On the TUNNEYSIDE of SPORTS February 15, 2016 # 580 Up Next…Curing Disappointments!
After further review…With the completion of the 76th AT&T ProAm Pebble Beach Golf Tournament we applaud the seven titlists and six of the world’s top ten golfers who played and helped raise millions of dollars for local charities. Speaking of helping others, I am reminded of a story my friend Clay Larson told me about pro golfer Jeff Sluman. Some 24 years ago Sluman, a close friend of Larson’s, was playing in this tournament. As Larson tells it:
“In a conversation with Sluman and my son Derek, who was 17, we made an arraignment to get together as Jeff had promised Derek he would spend some time with him and help him with his golf game. During the week of the tournament circumstances multiplied, but time didn’t. Plans for their meeting kept disappearing. On Friday, the second day of the tournament, Jeff called Derek and said, ‘I’ll tell you what, after the round on Sunday (the final day), we’ll get together and I’ll help you with your game.’ On Sunday, Jeff made an awesome 22-foot birdie putt on 18, which tied him with Mark O’Meara for the lead. The two then went into a sudden death playoff, starting at the 16th.
“Derek, my friend Bobby Rahal, legendary race car champion, and I were in Bobby’s room at the Pebble Beach Lodge watching on television as the drama unfolded when they teed it up to start the playoff. Both reached the fringe of the 16th in two. Mark was away and chipped his ball in for a birdie as Jeff’s 40-foot putt died short. O’Meara won the tournament on the first playoff hole. We all groaned in sympathy for our friend Jeff, who hadn’t won a tournament since he won the PGA some ten years earlier.
“Bobby said, ‘Derek, it’s been a tough day for Jeff. I don’t think you two are going to get together.’ So the three of us headed off to the Cypress Point Club to play a few holes. We were putting out on 15 when down the path to the green came Jeff. ‘Hi guys,’ he said, ‘I knew I’d find you here.’ I was amazed at his apparent ease, and the smile in his voice. ‘Come on, Derek,’ Jeff said, ‘grab your clubs. Let’s play 16, 17, and 18. I want to see your golf swing.’
“Jeff had just finished 19 holes of championship golf, had lost by one shot in sudden death, yet he was willing to spend time to help a young kid with his game!”
Will you find a cure for your disappointments by helping someone in need?
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