As he approaches his shot on the 18th, the heat
presses in around Guthrie. Still
as a statue the air is, and the sun a steady and constant bombardment of
energy upon the mingling crowd.
Guthrie’s first shot from the tee had sailed wide right on him, into a
clump of aged, bent trees. The
course staff had marked the ball and were creating a wall around it so the
spectators would not interfere.
Nothing like watching a young talent struggle with a
challenging shot. What choice
would he make? How would he handle
the pressure? It’s only day one,
but the leaders have struck early and hard with low scores, pressing the rest
of the later field to keep up the pace.
After day two the number of entries is cut in half.
Guthrie approaches the shot. There is one small window through a group of trees that
might give him a chance to land the green about 160 yards away. But it will require him to get the ball
to arc to the left around one last tree after lofting over the first two and
missing one that is leaning right in front of him..
Or he could chip out onto the fairway safely and get a
better look at setting up on the green.
A crowd begins to muster around the ball as he scans his
options. It takes him little time
to decide. He is going for
it. He and his caddie discuss
strategy as the onlookers shake heads, gasp, chuckle, and discuss the
likelihood that his ball will survive the travel to the green.
This is no small time tournament. Here, Guthrie stands on the big stage, in a pivotal moment
that may decide a number of things for this potential emerging star. He has talent and skill. Can he make the shot when he needs it
the most?
Knowing that keeping himself in the tournament might require
him to take risks, he grabs his club and sets his sights on the 18th
green. People who were mingling in
front of where he might be are ushered out of the way.
“You might want to move back a little” Guthrie mentions with
a slight smile to a few nearby onlookers.
The crowd chuckles, swooshing out the half held breaths of the people
watching, as if they were the ones taking the swing.
The course staff holds up their hands to silence and still
the crowd. People stop
moving. Guthrie looks intently at
the ball and lines up his club. Time stops moving. He cocks his arms back and swings gracefully through. His ball lifts out of the pile of
bark chips within which it had landed, flies past the bent tree, lofts over the
clump of trees and arcs to the left around a last tree slightly along a path that
lands right on the green.
The crowd cheers and incredulous smiles break out on many of
the spectator’s faces. Truly a remarkable shot.
With the heat, the crowd, the pressure, Guthrie
pulled out a shot that defines focus and perseverance.
In our moments, do we have the ability to focus our talents
and do the best we can, when it matters most? Indeed we all do.
It may not come in the spotlight of national TV. It may not come with the reward and
adulation that we all hope we can have every day. And it may not always work out the way you had intended. But it will come, when you believe in yourself and you trust
the energy and talent that swells from within you.
Some days it may be harder than others to reach for that energy
and belief--to instead succumb to insecurity and self-doubt. But without the drive to succeed, we would have long ago perished
into obscurity.
That is not our destiny, and it is not yours either. Live for today and take the shot that
you know you can make.
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