Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Fending off Demons

This Friday a couple friends and I will be watching the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. It's one of golf's four major championships and the season's final major. We'll be there for round two cuts, which means the entire field will be in full swing. At the end of the day, the top 70 players, including ties, make the cut and finish out the tourney on Saturday and Sunday.

As this particular PGA Championship is a milestone, the Gateway City was lucky to land it. On hand will be those upper-echelon players who consistently breathe the rarified ether found at the game's top tiers. Guys like Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, and Ricky Fowler will be there. Also playing in St. Louis are household names like Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and that other guy we may have all but forgotten: John Daly.

Remember him? He's the dude with a penchant for cocktails, a flair for drama, and twitchy fingers at the slot machines. Though his lifestyle seems to have mellowed in the last few years, he's still a colorful character. Thing is, we're gonna to have to get there early to see him at the opening tee. He begins at 7:34 a.m. Nevertheless, I hope to seem him launch one of those trademark boomers that propelled him to 18 pro tour wins.

Daly brings to mind one of the things I really like about golf, and that's the commitment you must have to get good and stay good. The game demands constant attention. Like a virtuoso instrumentalist, top-notch players have devoted the lion's share of their lives to their craft: scrutinizing tee-offs, analyzing bunker play, honing fairway shots, laboring over every nuance of their putting game and, perhaps, most importantly -- like Daly -- fending off their demons.

We all have things that trip us up.

What do you do to steer clear of those landmines that would derail you or run your ship aground? How do you handle the unexpected occurrence/appearance of some pet sin that always seems to satisfy -- and then leave you ... empty?

You can pass along your tips of wisdom by clicking here and telling us about it.

P.S. And if you've got a way to cure a slice, we'd like to hear that, too.

1 comment :

Alex_S said...

Simply enough asking for the realization of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and what it has done and continues to do for me. Praying, in other words. It is very easy to get caught up with the idea that the sin has cut into or damaged permanently my faith... but that is not the case as we are taught. We are human, and we will sin, but the grace of Christ washes off our iniquities continually. Our task is to remember that, and let it not take root in us.

How amazing is it that even such a simple task is still so hard, however!