Golf In A Parallel Universe (41 page)

I wanted to call Emily, but I did not want to talk to her. I did not want to let her know about all of this and get her upset. I know it would be hard on her. If I talked to her I know that would not be able to keep it together. I gave her a quick text. I told her that I am beat and I am going to bed early and that I love her. She replied back that she loved me and said good night.

At that point I start to realize my live is important to other people now, such as her and my future child. I now feel selfish that I may be putting my life on the line tomorrow. But somehow, I convince myself that everything will be OK tomorrow. I rationalize to myself that maybe Dafford Hilton skipped the country or hiding in the hills.

I go to bed and fall right to sleep fast. I have the same dreams of being back in the small town with this family. The faces are getting more clear. In the dream, no one says anything at all. They seem to be preparing for me to come home. They seem to think that I will be coming home soon. And in the dream I feel the same way.

Sunday Morning, final day of the PGA Championship. Before we left the hotel, Agent Phillips went over the details of the security for the day. He told me that they will have two or more security personnel with me at all times. It will be a combination of FBI agents and the local police. They will follow me everywhere before and after the round. And during the round there will be one walking down each side of the fairway inside the ropes. They will be watching the crowds for any suspicious activity. They even wanted me to wear a bulletproof vest. I told them that would not be possible. I cannot wear that and make a good golf swing. Besides that, it's going to be a hot sunny day.

After he went over all the details, they took me to the course. We arrived about 10:45 am. I have a 1:00 pm tee time. Security was tight. Everyone including players, staff and media had to go through metal detectors. The public was not aware of why security was so tight. If anyone asked, they were told it was just routine procedure. I met up with Zack. At first we did not talk about all that has transpired the last few hours. We just did our normal pre-tournament routine. Zack had scouted out the course this morning and we went over the pin placements. We went over our strategy. “The course is playing much different today," Zack told me. “How So?," I asked. “Today there is not much wind like yesterday. But it will be hot and sunny today. And because of the windy and hot conditions yesterday, the greens and the fairways are really dried out. They did not water much last night. So the fairways and the greens are super fast. And the pin places are insane today. Since the fairways are hard as a rock. I can see the them causing major problems today. Especially for long hitters. If they hit their shots hot, on the outside part of the fairway, they will not stay in the fairway. Distance is not the key today. You will get plenty of that with the hard fairways. The key is to keep your drives in the fairway,," he explained.

“Sounds like I should use my three wood instead of my driver on some holes." I replied. “Short and in the middle beats the rough," he said smiling.

“So," said Zack in a concerning tone. “How do you feel today? How do you feel about all this mess that has transpired the last few hours? Are you going to be able to play today? It’s never too late to back out you know?”

“I’m fine," I said in a defiant tone. “I am not going to let this guy get into my head. “OK, sounds good, he replied as we made our way to the practice green. “I got you back, you can depend on me." I told him that I know that he does. And I appreciate that. But I was extremely nervous.

We started walking to the practice range. All this time we had plain clothes security personnel with us every step. They seemed very professional. I am pretty sure they were FBI. They would be just a few feet away from us at all times. They blended in the background and the crowd probably did not know they were there. But I felt paranoid. I felt myself looking at every face in the crowds. I was suspicious of everyone. If I saw someone about the same age, height and weight of Dafford Hilton, I would really watch them. I had visions of him jumping out of the crowd and shooting me. And when I was away from the crowd. I would feel like I was a sitting duck waiting for him to pick me off with his sniper rifle. I could just image a bullet ripping me in the chest or in the head.

We hit balls for a while and I was not hitting the ball well at all. Zack could tell that I was distracted. We went to the practice green to work on my chipping and putting and it was more of the same. I felt terrible. I was scared. Zack could tell that I was I was having a difficult time. Jerry Churchill was watching me and he could tell that I was having trouble as well. He came over and talked to me smiling and asking me if I am ready to make a run at the championship today. I told him I was, but I was not too convincing.

