Cosmic Justice

Greetings Golfers,

Last Sunday while watching the US Open with my family, we were rooting for our “picks” in Marty’s Majors. 

As much as I wanted one of my 4 picks to win … I also wanted Louis Oosthuizen, although he wasn’t one of my picks.

However, I was pleased when Jon Rahm (not my pick) made those putts on #17 and #18.

And, I was sad when Louis hit it into the hazard on #17. 

As I said then, I wanted to see somebody “win it” not somebody “lose it”.

I’m competitive. I like to win. But, winning because somebody falls apart is not satisfying.

Do I ever cheer against someone or some team? Yeah. If I think they’re a villain. 

I think that’s more about justice … than about winning or losing …or being competitive. 

Who wants to see the bad guy win?

A few years ago, I played with a friend and two of his buddies that I’d never met. We paired-up and had a game. Over the course of the round, we’d had fun and gotten along really well. So, when the guy on the other team needed to make the putt on #18 to tie the match … we were all secretly rooting for him. You could feel it. He made it. 

These were 4 competitive guys. But, everyone wanted to win by playing well … not by someone screwing-up … especially if you like each other.

As I said … I think we like the bad guy screwing-up because it’s more about justice than winning.

Rahm seems to be a good guy. Maybe it was justice that he won because of what happened a few weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament.

Sometimes justice is better than winning.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com