President Trump invited South African golfing legends Ernie Els and Retief Goosen to the White House during his expose of white genocide in that God-forsaken land. In one of the lighter moments in what was otherwise a series of dark revelations, Trump lauded the skill and fortitude of the pair in a very challenging profession.
Golf? Challenging? Well, not so much physically compared to proper sports, but the mental rigors are enough to drive one to distraction. For example, during the recent US PGA Championship the normally composed Max Homa flung his club after forces intercepted his ball, diverting it off course. At the same event, highly ranked Shane Lowry and Tyrell Hatton abused their clubs during profane-laced tirades.
Being in an underpaid profession by comparison, schadenfreude is why I occasionally tune-in to an otherwise boring spectator “sport” — to witness the plight of overpaid and pampered golfers. President Trump was right, it is a challenging endeavor, especially mentally.
A player can be on a roll, maybe scoring a birdie followed by a rarer eagle. Then, all of a sudden, his next tee shot ricochets unfortunately, dribbling into the course lake, resulting in a double bogey. All he/she did to deserve this disaster is come out of his swing a touch early, mistime a wind gust, or swiveled hips or feet on the wet grass, or whatever.
Missing the fairway is often not fair, perhaps resulting from a fluky bounce or roll, and hitting the bunkers is enough to drive one bonkers. Except on rare occasions such as holing-out a pitch or sinking a 30-footer, professional golfers rarely crack a smile; rather, it’s more relief than anything for they know the next hole will be unforgiving. Then, after the round, there’s constant rumination and second-guessing amidst a media frenzy with everyone watching, and the humiliation of missing the weekend cut. No wonder professional golf is approaching a “mental health reckoning,” foreshadowing we saw with the tragic death of PGA player Grayson Murray.
It’s still amusing when the wind dumps the ball in the course creek, or a shank or hook catches the out-of-bounds rough. There’s irony that golf was invented by Scots, a very industrious people but not typically known for their sense of humor. Nevertheless, rather than schadenfreude, I’m gradually feeling some sorrow for those golfers trapped in the “tyranny of excellence.” In many cases, the money doesn’t buy the pros happiness.
Els and Goosen conquered the challenges with remarkable equanimity. Of course, the tyranny in South Africa is magnitudes-worse — there is absolutely no comparison. Still, one can understand why Trump valued their level-headed inputs about the horrific despotism in South Africa.
Image: Free image, Pixabay license.