He asked if he could talk to me for a minute, and I said sure. We walked over in an area away from the crowd. “Look, Jim. It's not too late to call this thing off. It's just a golf tournament when you break it all down," he said. “Nope I am not pulling out. I am going for it today," I replied. He shook his head in agreement. “Alright then. But you are going to have to be mentally strong today. In my years I have had similar things happen to me. When I was playing in my Prime I had death threats against me quite often my first few years on the tour,"

“Really?, I replied in a surprised tone. “Yep," he replied shaking his head. “Some people did not like the idea, of this little short guy from Britain, coming here to the United States and winning these American tournaments. Especially the US Open. So I know how you feel. I also had to play in tournaments where I had some outside pressure such as when my pregnant wife had to go into the hospital and had an early delivery of one of our kids. I was thousands of miles away and there was nothing I could do. I had played many of times when someone in my family was sick. I even had to play one tournament when I found my wife and two kids were hurt in a car wreck back home. They were OK, but it was extremely difficult for me.

“Yeah," I can imagine, I told him. “Ok," here is the key he said. “First of all, you are not going to block out all the feeling as you play today. But try to realize that you have a lot of security and hopefully Dafford Hilton is not here. But the real secret to your success today is when you set up to hit the ball. You have to totally block out the outside world for those few seconds, just like Gus taught you. He taught you that for a reason because there are always going to be distractions. You can freak out all you want in between shots. But you have to concentrate more than ever for those few seconds, to make a good swing. If you do that you will be fine," he assured me.

“Makes sense to me, I will do that," I replied. I know he is right, and I made up my mind to do this. I thanked him for the advice and I told him, I will do my best today. He shook my hand and said goodbye. Then he stopped and turned around. “One more thing” he said in a concerned tone. “Give me 30 seconds. Remember what I told you in Chicago. I know you do not believe me, but it does not matter now. It only Matters later. He looked at me and said that phrase. “Keep it Parallel Jim, Keep it Parallel." And he turned and walked away.

At that point, I did not feel he was crazy for some reason. After all of that, I was somewhat relaxed. Zack and I prepared for the tournament. And before we knew it it was time to tee off. We were on the first tee at 12:55pm. Cory McCullough and I shook hands, and the Starter got us going. I could tell that Cory was extremely focused. And he had no idea on what I was going though. This was going to be a battle today. He and I were tied for the lead. And we had a two stroke lead over the field. I was ready to go head to head with this guy. My competitive juices were flowing. At that point I decided to block all the outside distractions and just channel all that emotional energy to beating this guy and taking this Championship.

We both hit good drives off the tee. I was especially happy to that I hit a good drive on the first hole. As we are walking down the middle of the fairway I realized that I will not able to block out the fact that I may be in the Scope of a Sniper Rifle. But somehow I was able to deal with it. We both birdied the first hole. “Game on” I told Zack as we walked to the second tee. He could tell that I was back in form. The next few holes Cory and I were trading punches. He would make a birdie and, then I would get it back with a birdie when he pared. We were still tied for the day after seven holes. Hole 8 is a long par 4. I crushed my drive right down the middle. I had a short iron to the green and knocked it two feet from the hole. Cory’s drive was long, but he was out of the fairway. He hit his second shot in a bunker by green. But he was able to get up and down for a par. I tapped in my Birdie. Going into number nine, I was one stroke ahead of him for the tournament. We noticed by scoreboard watching that the guys in front of us have lost some ground on us. So looks like just me and Cory will be the one's battling for the Championship.

As I stood on the ninth tee I was one up on Cory. I felt good. I felt cocky. Number nine is a par four, not partially long. I chose a driver. I felt confident, especially after my last drive. It’s better to be on the left side of the fairway on this hole. I crushed my drive just like I wanted. But it hit the rock hard ground and went into the rough. I was pissed. Cory hit his perfect down the middle. On this hole there are no trees in the left rough. But I had a terrible lie. There is no way I can get to the green with this lie. I was able to blast out of the rough about 40 yards from the green. Cory hit his approach shot 10 feet from the hole. My third shot was too strong. I hit on the back of the green. I had about a 70 foot putt. The pin was on the front of the green. The greens are super fast. I three putted for a double bogey and Cory knocked in his 10 foot putt. A three stroke swing on this one hole. He is now has me by two strokes.

