Golf In A Parallel Universe

by Jimmy Bloodworth

  Wednesday Morning I am set to play Dave Anderson. I am sure he doesn't know what think about me after what I have done recently. Winning the Masters and then that circus act I did last week making a fool of myself. The TV crew is also speculating on what they will be seeing from me today. But this day was mine. I throttled him. The day was over at the 14th hole with 5 down with 4 to go. I was in a “take no prisoners” mood and I was a little rude to him. I hardly even shook his hand after the match. After the match my Caddie Zack, looked at me like “What happened?” After the match, I got something to eat and relaxed for a while. I told Zack to go to the hotel and I will see him in the morning. I was getting ready to go back to the hotel. Then I decided that I felt like going to the range and hit balls. So I did just that because I am having so much fun hitting the ball. That little voice in the back of my head does not really seem to be all getting and cheery like before. Instead that voice is taking a more serious tone. I am enjoying every shot I hit. But I feel different today, much more determined. I feel a very strong determination to get better and better and dominate and destroy every player in this tournament. I still do not understand that little voice in my head and where it is coming from. It all started when I won the Masters. I guess I am losing my mind, that's the only thing I can think of. But I am having fun playing golf for the first time in years and I want to continue. Finally I call it a day. I get back to the hotel and relax. I always like to grab a beer and look out the window of whatever hotel I am at and reflect on where I am at and where I am going. I think about today. I played great! I was very competitive, and I destroyed my opponent. But I was a rude jerk today to him. I have never been like that before and feel a little bad. I will work on not letting my new found competitive edge spill over to my personally.

  The next day, round two. I play Larry Simons. He is a good player and has been around for a while. I have the same competitive fire as yesterday and I destroyed him. We finish on hole 16, 3 down two to go. At least today, I looked normal on the outside And I was not the jerk I was yesterday. Zack just looked at me. “You were right, this may be a wild ride," he said smiling and shaking his head. I am sure he is as confused about me as I am confused about myself.

  Day 3, next victim is Dave Johnson. He is a very good golfer. We were pretty even the first few holes. But then I dominated down the stretch. Finished again on 16, 3 down and two to go.

  Saturday Day 4. Cooper Jones, the 5th player in the world ranking in the world falls to my competitive dominance and I win on the 17th 2 down with one to go. Now people are starting to wonder about me.

  Sunday Day 5. Final round.I am playing Cory McCullough. He is the number one in the world. I am sure everyone is not knowing what to think. Jim has been good lately but sure this schmuck cannot beat the number one player in the world. Wow, a five day tournament if you go all the way, this is something new to me. The last few years, I have struggled to make the cuts on tournaments and was out in two days. Jerry Churchill is not working the telecast on this tournament. Little did I know he was watching me on TV.

  Jerry was home by himself, his wife was shopping. He nervously sat down to watch this match. He has been seeing the progression of Jim’s game and tries to think about how he should handle Jim. As he sits on the couch to start to watch the match he sighs, “This boy does not know what he is going through. Someday we will talk," he said to himself. He watches intently as we start the match.

  Cory is up first and he is one of the longest hitters on the tour. He crushes the ball right down the middle a good 325 yards. He seems to be pumped. “We are playing with the big boys now," I say to myself. But I am not intimidated. I hit a good shot about 285 yards down the left side, a good shot for me. My second shot is pin high, left side of the green about 25 feet from the cup. Cory nails it 2 feet from the hole. I miss my 25 footer, he taps in his easy birdie. One hole, one down, not a good start. Hole two, he bombs another drive down the middle. I hit a good drive also down the middle. Amazing, I am 40 yards behind him. My second shot is 5 iron and I push it. I am just off the right side of the green. He hits an easy 8 iron six feet from the hole. I get up and down for a par, and he makes his birdie putt. Two holes and I am two down. Hole three more of the same. As we are walking down the fairway, I marvel at his stature in the game. I have never played with him before and only talked to him a few times. You can really see the talent and the composure, He is so much different from the other players. I guess like any other sport, you have the average, the good, and then the elite. He is cut from a different mode and definitely in the elite class. He has the complete game. He has all the shots along with the mental toughness and composure. And he is a good guy. A good role model for the game. I feel myself getting a little intimidated. We both par hole 3. So I am down two after three holes. Hole 4 is a par three 220 yards. He hits a four iron just on the front of the green. I hit a smooth high two iron perfect, right at the pin. Perfect shot! It hits about two feet in front of the pin and ends up about 3 feet past the pin. Cory two putts for a par and I knock in my birdie. “What do you think about that big boy?," I say to myself. So now I am just one down which is a hell of alot better than 3 if I would have lost this one. So we continue to play. I am no longer intimidated. I got the eye of the tiger back in me and I am ready to destroy him. But he is so good. This will be tough. I play well, but not able to gain any ground, we half the rest of the holes on the front nine. So after nine holes, I am one down.

