Golf In A Parallel Universe (24 page)

Zack and I went through our Pre Tee Off preparation. The place was buzzing with all the US Open crowds and activities. But I hardly noticed. I had my game face on. Zack was a little quiet. He could tell that I was focused and did not want to bother me. Before we knew it, it was Tee Time. We were paired up Nathan Samuele and Greg Evans. Both good players. Nathan has been around for a few years and one of the top level players. And Greg has been on the tour for a couple of years and seems to have a bright future.

I crushed my first drive. I really focused on tempo, but I must have had running on adrenalin. I hit the ball 325 yards dead center. That s a good distance for just about any pro now a days. That was unheard of for me just a few weeks ago. I was 80 yards from the green. “This is the way it is suppose to be” I told myself. Back in the Day, I would never dream of being this close to the green on this hole. I hit my gap wedge 2 feet from the hole. Easy birdie.

The US open has a history of making the course very difficult. The PGA likes to tinker with this tournament. It usually has surprises. The big surprise this year was the rough. Basically they took out a lot of grass and it was just natural sand. They did not water it and it was just a dry sandy mess. So if you got out of the fairway, good luck. And the rest of the course was typical US Open Fashion. Fast greens, tough pin placements and the big greens surrounded by sand traps and grass bunkers. This course will eat you alive. But this was one of those days for me. It was one of those magical rounds. But it was not dramatic. I did not make any wild charges, incredible shots or any of that. I hit 15 greens and the three that I missed I got up and down for a par. I found out real quickly that the key to the course is just keep it in the fairway on your drives and make good golf shots to the greens.

Everything was going for me. I was killing my drives down the middle and having great approach shots. Zack recommends the club and told me where to hit the ball. I had the intense competitive attitude, but was able to keep it in check when I was swinging. The result. I shot two under the front nine, and three under the back nine, for a 65. That was the best round of the day.

After we were all finished up for the day, Zack and I were talking. “Funny thing," I said. “I was really wanting to get all fired up and bury the competition which I did. But there was not like a big dramatic charge. I just made shots. It was easy," I said in a satisfying tone. Zack just smiled. And then I heard a voice from behind.

“Yeah it’s always easy when you hit the ball like you did today." I turned around, and it was Jerry Churchill . We shook hands, and he congratulated me. We talked about my round today. “You played like we all want to play” he told me. “Hit good golf shots and stay out of trouble. You see it every week on the tour. These guys nowadays shoot 12 to 15 under for four days. But those are easy courses compared to the US Open. That does not happen on this course. Not on this venue. There may be a couple of guys that shoot lights out this week. But most will be a victim of this tough course. You did a great job of concentrating and hitting good golf shots and it paid off," he told me.

Then he started laughing. “Sure you said it was easy today but hold that thought. You know golf. One day you are on the top of the world and the next day, you are in the toilet," he said smiling.

“I hear that," I replied. I told him that I will not get too cocky. We chatted a few more minutes, and he took off. I was pretty beat after today. We hung out for a while and I told Zack let's call it a day. We found that my tee time is 11:15am in the morning. Zack and I were looking at the leaderboard and I am right in the mix of things. I am four under after two days. There are about a half dozen players right at four and five under Par. And one player is at six under. As we walked away from the leaderboard I stopped. “What's wrong?", asked Zack. I just shook my head, and we started walking. “The last couple of years most of my leaderboard watching is just to see if I am going to make the cut. Now, I am looking at the leaderboard at the US Open and I am right up at the top. Wow!, how things have changed recently," I said shaking my head.

“Let’s walk," he said. We started walking and I knew he said something he wanted to say. I have always known that Zack is a deep thinker. He is very smart and a great caddie and has become a good friend. You always hear about people that are known to have that “It Factor." Well Zack is one of those. He is the type of guy that people look up to. He is a natural leader. I recognized that when I first hired him as my caddie. I have noticed how other caddies have gravitated to him over the years asking for his advice about the business and basically want to be around him. He is a good guy and very smart. He is always willing to help anyone if he can. Zack does not really talk that often. So when he speaks, I listen.