As we were walking off the green to the 10th hole, I could see it on Zack's face that he knows that the drives are the key today. He just did not want to say “I told you so” when I hit a driver on a short par four. On the tenth hole Cory hit a good drive, but it kicked out of the fairway. So advantage me. “You don’t have to tell me” I said smiling at Zack. “Mostly three wood from here on out” I said as I pulled out my three wood. We both parred the tenth hole. Same thing for and eleven and twelve. I was able to win the thirteenth hole with a birdie, so I was one off the lead.

We battled it out the next few holes. I stuck to my plan. I hit my three wood off the tee and kept it in the fairway. I was able to block out the outside distractions. Especially when I got over the ball. I blocked out everything for those few seconds just as Gus had taught me. “Make that nice pendulum swing with a good smooth tempo," was the only thing I was thinking. I was hitting the ball great. The last few holes I started to notice the gallery was huge. They were getting to witness a great battle between Cory McCullough, the number one player in the world and me. I cannot believe I am here. I am just some unknown guy who came out of nowhere this year and now in position to win the Grand Slam.

I start to look at the faces in the crowd and I start thinking about Dafford Hilton again. And then that stupid voice in the back of my head started to come alive again. I did not even notice until just then. But that the voice has been mostly absent today. Now the voice was freaking out. It kept telling me it is time to come home. It kept telling me that this is the end is near. I never heard that stupid voice say that before. As we were walking down the fairway, “The end is near?!," I spoke out loud. Zack looked at me. “What?," he asked. “Ah, nothing, nothing," I said nervously. He just gave me a confused look.

The next few holes I really started having a strange feeling. I kept seeing this picture in my mind of a finger on the trigger of a rifle. I tried to rationalize in my mind that it may be normal to think about this since all this is going on with Dafford Hilton. But the picture was was so clear to me in my mind and it really bothered me. However, when I set up to hit my shots I was able to block everything out and make a good swing. I was still hitting the ball well. I was thinking about what Jerry Churchill told me today that it is OK to freak out between my shots. But when I address the ball, to block out everything.

By the time we got to hole 16, I was really sweating. I do not know if it was the hot sun or if I was just nervous. Zack is concerned about me and made sure I drink plenty of water and a sports drink. Cory and I both par number 16. I am still one off the lead with two holes to go. As we go to the 17th tee, I watch the crowd. I am starting to get Paranoid. I worry that Dafford Hilton is in the crowd. This is a 472 yard par 4. It is critical to be in the fairway on this hole. The fairway is tight and the small green is well protected by bunkers on the left side of the green. Cory crushes his drive. However he pushes it a little. And with the hard ground, it kicks way out of the fairway close to the trees. I work hard to block everything out. I hit my three wood and keep it in the fairway about 190 yards from the pin.

As we approach my second shot, Zack and I size this up. I do not think I can carry the green and make it hold. The green is hard and we have a little wind behind us. There are sand bunkers to the left and if I go over the green, it is thick rough and will be hard to chip up and down. But to right there is plenty of room. There is slope and if you hit the ball to the right, it may kick onto the green. We decided on a six iron. The plan is to hit it high and land well short of the green and play that slope and hopefully kick left upon the green. Two holes to go and I am one off the lead, I have to make something happen now. This is a high percentage shot and Corry is in the rough with tree trouble. I am really nervous at this point. I do not know if it is because of all that is going on today with a possible sniper out there somewhere, or if I am just nervous because of the pressure of the competition. I address the ball and block everything out. I make that good pendulum swing and hit the ball just like I wanted. I immediately think of Gus. He would be proud of the way I made this swing. I hit it just exactly like I wanted. The ball hit about twenty-five yards short of the green on the right-hand side just as I planned. It hit that slope bounced to the left and gently rolled on the green about twenty-five feet from the pin. That felt great. Zack and I were happy. That is a makeable putt.