Golf In A Parallel Universe (40 page)

We teed off at 12:10pm. Now everyone is playing in twosomes. I am paired up with Tom Heller. He and I are both two shots behind the leader. And the leader is my new rival. The number one player in the world Cory McCullough.

After the first few holes, it is pretty obvious that the conditions are tough. The fast greens with tough pin placements and the windy conditions are getting into a lot of the player's heads. A few of the players are dropping like flies. I am hanging in there. For me, I had one bogey on the front nine. And I made some good up and down chip and putts to save par. And I got three birdies, so I was two under after nine holes. The back nine more of the same. No bogeys this side, and I had two birdies. One of my birdies was a nice 10 foot putt. The other was a chip in. That chip in was fun. The gallery went crazy. “A little luck doesn't hurt” I told Zack.

“I think it is more the fact that hard work pays off," he said winking at me. He was referring how he got me in the mode a couple of months ago really working on my chipping around the green. And that has really paid dividends. That the benefit of having a good caddie.

Hole number 18 is normally a Par 5. It is 520 yards Long. But it is a Par 4 for the PGA Championship. On a normal day, it is hard enough. A tour pro can hit a 300 yard drive and still have a 220 yard approach shot. But today we are dead into the strong wind.

“Man, will they let us play off the white tee’s today” I said laughing. We all just laughed, this is more like a par 5 today. I tee'd my ball low and hit it as hard as I could right down the middle. As we came up to my ball, my approach shot was 250 yard dead into the wind. And the wind seemed to be getting stronger. I was tempted to hit a wood my second shot. But if that gets high, and the wind carries it, no telling where it will go. I told Zack that I am playing this as a par 5 and laying up. I took a three iron. If I can keep it down and run it up close to the green and maybe get a up and down for a par or bogey at the worst. Zack agreed. I was able to pound it low, and because of the hard dried out ground the ball rolled and rolled. Eventually it made it barely on the front of the green. The pin is in the middle. So about a 80 foot putt. I can two putt that for a par and call it a day. We approached the green and the gallery that had been following us had come up as far as they could. But they could not get too close because of the big crowd that was already there. Zack and I sized up the putt. I am two under this nine, four under for the day. If I can two putt here, that will be a good round for today under these conditions. On a long putt like this, you can only try to get close. Just imagine a three-foot circle around the hole and try to make it in that circle. And the putt in it is directly into the wind. I make a good stroke on the ball. It bounced as it was going to the hole which is not good. But it stayed true. And to my surprise, the ball dropped! I jumped high with a big smile and fist pump, and the crowd went crazy. I know that Cory McCullough who was on the eighteenth tee box heard that. I just could not believe that putt dropped.

So I shot five under of 67 which was the top round of the day. When it was all said and done, I gained two strokes on Cory and we were tied after three rounds. The table was set for a dramatic shoot out tomorrow. If I can pull this off tomorrow, then I will win the fourth major of the year and win the Grand Slam which has not been done in modern golf history. Zack and I were really happy. It was really a fun day for me. It was almost like I was playing for fun not in a tournament. I did not feel a lot of pressure. I felt relaxed all day. Maybe it is because all of this mess is over with Dafford Hilton, and I am back playing golf again after being stuck in Chicago for several days.

I told Zack that today was the first time that I can remember in long time that my mind seemed to be clear and I really feel relaxed. He told me that he noticed that about me as well. I am thinking things are looking up for me. Maybe I can get back on the right track emotionally and start having fun again. Heck, I did not even hear that little voice today very much. “Maybe everything will be OK” I said to myself.

Zack and I go into the Player's Locker room and put up our gear. There are a few players in there,everyone is beat. Playing golf in windy conditions will zap the energy out of you. Some players are upset on their bad rounds and a couple congratulate me on my good round today. I am in good spirits. Zack and I get things put away and talk about the strategy tomorrow. I told him I am relaxed but confident and I will be ready tomorrow. We walk out of the locker room into the hall of the club house.