  Meanwhile Jerry Churchill is intently watching on TV. He grabs a glass of Ice-tea and prepares himself for the second nine. The TV commentators are building this up. “Where did Jim come?” from they say. A few weeks ago he was a no-name pro. Then he wins the Masters and now he is going head to head with the number one player in the world in this match play event.

  On hole number ten. I tell Zack that I am going to be aggressive and go all out for this. I am going for the pin on every shot, “If you do that then you will be playing right into his hands," Zack replied. He went on. “You will make mistakes and he will have easy pickings and the match will be over before you know it. He is number one in the world for a reason. He has the talent, and he does not make mistakes. The way you are playing you can hang with him. Don’t do anything stupid.” He’s right, If I blow it by doing something stupid, then an easy win for him. I will play my game and we will see who comes out on top. On any given day any professional golfer can beat anyone. And we only got nine holes to go. I know I can hang with him. Hole number 10 with both birdie. Number 11, I make a damn bogey, and he has an easy birdie. Of course in match play, I would have lost with a par. So now two down with 7 holes to go. As we are walking to the next tee, I wink at Zack. “Don’t worry, I got him right where I want him," I said in a joking manner. He smiles nervously.Things do not look so good. But I am determined to make a run for it.

  Hole 12, I birdie, he pars. So I am now just one down with six holes to go.

  Hole 13 is a par 5. Easy reachable for him in two, not so much for me. I hit my best drive of the day, it had to be close to 300 yards which is a rarity for me. He crushes his. But pushes it right, and he is in the rough. I am in the middle behind him. I see that he is not in great shape, but not all that bad. But I do not think he can make it to the green in two with that lie in the rough. I think I can, but the green is surrounded with bunkers. If I am just short, or go right or left, I am in the bunker. I consult with Zack. I am thinking of laying up about 35 to 40 yards in front. I do not think he can get to the green in two. Zack agrees. I take a three iron and hit it right where I wanted. I figured that Cory would play it safe as well. But he apparently had a good lie and a straight shot to the green. To my surprise, he pulled out a wood, it must have been a 5 wood. He is going for it. I am thinking, “oh shit." He hits, and the ball fires out. It looks like a great shot but a little left. The ball is coming in pretty hot. It hits the left side of the green and scoots off the green into the left bunker. I think he intended to hit if high and let it float in,
but it came out hot out of the rough and there was no way it was going to stay on the green. Back at Jerry Churchill house, He jumps up and pumps his fist gives a big yell. “Where did that come from?” he asked himself. Then he sits back down and watches the match. So I am about 40 yards from the green. Perfect position. I love this shot. Just smooth swing and feel it right up to the pin. I make a good swing and I hit a great shot. But not as close as I want. About 10 feet from the hole. Cory has a tough shot out of the sand. He is close to the lip of the bunker. I am thinking, he will be lucky to even get out of the bunker on this one. The TV broadcast commentators are saying the same thing as they zoom in on the ball. Maybe he will hit it to the far right side of the green then he can get up and down for a par. I see no way he can go for the pin. But he is number one in the world and I see why. He lined up and blasted right towards the pin. Not only did he make it out of the bunker. To my surprise but he hit a great shot about 12 feet from the hole. I am like “geez, this guy is tough.” But I am thinking. If he misses his putt. And if I can make my 10 footer, then we are even with five holes to go. He gets out of the Sand Bunker and his caddie hands him his putter and then rakes the bunker. He marks his ball, then replaces it and looks at his putt. His caddie gets behind them and they consult.

