Category: Sports

Of God and Golf

Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler

A man of God and new Masters Champion, Scottie Scheffler Photo courtesy of news18.com

On Sunday, professional golfer, Scottie Scheffler, won his first Major Championship at The Masters.

As a golf fan and a player, I was extremely impressed with his game, his maturity, and his execution under the pressure of leading a tournament of this magnitude.

Scheffler has publicly expressed his love for family, the meaning of his family to him, but more importantly, his love for God.

In a day and age when speaking so openly about one’s faith can cost anyone a way of making a living, it was refreshing to hear Scottie Scheffler talk about God as a driving force and a motivation to do what he does in and outside of the golf course.

In his press conference he praised his caddie, Ted Scott, who joined his team this year and has helped him win three tour tournaments and a Major in less than sixty days. Ted Scott is a man of faith and they have known each other through the PGA Tour bible study group.

Of Scott, Scheffler said, among many things, “He’s a man of faith and I love him,” “I mean the qualities you look for in a person, Ted embodies pretty much all of them.”

Throughout the press conference Scheffler was very candid about how he felt prior to the final round and how he cried the morning of because of the stress. He told his wife, “I do not think I am ready for this. I am not ready.” “I don’t feel like I am ready for this kind of stuff.” He said he just felt overwhelmed.

He went on to say, Meredith, his high school sweetheart and wife, told him, “Who are you to say that you are not ready?” “What we talked about is that God is in control and the Lord is leading me, and if today’s my time, then it’s my time, and I shot 82 today, somehow I was going to use it for His glory.”

He was asked if his faith played a significant part in his victory. Scheffler went on to say, “Yeah, I would say so. Like I said earlier, what Meredith told me this morning is that we are not in control of our lives, and so I spoke a little bit about what playing golf for me is like, and why I do it. I mean, my faith affects all aspects of my life, not just my life on the golf course, and so the Lord has given me a skill and I am trying to use it for His glory.”

Scottie Scheffler is everything that is right in this crazy world. Scheffler represents the good in all of us and the world could use a few more Scottie Scheffler’s.

The PGA Tour Has Become a Self-Absorbed and Greedy Cult

PGA Tour; all about the money. Picture courtesy of mikeduran.com

Listening to Commissioner Jay Monahan in his press conference at TPC Sawgrass, it reminded me how much I love the game of golf, and how much I despise professional golf.

First off, addressing the war in Ukraine, Jay Monahan was just another parrot. Grandstanding and demonstrating, once more, the PGA Tour does not understand geopolitical nor internal or external political issues.

When asked about some of the sponsors who have chosen not to pull out from Russia, Monahan did the ‘Potomac Two-Step’ around the question. So much for caring about the Ukrainian people.

They did the same thing during the George Floyd riots by saving an honorary tee time for convicted felon George Floyd at the Charles Schwab Challenge, while ignoring the carnage caused to cities and businesses by those same rioters.

“Go Woke or Go Broke, that should be the PGA Tour motto.

During his press conference, Monahan was clear; the PGA Tour is all about money and revenue. I do not believe Monahan is sincere when he states the PGA Tour is about legacy and not leverage. Individuals establish legacies not organizations by themselves.

I think the PGA Tour position on the Saudi funded Super League is obtuse. This will be going to court, and I believe the PGA Tour will lose the case based on antitrust regulations. Competition and free market are part of business life, and the PGA Tour has no leg to stand on.

Players, as independent contractors, should have the right to play where they wish. Monahan gives the impression of strong-arming the players by telling them the PGA Tour or else, that is leverage. Sure, the players will not publicly talk about it, but I cannot believe independent contractors are fine with one individual telling them they cannot make money elsewhere.

What’s next? Is he going to tell players which sponsors are acceptable? Get real Jay!

The PGA Tour and the Saudi Super League can coexist, the problem is Jay Monahan and his greediness. Monahan wants the PGA Tour to be the only game in town and goes after any competition that can threaten his monopoly, or like he said, his “lunch money.” Frankly, in my opinion, it is disgusting.

In regard to Phil Mickelson, I think Monahan was a coward and did not address the questions with honesty. He stated the ball was in Mickelson’s court, well Jay, not if he has been suspended. Of course, Monahan refused to say if Mickleson was in fact under suspension. The secrecy of the PGA Tour mafia continues.