As we are walking down the hallway we see three people at the end of the hall. They are standing there and they look like they are waiting to see us. One of them is Jerry Churchill . The other is the PGA President David Hicks. And the third person is a man in a suit and tie. He looks familiar to me but I cannot remember where I have seen him before. All three of them had a serious look on their faces. As we get to them, I spoke out smiling. “Ah, Man! you saw me ground that wedge in the sand trap didn't you?” Jerry and Mr. Hicks smiled, but they seemed nervous. The other gentlemen, did not quite get what I was joking about. He obviously is not a golfer. He held out his hand to shake my hand. “Mr. Galloway, Agent Phillips FBI. I am the first agent you met a few weeks ago Charlotte NC," he said in a professional tone. “Ah, yeah” I said shaking my head as I shook his head. I was wondering what he was doing here. “Mr. Galloway can we talk a minute and he opened his hand and pointed to an open door that lead into a room. "Sure," I replied. “Alone?," he said as he looked at Zack.

"This is my caddie, he goes where I go. He can be part of this meeting," I replied. “OK fine, he said looking at both of us with agreement. The five us walked in the door and sat down at the tables. This was some type of small banquet room with round tables and some chairs. I could not imagine why he is here to see me. The only thing I could think of is this must be some type of follow up from the investigation of the Dafford Hilton case.

As we sat down I could tell there was something serious going on. Everyone was quiet and Agent Phillips looked concerned. I am thinking this is not just a routine follow up. He took a deep breath. “Mr. Galloway. I got some bad news for you regarding Dafford Hilton," he said looking at me very seriously. I looked at him. “Ok, but I thought that this is all over since he committed suicide. I was free'd last Friday from the Protective Custody Program," I said looking at him with my hands held up in a “what are you talking about” type of gesture.

He put his hands together and put them on the table and looked at me very seriously. I knew he was about to tell me something important. But I could not image what he was about to say. “Mr Galloway it turns out that he is not dead. He is alive and well. And we believe he has come here to track you down."

I was stunned. “What!?," I screamed out while leaning back in my chair. “Agent Keller told me that he shot himself in the head and the Police verified his identity!," I cried out emotionally. He had his lips tight together looking down at the table and then looked up at me. “The small town local police in Georgia that found the body were tricked on this one. They took the fingerprints of the body at the scene. Now days this is high tech, not with ink and paper. They have a scanner they use to scan each finger. They scanned all ten fingers, and it was a perfect match. This is routine and happens all the time. The FBI confirmed the prints. The body matched the description. And we ordered an autopsy which is standard procedure. This area in the South East of the United States where the body was found is in a rural area. They were not able to get the body to the Coroner's office in a timely manner. And then they did not get to the process of doing the autopsy for a few days. Sometimes this happens in small town jurisdictions. They ran the dental records and took a DNA sample which they sent out and it took a couple of days to get. And turns out that the Dental records and the DNS was not a match."

“But what about the fingerprints” I asked. “That's where he got us, he replied slamming his fist on the table. "He copied his fingerprints and put them on another person, he said in a disgusted manner."

“What? How could he do that I asked” in a confused tone. “Well,” replied Agent Phillips. You may remember when I told you that this guy was a Marine Sniper and those guys have a unique skill set. They are trained to think outside the box and do whatever they can do obtain their objective. He got a hold of a high tech scanner. He scanned his finger printers. He also had 3-D printer. He printed his fingerprints on a very thin membrane latex material. Then he found this guy, which was a homeless guy. Same age, same build and similar looks to himself. He recruited this guy and scammed him someway to trick him in thinking he was helping him. He carefully glued these copied fingerprints on his fingers. He probably conned him in thinking he could do some crime and not get caught because his fingerprints would not be tracked. So he carefully and very skillfully put his fingerprints on this guy. Then when he was not looking, he shot him in the head, and made it look like a suicide."

“Damn!," I shouted out. “Sound like this is right of a Spy Novel," I said. “Yep” replied Agent Phillips. “And we do not know where he is. He may have skipped the country. Or he could be hiding somewhere far from here. However, he could be here, tracking you down. Georgia is not that far from here. He had plenty of time to get here via stolen car or hitch hiking." Agent Phillips looked me in the eye. “Look Mr. Galloway. You are in danger. We need to put you into protective custody again until we catch this guy."

