Maybe not, but watching Rory McIlroy and Kevin Na blow up recently on one hole sure makes me say…..”I can do that”. I can shank a drive left into the trees, and then have it ricochet off a tree and land in between two cabins, then chip out, miss the green on the approach, try to chip over a tree but instead hit it, chip on, and two put for a triple bogey……piece of cake…..where is my tour card? Everyone in the world had to be thinking this same thing, right?  Us amateurs all experience something similar a couple of times a season, and it just makes you feel at peace when you see it happen to the pros.  I can’t tell you though how bad I felt for Rory. You could just see the destruction on his face and in his body language during and after his debacle on the 10th hole at the Masters at Augusta National. Nothing a bottle of Irish Whiskey can’t wash away for the 21 year old.

Kevin Na’s situation at the Valero Texas open at TPC San Antonio – AT&T Oaks Course, was a little different for me because if that is where my drive ended up, I would have laughed, picked my ball up and dropped it in the rough and taken a stroke. Now I don’t want anyone to think that I’m a cheater, but let’s be honest, unless you are playing for money (which I normally am), there is no reason I should pretend I’m Paul Bunyan and hack away in the trees. That would just ruin my round and I don’t pay $85, or whatever to putz around in the forest. I do take the game very seriously, and think I am a very moral person, but come on. Re-tee a 3rd time, or drop and take another stroke. But I digress. Kevin Na did take it like a man and with the utmost class.

As tough as it was to watch these two professional golfers unravel, I have to say it makes me feel good. It shows the true side of golf, and the pure fact that the game is cruel, and things like this happen to everyone whether you’re a scratch golfer or a 15 handicap. In the end it doesn’t matter because we will be out there the next day doing it all over again. This is why I love the game, it’s like dating a woman….frustrating as all hell, enjoyable at times (or always), and we are always willing to play!!

Tee it Up!