  Everyone knows this is a turning point. We both are putting for birdies. I am one down. If he makes it and I miss, then bad for me. If we both make or miss and half the hole, I am still one down. If I make and he misses we are even with 5 holes to go. He lines up. I can tell he seems a little tense. “Maybe he is human after all” I tell myself. He hits the worst put I have ever seen from 12 feet out. It did not have a chance. I can smell the blood in the water. I line up. I feel totally confident. But I feel too tight. I step back and re-aline. I tell myself to just relax. Still some holes to go. I take it back make a good stroke and it drops in the hole. I feel like I am in charge now. Back at Jerry Churchill 's house, he is ecstatic. Jumping around like his favorite football team just made a touchdown. “Jim's got him now!," he cried out loud.

  As we are walking to the 14th hole, I feel like there is no freaking way that I am going to get beat by this guy. The last few weeks I have hit a million balls and I am more confident focused than ever.

  Hole 14, I drill him. I birdie, he struggled for a par. I am one up with four to go.

  Hole 15 we half the hole with a par.

  Hole 16 he shows he is still the number one player in the world. Par 4. I hit a good drive down the middle. He pulls his left about 15 yards ahead of me but he went in the rough. I am one up and feel confident. I am one up and if I win this hole, I am two up with two to go. Pretty good odds. My second, I am 185 out, I hit a 5 hour safely in the middle of the green. He is in the left rough, has a lot of tree problems. He cannot punch it out and get close to the green. He does not direct shot to the green. He has two options as far as I can see. Lay up about 100 yards short. Or if he wants to get close to the green his only option is in the far right side of the green and if it kicks off the right side, it is out of bounds is only a few feet away. I can hear him discussing with his caddie. He says if I can hit a high hook, I can bring it around to the green. I am thinking that he is crazy, there is no way. He is going to have to get it high fast, then a big hook. And he has a fluffy lie which is is impossible to create a high hook. If he was on other side of the fairway, yea, a makeable high Slice, but a hook? I see his caddie shaking his head. I do not think he is sold on this idea. I feel there is no way to keep this ball from going out of bounds if he tries this shot.

  The TV crew is also analysing this. The zoom in on his lie and the commentators feel like he has no hope to get to the green. “This guy thinks just because he is number one in the world he can do anything," I tell myself. Cory lines up, here we go. He makes his swing and you could not have drawn it any better on paper. Towering high shot that starts out far right. And to my amazement the ball has a distinct long curve to the left. The ball must have hooked 30 yards. And the ball lands softly 2 feet from the pin. I am amazed! “How can you hit a high hook on a fluffy lie?," I ask myself. The TV crew goes crazy on this one. They showed it a dozen times on replay. This will be on the highlights on TV tonight. I am not sure how I should feel. Should I be pissed? Should I feel dejected and depressed? Somehow I feel privileged to have witnessed such a shot. I walk by him and give him a high five and a pat on the back. The TV crew comments that Jim is a great sport. Sure I was being a good sport, but I just enjoy seeing a great golf shot like that. And that was the best golf shot that I have ever seen. Back at Jerry Churchill 's house, he just sits down puts his hands together next to his lips and knows I'm in trouble. So I miss my long putt, he makes his. So now we are even with two holes to go. On seventeen tee box, I got my fire back. Two holes to go and we are even. I am ready to bury him. But seventeen was uneventful, we both pared.

  Hole 18, par 5, we are even. I am not nervous and I am not scared of this guy. Anything can happen on one hole. I am focused and ready to roll. This is a long par 5 which is his advantage. He hits first. He is pumped and drives one down the middle at least 325 yards. I bomb one myself about 290 yards. I got a little adrenalin going as well. As we are walking down the fairway, I am discussing with Zack. “What is the Plan here?," I ask. “Well he can reach it in two, you cannot," he replied. “I know that he is not conservative, he will go for it. You guys are even and he is thinking birdie” he said as we got to my seconds shot. Zack explains that I can go for it and if I hit a perfect shot, I may be 20 yards from the green. But if I stray my shot, left or right, that will be a problem. The green is surrounded by bunkers and water on the far left. “Let's set him up” he says. “He expects you to be aggressive and go for it. Let's hit a 5 iron right down the middle. That will put you right at 100 yards out. Just an easy wedge into the green. And that is you best shot you have in the bag. No one is better from a hundred yard in than you," he told me confidently. Zack explained that it will force him to be conservative or go for it. If is conservative and lays up like me. Then I will have a better chance on a pitch shot than he does. But conservative is not in his nature. He will have more pressure to go for it if I lay up. And if he goes for it, he will have to do it in a conservative way. And trying to go for it in a conservative manner. That may be a problem because if his second shot is not perfect, he is buying a bunker.