I just sat back stunned. I cannot believe this happening to me. Seems like every time I get a little break and things start going well, something happens. I was pissed. I slammed my fist on the table. “Look!," I screamed out. I am tired of running! I am tired of this guy destroying my life. Hell, bring him on! I will kick his Ass!," I screamed out loud, slamming my fist on the table again. Everyone was stunned with my outburst. Except Agent Phillips. He is a trained professional with the FBI. I am sure he has seen all reactions from people like me. He just sat there with a concerned look on his face. He was calm and professional.

“I understand Mr. Galloway," he said calmly. About that time. Zack, who has always been there for me and has got me out of lots of Jams in my day, at least on the Golf course. Put his hand on my shoulder. “Easy there Big Fellow," he said in a joking laughing tone. “Be Careful, I did not know you had that in you," he said smiling. That loosened things up and everyone started smiling. I smiled a little also. “Yeah, like I am going to kick anyone’s Ass, I said chuckling. "However” I said looking at him. “Agent Phillips. “I am tired of running. And I don’t know if you know anything about professional golf, but I am on the verge to have a chance to make Golf History tomorrow. I am tied for the lead in this tournament and if I win, then I will win the Grand Slam of golf, which has never been done. At least not in modern times. I want to do this, I want to play tomorrow," I said slamming my fist down on the table again.

“I am with you, we have gone this far, I am ready to finish this thing as well," Zack told me. I turned and gave him a fist pump. We all discussed this for a few minutes. Agent Phillips said that they cannot force me to go into Protective Custody. He told me that If I play they will have security here. But he made it very clear that if Dafford Hilton is here it may be difficult to protect me. He explained that he could be in the Gallery with a handgun. Or he could be sitting in a tree or a building several hundred yards outside the golf course property with a sniper rifle and he can pick me off. But I still did not want to give in. After quite a bit of consultation between the five of us, they let me have my way. He told me that they will have very tight security tomorrow. They will have Metal Detectors that everyone will go though. And they will even have high tech Facial Recognition cameras which will be able to pick Dafford Hilton out of a crowd. “You're not the first professional Athlete that has had to go through something like this. You would be surprised how many professional athletes had to suit up for a game, knowing they have a threat and that someone may be pointing a gun at them from the crowd," he told me.

“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or not, I replied shaking my head. "Mr. Galloway, can we at least take you to a different hotel tonight than the one you have been staying at the last few days?," he asked.

“Sure fine, with me. As long as they have beer. I think I need a beer after all of this," I said smiling. “I think we can manage that," he said with a grin.

We finished things up, and I told Zack that we will meet here tomorrow about 11:00 am. I have a 1:00 pm tee time. They took me to the hotel. I got in my room and just started trying to process all of this. I just could not believe that this was all happening again. Just when things seemed to start going good, then this happens. I noticed they had beer in the fridge so I grabbed one. I told myself, that I deserve at least one beer tonight. I sat down by the window. I drank my beer and looked out at the window at view like I always like to do. I always enjoy sitting down and looking at the view and think about things. It is relaxing. I took one sip of beer. Then I realized. "This is not a good place to be unless I want to get shot," I told myself as I got up and closed the curtain and moved away from the window. I was pissed that I am now paranoid. I did not even want the rest of my beer, I emptied the bottle in the sink and threw it away.

I sat down on the side of the bed with my head in my hands. That stupid voice is coming back louder than ever, screaming at me that we need to go home. I get up and pace around the room. My head feels like it is going to split. “The hell with this, get a hold of yourself” I tell myself. At that moment I made up my mind to just get pissed and not get scared and not let this overwhelm me. I felt that same courage again when I was in the conference room and I screamed out loud that I want to kick Dafford Hilton’s ass. After that I settled down. After thinking about this some more I decided, not even to be mad. I will just just relax and keep my emotions under control. After that I was fine.