“I have been in this business a while," he said. I have worked for a few professional golfers, and I have observed many. I have seen all the Up and Downs of professional golfers careers. I have seen some players be consistent through their whole career whether it was consistently good or consistently bad. And of course the consistently bad, don’t last long. I have seen great golfers have a sharp down turn in their careers and never recover. And some have a sharp down turn and they bounce back. I have seen mediocre players that no one even heard of have the light switch turn on and they become great players. And every once in awhile I see something special happen. You Jim, are in the midst of having something special happen. I am not sure what all has happened the last few weeks. But you have changed. And you have changed for the good. Before you were just plodding along in your career with no real direction. But since you won the Masters a lot has changed. Your attitude has changed for the better. And you have revamped your swing into an extremely sound golf swing. I do not know what Gus did with you. But he seemed to find your hidden talent. If you can continue to work on that and have the right mental approach, then you truly have a chance to do something special. So don’t be amazed or count yourself short looking at the leaderboard. You deserve to be on the top of the leaderboard because you have the talent to be there. You are as good as anyone on the tour. My only advice is grab this opportunity of your new found game and go for it!," he told me in a confident tone.

I was shocked. I never heard Zack talk like this about me. I told him that I will commit myself to my game for myself, for him and his family. We gave a high five and called it a day.

I went back to the hotel and took it easy. I felt good. I grabbed a beer and looked out the window. I was trying to comprehend all that is going on with me. I think Zack made a good point. I have a chance to do something special here with this tournament and my career. I decided to commit myself to this game of golf and really see what I can do. I feel like I am on the verge of really making something happen.

I got something to eat and got to bed early. Tomorrow is day 3 of the US Open. All days are important. But at the end of the day tomorrow, everyone will know where they stand. And I want to be on the top. I go to sleep and the same old dreams come back. But like the night before, the dreams seem to have a sense of stress. I cannot put my finger on it, but the dreams are not so happy anymore.

Day 3 Of the US Open

Day 3 of the US Open. I get out to the course about 9:00 am. My tee time is 11:15am. It is really windy today. Apparently a cool front is coming from the north. Sometimes when that happens in this part of the country you then have that very strong southern wind. This happens when the pressure is changing because a front moving in. It's crazy. It is going to be hard to keep the ball on the tee today, much less hit it. There will be some high scores today. I talk to Zack, trying to figure out the plan. In the past I could always adapt to the wind hitting it low if needed. But I haven't even tried that with my new swing. We went to the range. Everyone was working on their swing to adapt to the wind. The standard way to hit shots lower is just play the ball further back in your stance to hit a lower shot. I realize as we hit balls that Gus worked with me a lot on that. He had me adjust my stance for different irons shots. So I am thinking I will just do the same to hit lower shots. But it just did not feel right. I decided not to worry about it. If I start making adjustments with my swing now it could be a disaster. Especially in this wind. If I make good swings and hit good shots, let the chips fall where they may. I could see that a lot of the other players were worrying about the wind. So I decided to just ignore it and not let it get in my head. Zack agreed. So that was the plan.

We tee off at 11:15am and we got to the first tee. I am playing with Lanny Miller, who is also four under for the tournament. “This wind is crazy” he said. He was right, it was terrible. Also seemed like the wind was swirling and coming from different directions. One minute it would be coming from behind you The next minute it would be into your face. But I could tell that it was getting in his head. We will see what happens.

On the first hole the wind was dead in our face. He hit first. And he hit a slice. With the strong wind a little slice turns into a big slice, and he was in the rough. I hit my shot straight. “So a straight shot goes straight, even in the wind," I chuckle to myself. It was not very far, but good enough. Normally, I would have a short iron approach on this hole. But because of the wind I had to hit a five iron. “No biggie, same swing I tell myself.” And I deliver. I hit it 10 feet from the hole. Meanwhile Lanny is struggling. I make my putt and he makes a double.

