True Champions Stare Adversity in the Face

Rickie Fowler wins the 2017 Honda Classic and moves back into the top 10 in the world rankings.  He held a 4 stroke lead after 54 holes and closed out with a 1 over par, 71 to win by 4 strokes over Gary Woodland and Morgan Hoffman in difficult, windy conditions.  It wasn't a pretty round by Fowler who rinsed his tee shot on 6 and on 17.  The victory was Rickie's fourth career PGA Tour win.

Four wins doesn't seem like much for someone of his immense talent and yes, I mean immense.  Rickie now has 3 top 10s in his first four events to start off his 2017 campaign.  Last year he had his lowest career scoring average but did not claim a PGA Tour victory.  He has had many close calls where he just didn't quite get it done on Sunday.  Before today, Rickie was 0-4 in turning his 54 hole leads into victories.  That can certainly wear on a person when they fail to close and think is it ever going to happen?

I believe the turning point was when Rickie really acknowledged it. He even did it in the media center.  Rickie said he believed it is time he started to finish some of these leads and turn them into wins.  A top 10-20 player of his caliber is measured by victories and Rickie has basically been that caliber since 2012 when he won his first tournament at Quail Hollow.  Sometimes all it takes is to verbalize something and make it real, and then take steps to change it.

The best part is it couldn't have happened to a better person.  Rickie is an absolute star in the media center, with his massive fan base of bright orange lookalikes.  Who relates more with the kids than Rickie Fowler?  He hardly has a bad word to say about anyone or anything.  Johnny Miller said after his round that Rickie really didn't finish like a 'true champion'.  I believe that he stared adversity in the face after making double on 6 and bounced back over his next 9 holes with 4 birdies.  I believe that is the mark of a true champion.

How many times did Tiger Woods go out and shoot around even par and win?  Did Johnny Miller say he wasn't a true champion?  Of course not.  Rickie handled it beautifully saying "Hey, a win's a win."

"Never panic, just manage."

Jordan Year

Happy Valentines Day!  In just 228 days I get to marry to my amazing fiance, Paige!  But today, I turned 23 years old and in 3 days MJ himself will turn 54 years old. For anyone following my career, I want to use this post to talk about where I will be in 2017.  After graduating college, I was in Minnesota for 6 months and I will be in Arizona until the end of April.

First, I want to thank everyone at Edinburgh USA an for allowing me an opportunity to begin my career  as an Assistant Golf Professional.  I enjoyed my time there and can't wait to come back and visit.  Which leads me to...

Starting in May, I will be back in Iowa while continuing my career as an Assistant Golf Professional at Des Moines Golf & CC.  I am excited to continue to learn and grow at such a beautiful facility! I truly love the Des Moines area and for anybody who didn't know Des Moines, IA was ranked in 2016 by BusinessInsider as the 11th best place to live in America!

As for the state of my game, we have been working hard on the weaknesses in my game. With that being said, it is difficult to say exactly where I am at until I play in some sustained competition over a period of time.  My last tournament experience was fairly positive, so I can draw on some positives.

Thank you to everyone who has been following my progress as I continue to build my professional career.  It has been a slow and challenging process with a lot of failure along the way.  We will just keep plugging along, try and learn from our failures and see where the journey takes us us next!

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan

Tales of the Tour and Phoenix Open

It's the eve of the Phoenix Open and there are many reasons to be excited for this week in the Valley.  FINALLY, the Valley of the Sun has received some sun.  After receiving weather in the 40s and 50s with considerable rain and wind, finally Phoenix lived up to its name. This week has been steadily getting better and now the forecast for the tournament is now in the mid-upper 70s!  With names like Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, and defending champion Hideki Matsuyama, the field is as strong as its ever been.  Last year Rickie Fowler basically had the tournament in the bag before an unlucky bounce off the downslope in front of the green after a perfect drive.  His ball ended up bouncing over the green into the water.  Fowler managed to get into a playoff with Matsuyama and played admirably through the adversity of what happened at 17.  

For the past few tournaments, on Monday before the Phoenix Open, an event called Tales of the Tour takes place, this year being at Scottsdale Bible.  The event features a panel of speakers and an MC to lead the conversation.  The topics are of experiences from inside the ropes and in the locker room on the PGA Tour.  This year's panel included Aaron Baddeley, Andrew Yun, Ted Scott (Caddy of Bubba Watson), and Tom Lehman.  

It was a beautiful Monday afternoon at Scottsdale Bible and anticipation was mounting.  Once the panel arrived onstage, they settled in showing their charisma.  Ted Scott is absolutely marvelous with a mic on telling stories of his first opportunity caddying for Grant Waite.  Aaron and Tom were tremendous as well.  All of the players are believers in God and many of their stories reflect that.  Their motivations for getting up in the morning and becoming the best they can be are because of their belief in God's plan and purpose for them.  Hearing the human side of the players was a humbling experience that I won't soon forget.  

The theme for Tales from the Tour in 2017 was "We didn't do it alone" and it was very fitting.  We all need mentors, encouragement, constructive criticism, and help from many on the path to our success. Lehman and Scott talked about how team-oriented the Ryder Cup team was and that each player was willing to do anything to help the team win.

One of the many things I gathered from Tom Lehman was some talk about the Ryder Cup.  Jordan Spieth posted this message the Sunday of the Ryder Cup into the team's group text, which was fittingly called "Return the Cup"this powerful quote:

"Fate whispers to the warrior, you cannot withstand the storm.  The warrior replies, "I am the storm."