then an easy win for him. I will play my game and we will see who comes out on top. On any given day any professional golfer can beat anyone. And we only got nine holes to go. I know I can hang with him. Hole number 10 with both birdie. Number 11, I make a damn bogey, and he has an easy birdie. Of course in match play, I would have lost with a par. So now two down with 7 holes to go. As we are walking to the next tee, I wink at Zack. “Don’t worry, I got him right where I want him," I said in a joking manner. He smiles nervously.Things do not look so good. But I am determined to make a run for it.

Hole 12, I birdie, he pars. So I am now just one down with six holes to go.

Hole 13 is a par 5. Easy reachable for him in two, not so much for me. I hit my best drive of the day, it had to be close to 300 yards which is a rarity for me. He crushes his. But pushes it right, and he is in the rough. I am in the middle behind him. I see that he is not in great shape, but not all that bad. But I do not think he can make it to the green in two with that lie in the rough. I think I can, but the green is surrounded with bunkers. If I am just short, or go right or left, I am in the bunker. I consult with Zack. I am thinking of laying up about 35 to 40 yards in front. I do not think he can get to the green in two. Zack agrees. I take a three iron and hit it right where I wanted. I figured that Cory would play it safe as well. But he apparently had a good lie and a straight shot to the green. To my surprise, he pulled out a wood, it must have been a 5 wood. He is going for it. I am thinking, “oh shit." He hits, and the ball fires out. It looks like a great shot but a little left. The ball is coming in pretty hot. It hits the left side of the green and scoots off the green into the left bunker. I think he intended to hit if high and let it float in, but it came out hot out of the rough and there was no way it was going to stay on the green. Back at Jerry Churchill house, He jumps up and pumps his fist gives a big yell. “Where did that come from?” he asked himself. Then he sits back down and watches the match. So I am about 40 yards from the green. Perfect position. I love this shot. Just smooth swing and feel it right up to the pin. I make a good swing and I hit a great shot. But not as close as I want. About 10 feet from the hole. Cory has a tough shot out of the sand. He is close to the lip of the bunker. I am thinking, he will be lucky to even get out of the bunker on this one. The TV broadcast commentators are saying the same thing as they zoom in on the ball. Maybe he will hit it to the far right side of the green then he can get up and down for a par. I see no way he can go for the pin. But he is number one in the world and I see why. He lined up and blasted right towards the pin. Not only did he make it out of the bunker. To my surprise but he hit a great shot about 12 feet from the hole. I am like “geez, this guy is tough.” But I am thinking. If he misses his putt. And if I can make my 10 footer, then we are even with five holes to go. He gets out of the Sand Bunker and his caddie hands him his putter and then rakes the bunker. He marks his ball, then replaces it and looks at his putt. His caddie gets behind them and they consult.

Everyone knows this is a turning point. We both are putting for birdies. I am one down. If he makes it and I miss, then bad for me. If we both make or miss and half the hole, I am still one down. If I make and he misses we are even with 5 holes to go. He lines up. I can tell he seems a little tense. “Maybe he is human after all” I tell myself. He hits the worst put I have ever seen from 12 feet out. It did not have a chance. I can smell the blood in the water. I line up. I feel totally confident. But I feel too tight. I step back and re-aline. I tell myself to just relax. Still some holes to go. I take it back make a good stroke and it drops in the hole. I feel like I am in charge now. Back at Jerry Churchill 's house, he is ecstatic. Jumping around like his favorite football team just made a touchdown. “Jim's got him now!," he cried out loud.

As we are walking to the 14th hole, I feel like there is no freaking way that I am going to get beat by this guy. The last few weeks I have hit a million balls and I am more confident focused than ever.