We continue on and the wind is not letting up. It seems to be getting stronger. Lanny is not able to handle it. He is having a terrible time. And before we knew it. He has a string of bogeys and doubles and he has knocked himself out competition. And he is not alone. A lot of players are having trouble today. And the top of the leaderboard is not so crowded anymore. They are dropping like flies. Everyone is letting the wind get into their head.

I figure out real quickly that playing in this wind is a mental game. I just had the attitude that the wind was my friend. That approach seemed to take the worry out of it. But you still have to make good shots, wind or no wind. I just concentrate on making a good swing and hitting good shots and it paid off. I hit the ball great, despite the conditions. This is what Gus taught me. Just concentrate those few seconds and make a good swing and good things will happen. After it was all said and done I shot four under for the day.

That was the second best round posted today. There were lot of mid and high 70’s. A few around par, and just a very few under par.

We looked at the leader board as most players were in for the day. There were a lot of bad rounds today. Everyone one was trying just trying to survive and a lot of players have dropped off the leaderboard. Except Cory McCullough. He had put in three solid rounds together and he was 7 under after three rounds.

After all the players were in. The reality starts to sink in for me. I am 8 under after three rounds and leading the US Open by one stroke over the number one player in the world. “Wow!," I tell myself. I am not sure how to handle this. This is uncharted waters for me. I must have had the deer in the headlight look as I was processing this. Zack just looked at me. “Not as much pressure as being one stroke away from making the cut is it?," he said laughing. “You got a good point” I replied nodding my head. And he is right. There is nothing like being right on the bubble of making the cut after the second round of the tournament. If you are fortunate enough to make the cut, then you get to make some money. If you do not make the cut, there is no payday. And that is stressful.

As we are talking Jerry Churchill drops by and congratulates me. He was telling me that the wind was blowing so hard today, they shut down a couple of the TV towers because they were afraid they were going to blow down. He laughed and told me some funny stories of past tournaments where he and other players in the past have dealt with bad weather in tournaments. I think he was just trying to make me relax. He knows that I am feeling the pressure of leading the US Open after three rounds.

Eventually we started talking about the tournament and where I am at. “What do I do tonight or tomorrow to prepare? Do I get all psyched up, or try to stay mellow or what?, I asked.

“Well," and he paused. “I cannot tell you that. Different people prepare in different ways. I have been in your situation many times. I tried taking different approaches on my attitude and my preparation for situations like this. Some were successful, and some were great failures. If you want to get hyped up, great. If you want to take the mellow approach that would be good too. Both approaches have their benefits. The only thing that I recommend is not to have self doubt and feel you do not belong here. And most important, do not be scared. Self Doubt and being afraid will destroy you.," he told me with a serious look on his face. “Sounds good to me," I replied. We chatted for a few more minutes and finally said goodbye. Zack and I called it a day. Tee off time is 12:30pm. We made plans to meet at 10:00am tomorrow.

I got back to my hotel and thought about all of this. I am glad that I talked to Jerry Churchill because I was getting really nervous and having self doubt. So realizing that, I decide to just get rid of that attitude. I will just prepare mentally and physically like I always do. I just take on the confidence attitude and not get too hyped up or not get to mellow. I tell myself since I have made my decision to just take my normal approach to this. And since I am taking my normal approach. Then it is beer time!

The wind has calmed down, and I have a little balcony outside my hotel room. I grab a beer and sit back and relax. “Man, this beer taste good," I tell myself. I am in reflective mood. I did good these few days. I start to realize that I have a real chance to win the US Open tomorrow. And if I do that, then I will have two majors this year. "Can go for the Grand Slam," I ask myself. But then I catch myself. I have to stop daydreaming and thinking about all of this. I need to take one day at a time and not worry about the future. “Whatever happens tomorrow happens," I tell myself.