Last Sunday, 24-year old PGA golfer Sean O'Hair found himself in the spotlight playing with the world's #3 ranked golfer in The Players (at TPC Sawgrass) final round. Although his one shot lead didn't last beyond the second hole of the final round, he was able to stay within 1-stroke of leader Phil Mickelson for most of the round.
When they got to the famed 17th hole (island green), he was two strokes back. O'Hair had two choices: 1) risk dunking a ball in the water and attempt to go for the pin in hopes of a birdie attempt, or 2) play it safe and put the ball in the middle of the green, worst case take a par and accept a second-place finish.
Competition got the best of O'Hair as he decided to "go for the win" instead of a second place finish. He baptized his tee shot and then dunked his second shot from the drop area to card a quadruple +7 on the par-3 hole! Mickelson played it safe, shot to the center of the green and took his par. To quote NBC golf analyst, Johnny Miller, "This is painful to watch."
Diehard, competitive golfers are all admiring O'Hair, who said in a post-tournament interview, "I wasn't playing for second. I was in a good spot to win and unfortunately I got kicked in the teeth." His comments and attitude may be commendable and lofty, but they proved to be completely misguided. At two shots back he wasn't going to catch Mickelson who moved up to the world's #2 spot with his victory. O'Hair went on to bogey the 18th hole and slide from second place finish to finishing 11th. His decision to go for a win cost him $747,000 (Yes that's three zero's!) in prize money! Sergio Garcia was the beneficiary of O'Hair's poor judgment. It gave the animated Spaniard sole possession of second place. I'm sure he's sending O'Hair roses to express his gratitude. Meanwhile, the normally "go for it at all costs" Mickelson exercised maturity, managed the course, played it safe at the 18th, took a bogey and won his 31st PGA tournament by two strokes!
More troubling is the fact that O'Hair lost a five-year PGA exemption by "going for it". The loss of future tournament security may have been a bigger loss than the nearly 3/4's of a million dollars O'Hair gambled away. Afteward, O'Hair said, "I had an opportunity and it didn't happen. I'm not going to let this bother me." I hope that proves true, but I'm not sure the media will let that happen. Unfortunately until he wins a big tournament, he'll be saddled as the "guy who blew it at Sawgrass."
Someone failed to let Sean know that being number 2 isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with it. Despite the cultural obsession with being #1, some of the greatest biblical leaders were #2's: Joseph under Potiphar and then Pharoah; the warrior David under Saul; Joshua with Moses; John the Baptist; Simon Peter whose brother Andrew was called by Jesus first; Barnabas and Timothy with the Apostle Paul. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. I once served on the pastoral staff of a very large church. I understood that I was not the primary leader, but I could still contribute and be a valuable part of the leadership team. My position on the large pastoral staff did not diminish my ability to minister. To be honest, I ultimately left because I did not feel God calling me to be the next leader of that church.
How ironic that just last year, Phil Mickelson's wreckless "go for broke" style of play cost him a major championship (The U.S. Open at Medina), and this year he took a more conservative approach and won The Players for the first time! Phil moved into #2 in the world rankings and somehow I don't think he's disappointed.
When they got to the famed 17th hole (island green), he was two strokes back. O'Hair had two choices: 1) risk dunking a ball in the water and attempt to go for the pin in hopes of a birdie attempt, or 2) play it safe and put the ball in the middle of the green, worst case take a par and accept a second-place finish.
Competition got the best of O'Hair as he decided to "go for the win" instead of a second place finish. He baptized his tee shot and then dunked his second shot from the drop area to card a quadruple +7 on the par-3 hole! Mickelson played it safe, shot to the center of the green and took his par. To quote NBC golf analyst, Johnny Miller, "This is painful to watch."
Diehard, competitive golfers are all admiring O'Hair, who said in a post-tournament interview, "I wasn't playing for second. I was in a good spot to win and unfortunately I got kicked in the teeth." His comments and attitude may be commendable and lofty, but they proved to be completely misguided. At two shots back he wasn't going to catch Mickelson who moved up to the world's #2 spot with his victory. O'Hair went on to bogey the 18th hole and slide from second place finish to finishing 11th. His decision to go for a win cost him $747,000 (Yes that's three zero's!) in prize money! Sergio Garcia was the beneficiary of O'Hair's poor judgment. It gave the animated Spaniard sole possession of second place. I'm sure he's sending O'Hair roses to express his gratitude. Meanwhile, the normally "go for it at all costs" Mickelson exercised maturity, managed the course, played it safe at the 18th, took a bogey and won his 31st PGA tournament by two strokes!
More troubling is the fact that O'Hair lost a five-year PGA exemption by "going for it". The loss of future tournament security may have been a bigger loss than the nearly 3/4's of a million dollars O'Hair gambled away. Afteward, O'Hair said, "I had an opportunity and it didn't happen. I'm not going to let this bother me." I hope that proves true, but I'm not sure the media will let that happen. Unfortunately until he wins a big tournament, he'll be saddled as the "guy who blew it at Sawgrass."
Someone failed to let Sean know that being number 2 isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with it. Despite the cultural obsession with being #1, some of the greatest biblical leaders were #2's: Joseph under Potiphar and then Pharoah; the warrior David under Saul; Joshua with Moses; John the Baptist; Simon Peter whose brother Andrew was called by Jesus first; Barnabas and Timothy with the Apostle Paul. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. I once served on the pastoral staff of a very large church. I understood that I was not the primary leader, but I could still contribute and be a valuable part of the leadership team. My position on the large pastoral staff did not diminish my ability to minister. To be honest, I ultimately left because I did not feel God calling me to be the next leader of that church.
How ironic that just last year, Phil Mickelson's wreckless "go for broke" style of play cost him a major championship (The U.S. Open at Medina), and this year he took a more conservative approach and won The Players for the first time! Phil moved into #2 in the world rankings and somehow I don't think he's disappointed.
Golf is about course management. Life is about course management. Get ahead of the course, get greedy, get too loose or cocky and you will ultimately pay. I'll bet Sean O'Hair would swap earning checks with Sergio Garcia right now. And no matter what he says, he would love to have a five-year tour exemption. Mr. O"Hair is young, and will recover. But right now he's learning a tough lesson. There's nothing wrong with being number two! And with my game, I'd settle for Sean's 11th any day of the week!
Has God called you to be a 2,3 or 4? Don't be dismayed about it. Moses couldn't have pulled off the Exodus and wilderness wanderings without Aaron and Joshua. They fulfilled a critical leadership role. You can too!
Has God called you to be a 2,3 or 4? Don't be dismayed about it. Moses couldn't have pulled off the Exodus and wilderness wanderings without Aaron and Joshua. They fulfilled a critical leadership role. You can too!
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