Dang. I had to work today, a perfectly wonderful Sunday in Larkspur, California. What made it worse was that the office was hot and the final round of the golf’s PGA championship was on television. As all true fans know, watching sports TV is best not done alone in an office….so after checking the web for results, off I went to the local pub to watch the last holes.
For those who didn’t do this, here’s the rundown: The world’s number one golfer, Tiger Woods, was in a dog-fight with a little-known South Korean, Y.E. Yang (more precisely Yong-Eun Yang) for the championship. When I arrived at the pub, Woods was trailing Yang by one shot going to the 18th and final hole.
Now, to give you some perspective, this would be like Michael Jordan being down in a slam-dunk contest to a 5/10” high-schooler, or Warren Buffet being behind in investment gains to a dart-throwing hair-dresser. In golf, Woods is Goliath to just about anyone else’s David. The atmosphere in the pub was electric.
Woods himself is no slouch in the inspiration department. The first person of color to really excel at the sport in the United States, Tiger has spurred many a youngster and a few oldsters to take up the game. His life story is compelling—great parents, hard work and excellence. His dedication and commitment are legend. Many of us grieved with him when his father (“Pop” to Tiger) passed away a few years ago just before a major championship.
Just about everyone in the pub was rooting for him to win his 15th major championship.
Yet there was something compelling about Yang. His composure in the face of huge crowds and pressure was impressive. Even after missing a short putt on the 17th, he stayed in the fairway on 18, hitting down the left side to leave himself a tricky second shot to a small green. Woods was down the middle and perfectly positioned to approach the pin on the left side of the tiny green and force a playoff.
Yang stuck his second shot and sank a ten-footer for a two-shot win, and the pub went wild. I admit that I teared up when I saw this modest man embrace his wife on the way to the scorer’s tent.
The guy next to me was glued to the set…..he said simply, “It’s great to see someone that happy.”
Is this inspiration? It certainly felt that way, and I would be surprised if thousands if not millions of Korean kids are not moved to change their lives by this simple experience—not just golfers, but others who have dreams of achieving success that they didn’t quite see as possible before today.
So what is it precisely that creates that feeling of possibility?
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