One thing is for sure, the Phil Mickleson saga opened my eyes as to the greedy nature of the PGA Tour and professional golf.

The PGA Tour has become a greedy and shameful institution.

The Fragility of American Society

Time to Grow a Spine and Stop the Whining

Whaaaaaaaa! Photo courtesy of YouTube.com

It seems like every Olympic cycle some story emerges about an athlete getting his or her feelings hurt because they cannot withstand the criticism for a poor performance.

I am not going to go into full details because, honestly, I do not care about these athletes going to a murderous communist country to compete for the sake of money.

Slalom favorite Mikaela Shiffrin crashed in the early stages of the slalom competition. NBC has been accused of been insensitive towards the skier because they showed her interview in which she appeared to be distraught and very emotional.

What was NBC supposed to do? Accusing the media of the shortcomings of athletes is ridiculous. The media pump these athletes at the behest of the athlete’s publicists, endorsers, and the United States Olympic Committee.

When they do not perform as expected, the world is crumbling, and the media is evil for reporting the facts. The ‘Blue Checkmark’ keyboard warriors and the Twitter fantasy metaverse loons go on their typing sprees, accusing the network of mentally abusing the athlete.

They did the same thing in the 2020 Summer Olympics when gymnast Simone Byles withdrew from events because apparently the pressure was too much to manage. The media then call it how they saw it and the public was outraged.

Athletes, welcome to the real world. A Twitter keyboard warrior went on to say, “Anyone that endures a public disappointment should be given some empathy, respect, and privacy, it’s basic human decency.”

First, she is an athlete, as an athlete she should know that she will not be perfect, and disappointments will come along. By reporting and showing the truth NBC was not disrespectful, and she is a public figure competing in an Olympic event.

Instead of feeling sorry for these athletes, people should encourage them to get off the self-pity wagon and go fight for it. Unfortunately, in this era of victimhood it is easier to encourage whining than fighting to earn something.

I am sure the millions of Americans living in poverty and wondering how they are going to feed their children are not too concerned about Shiffrin’s meltdown.

Our society has become too fragile, too entitled, and too self-absorbed.

Like President Truman once said, ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.’

The “Wokestralian” Open Down Under

The Australian Open Champion *

Rafael Nadal? ‘I made sure the #1 ranked in the world player was kicked out of the tournament’

The Australian government made a mockery of their country, the pandemic, and the tournament. They used Djokovic as a political pawn, and his vaccination status, as an excuse to keep him out of the tournament and eventually kicking him out of the country.

Still, the country is run like a penal colony and the cases of COVID-19 remain at their highest despite of their vaccination mandates and lockdowns. Spare me the outrage.

Rafael Nadal may have won the Australian Open, but without the #1 ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic, the victory will be seen by many as a fraud and with a huge asterisk next to it.

The Australian government may have won the ‘Woke War’, but they lost their prestige with it.

When Rory McIlroy Crashes and Burns…

DP World Tour Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic

Rory McIlroy

After getting a break on 17, McIlroy hits an awesome drive down the 18 hole, at the Emirates Golf Club, Majlis Golf Course, on the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

In the clubhouse is veteran Richard Bland and golf phenom Viktor Hovland sitting at a comfortable -12 under par and waiting to either, go on a playoff or the airport.

McIlroy was -12 under par with over 260 yards into the par 5. A birdie would have done the trick at best, and at worst, a par would have taken him into a playoff with Bland and Hovland.

Unfortunately for him, none of those two scenarios came to fruition. He bogeyed 18 after spraying his second shot into the water and missing a par putt.

What what was he thinking? Did his caddie, Harry Diamond, told him what was going on? Did he knew all he needed was a birdie to win outright or a par to join the playoff?

In typical McIlroy fashion, he went out in flames. I felt sorry for the guy, after all, I am a golfer and I have played at the Emirates Club many times. I know how difficult is to clear that water, and at over 260 yards is even tougher.

I know the player is responsible for making the shot, but I put a lot of the blame on his caddie. I would have insisted on the layup and dealt with the ass-chewing after the victory champagne.

This was one of the worst decisions I have witnessed. A heartbreaker for sure.

Personally, I think is time for Rory McIlroy to hire a real caddie. I am sure is fun to have your best buddy in your bag, but when millions, and legacy, are on the line, always go with a professional.

At the end, Viktor Hovland raised the trophy by defeating Richard Bland after birding the first playoff hole.