  This all makes sense to me. Either we are both laying up, or he goes for it and wins, or goes for it and makes a mistake. If I make a good safe shot, then put the pressure on him. I do exactly that. I nail a 5 iron down the middle right at the hundred yard mark. Cory looks a little surprised. Now it is on him. Should he go for the Jugular, or play it safe? I see him discussing with his caddie. He can go for it which is a tricky shot because of the bunkers.Or layup about 30 yards. Which the best he can do because bunkers are in the front of the green. But if he goes for it and makes a mistake then he could have a problem. He pulls out a fairway wood, probably a 5 wood. Zack whispers to me, that he can get there with a good 3 iron, but he is going to try to hit an easy 5 wood. So he is conservatively going for it and that could be a problem. He lines up left, looks like he is hitting a high fade. He wants to float it to the green. He hits it perfect. But he has adrenalin working. and it too strong. It hits the back the green and almost stays up. But the back of the green slopes away and his ball gently rolls into the bunker. He is pissed. He slams the his club down. His caddie picks it up and they walk to the green.

  “You are genius, That's why I pay you the big bucks," I said to Zack smiling. He chuckles knowing that we both know that is not true the last few years. So it is all laid out. If I can do my part then I will be fine. I got a 100 yard wedge shot. Pretty much full gap wedge shot. And that is one of my favorite shots. I address the ball and I deliver the package. I blank the pin with a high wedge shot 6 feet from the hole. So we get up to the green. I got a very makeable six-foot putt and Cory is in the back bunker with a long ways to go. You could not have drawn it up a
ny better for me. I see that he has a good lie and not really any major problems. He is number one in the world and I see the potential that this may not turn out so good for me. I think about his last bunker shot which was unbelievable. But still he is a good 55 feet from the cup and in the sand trap. He gets set up, and I sense that he is not so confident. He knows he has to get up and down or it is over because I got a six footer for a birdie. He has to get up and down for birdie. Zack whispers to me that this is an easy bunker shot for him. Maybe an easy shot will put more pressure on him. And Zack nailed it again. He took a swing and made it out of the bunker with only a fair shot. He hit it a little fat, and he was a good thirty feet from the hole. But I am thinking, he can still make this. But if he misses and gets a par and I do not make my birdie putt then this is all even and we go to sudden death. Or, he can make his putt because he is the best putter in the world. If I miss and he wins it all over. So I am panicking inside. All this strategy that Zack and I planned on this hole can be all for naught. So Cory lines up. This is not really a hard put. A slight downhill putt with a predictable break to the right. Really just a speed putt. If he strokes it like the wants, it has a good chance. He makes his putt and I feel like my heart is going to stop. It has good speed and is turning to the right. But the ball somehow just breaks a hair too much at the last second and just catches the right lip of the cup and does not fall. It was one of those heart breaking putts where you just cannot believe it did not fall. He winched with disappointment and the gallery reacted with a very big “Ahhhh.”

  So now it is all laid out for me. I need to make this putt. If I make it then I win this Match and the tournament. This is not a really big tournament in the scheme of things. But if I can make this putt. Then I will have beaten the number one player in the world. And that I feel will validate my Masters win and that I am not just a fluke. Zack and I line up the putt. It is six feet a slight break to the right. I am putting the same path that Cory from the opposite direction, so I know there is a slight break. But I am close and not enough to the hole, so not hardly any break. I get over the putt and I freeze. It Seems like forever. Jerry Churchill is watching intently on TV and knows what I am going through. Every golfer has been through this before. I try to decide if I should step away. But for some stupid reason, I think that would be embarrassing. I try to calm myself down but I cannot. I feel like I have been over the ball for ever. I am panicking inside but decide to not step away. I make a stroke, I feel my putter head going back not to smooth and not too straight. I hit the ball, and it rolls towards the cup. It rolls right in the middle of the cup. I win! I feel so surprised. Zack gives me a big hug. Cory comes up takes his cap off as I do mine and we shake hands. “Good match Jim, good Match” he told me. And I can tell he is sincere. I know it hurts him. But he played his best, and I beat him! I feel so vindicated that I have showed all the Nay Sayers that I am not a fluke and I am for real. As we start walk off the green, I think about that putt that I froze up on. I got lucky that that went in. I make a promise to myself that that will never happen again. I will gain control and step away to regroup if that situation ever comes up again.