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."