I was recently on a flight back to my early day stomping grounds -- Boston Mass. As I flew over the country from high above pondering an array of moments in my life, I stumbled upon a memory of once hearing someone describe a golfer that I knew very well as having all heart.
I recall wondering what that had meant at the time. I don't think it was meant in a bad way, although I'm not sure how it was meant. Was the golfer being described as too caring or compassionate? I can see that as possible.
There are some great players on tour today that could be labeled as playing with all heart. There is a fantastic young woman, Morgan Pressel, who could easily fall into this genre. Playing with such emotion, you might even see her cry due to a bad day.
Although one could describe her as playing with a lot of heart, the golfer of my distant memory was not at all like her. He was as gracious a loser as he was a winner and I believe that comes from maturity and perhaps a bit of wisdom. This is something very different from having the knowledge to play good golf. Yes, knowledge can be clever for some things, but a clever mind does not have a heart.
There are others that may fall into this category -- Phil Mickelson for one. He certainly seems to play with a great deal of his heart. Perhaps a bit more than many of the critics would say is good for him. Yet, withstanding all the media's attention to the past, specifically his most recent loss at The U.S. Open, he has become the most interesting golfer to watch this year. As his wisdom for the game grows from the mistakes that he makes, I believe his tournament win record will grow as well.
Since I wasn't getting any where with this label on a very important figure in my life, I decided to look up the word "heart" and I found out the Latin word for heart is "cor," which is the base, or is also translated into "courage."
Now, when I thought back on the golfer that I knew, it all fell together. He was not the bravest person that I had ever met, but under certain situations it was as if his heart grew. His courage to pull off a tough shot at the right time or drain a difficult putt under pressure had happened countless times.
Most golfers would never have the courage to pull these shots off with such regularity. These moments would always bring him happiness and he would live for those moments simply because of the joy. From this compassion came his courage and happiness. That is how I believe he was described as having a lot of heart. It is unfortunate that his heart gave out on him this past week. The man that I had this memory of was my father.
To me he was and will always be the greatest golfer that I ever knew. Perhaps that is because he was the one that showed me how to live and play from my heart. There is something that I once had learned from his compassion for the game, from it will come courage and, I might add, wisdom and that can be a very powerful combination. For what it is worth, thanks Dad.
If you would like to read more on my swing philosophy go to 7mythsofgolf.com.
