Hero Status

This was originally written in 2007

It’s a family tradition in December to have our heads checked for lice, and then we jump in the car and drive an hour down to the annual Target World Challenge golf tournament held at Sherwood Country Club near Westlake Village, California.  We have been going for several years and it is always a great event.  Sixteen of the world’s best golfers, invited by the tournament host, Tiger Woods, play four days of great golf.  The gallery can get up close and personal, and that makes it special.  I always go to see my hero Tiger play, but in 2007, I found a new hero.  I’ll explain, after a bunch of rambling about the day.

So Christina, Anthony, and I head down there to see if “The Grinch” was still there.  I should explain that we went the year before, and per tradition, we stood by the ropes at the ninth green.  Tiger came walking by and we held our hands out for Borat-style “high five” but Tiger passed us by.  From that point forward, Christina called Tiger “The Grinch”, but I tried to explain that he was in the zone and she should not take offense.   

We watched that day’s television coverage on the Tivo, and the world could see our hands in the frame of the shot of Tiger walking right past us.  The only sound worse than the sound of one hand clapping, is the sound of an unfulfilled high five.  How embarrassing, on national television no less.  I am sure that any of you who saw the broadcast remember that moment.  It was indelible.

(Comments from Uncle Mort - Are you kidding me?  Who watches golf on television?  If I have time to watch TV, I am watching guys get hit in the nuts with stuff on Spike’s “The world’s most amazing videos”.  They hold nothing back on that show.  One time I saw a bullfighter get pushed out of the ring with a bull’s horn in his keaster and I laughed so hard I had to get a paper towel.) 

Back to this year’s tournament.  This year was special from the start because I brought along a special copy of my Gardening for Golfers book with the hope of something magical happening.  It did indeed.  The kids and I made our way down to the green on the first hole.  Tiger and Jim Furyk (the Abe Lincoln look alike) were paired together, so we staked out a great position behind the green.  In previous years, Tiger has attempted to go for the green in one, so we were hoping he might try again.  We were right there and willing to get hit.  

As we waited, the kids decided to run over by the ropes as Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey were making their way to the second tee.  The kids asked me to save their place, and off they went.  I was standing there taking in all the excitement in a kind of trance, and I failed to notice that Kuthilda Woods, Tiger’s Mom of course, had skooched in right next to me and took some of our space.  It took me a moment to notice her presence, but once I did I was in shock.  

It’s not that I haven’t seen her on the course before at other tournaments, but I had never been that close to her.  Here I was standing next to my hero’s mom, and I could not help but wonder if I should offer her my book as a birthday present for Tiger, since Tiger’s birthday is the day after mine, December 29th.  His birthday is obviously the 30th.  (To date, I have never received a card from him, but I do leave messages on his web site when his birthday approaches.)  

Anywho, the kids returned and I gestured towards Tiger’s mom.  They knew right away who she was, as we had met her in Vegas the year before at the Tiger Jam, starring Sting.  In GFG, there’s a picture of the family that we took there.  

Christina wanted me to give the book to Mrs. Woods right away, but I felt that it was rude to force my book on her, especially on the first hole.  I will admit that at several times I held the book in such a manner that she could see it, but she provided no acknowledgment.  To her credit, she was quiet and focused on watching her son play golf.  I could not help but notice the giant diamond earrings she was wearing that were shaped like the Nike golf logo.  Maybe a gift from Phil Knight?

We stayed right there with Tiger’s mom and watched Tiger and Jim hit approach shots to the green.  Jim was high on the fairway left, and he had a tricky shot over an oak tree.  Jim hit a magnificent shot that hit and stopped like a bean bag about four feet from the hole.  Everyone cheered.  Mrs. Woods’ son’s tee ball ended up on the right side of the fairway, about the same distance as Jim’s, but he did not have the oak tree to contend with.  Tiger hit his approach and stuck it to three feet.  The place went crazy.  Tiger’s mom had seen enough and she headed off to the par five second green to watch the action.  Both Tiger and Jim made their birdie putts, and it was “game on” time.

The kids and I took off for the third green, a great par three where Christina met Tiger for the first time several years ago.  That was the first time we went to this tournament, and it was the first tournament for all of us.  Even my wife Louise joined us, and we had a great time, in spite of the cold weather.  

That year, we were positioned behind the third green and Tiger hit his tee ball long.  It landed right next to us, and the Marshall's had to move the rope back a bit.  Tiger came right up to his ball to survey his shot, and Christina was standing right next to him.  She was young and I could tell she wanted to reach out to touch him, but thank god she didn’t.  I did, and was hauled away in handcuffs.  That’s not true of course, they used those zip tie things to constrain me.  That’s not true either, nobody from the Blair family touched Tiger and I believe he hit a great shot for par.

Back to this year, we made our way to the third green and positioned ourselves where the ropes funnel the players to the fourth tee.  There we waited.  I will say as an aside that it is incumbent on the golf watcher to literally “know the ropes” at a tournament.  The Marshall's rope off pathways and areas to control the flow of golfers and the gallery, and sometimes you can get stuck behind the ropes.  If you know how and when they drop the ropes, you can get yourself in the perfect position.

As we were standing there waiting for Tiger and Jim to come through, we noticed some commotion over by the fourth tee cart path.  People were yelling and running, and we were not sure what to make of it.   Someone yelled “Oh Dear”, which was totally appropriate, as a large male deer with racks, had himself been trapped by the ropes and the crowds, and he was running in and out of the ropes like OJ in a Hertz commercial.  Everyone spread out and the deer jumped down into the creek and escaped that way.  Very exciting indeed.

Tiger and Jim did not have great shots into the third, but no matter, Tiger was leading, and everyone was enjoying some great golf.  Tiger and Jim finished up and Tiger was the first to walk up the small hill, right to where we were.  Christina instinctively held out my GFG for the world’s greatest golfer to see and he looked right at it and smiled!  

Uncharacteristically, he then looked right at me and nodded and said “Hi”.   Christina was the first to state, for the record, that Tiger saw the book and he was no longer "The Grinch".  The spell had been broken and all the kids in Whoville were going to get their toys back.   

Some have speculated that since Tiger saw my GFG book, he has not lost a tournament, which means that book is some kind of a good luck charm, at least for him.

 

We followed Tiger for several holes, through the fifth actually, where the course gets rugged.  We normally use this opportunity to cut over to the ninth green and wait for the players to come through there.  We get snacks and enjoy the excitement as players hit bombs into the green.  For many years I have seen Tiger hit some beauties in there, bouncing shots off the flag, or sticking them tight.  One year, Anthony, and my brother-in-law Mike stood there in rain ponchos freezing to death waiting for the players to come through.  What a great time. 

This year we bought a clubhouse pass from a scalper, so I took the kids to the magnificent club house and talked the security guys into letting the kids in with me.  Of course we had to take off our hats.  

We had no business being in there - the place was gorgeous and the halls were lined with pictures of serious people, including Tom Selleck and that hockey guy, Gretzky, I think his name is.  We were able to pay to eat at the swanky lunch buffet, which we did.  They had great food and it was indoors and warm.  At that point, our options were to chase Tiger through the back nine hills like billy goats, or watch the tournament on flat screen televisions in the lap of luxury.  Guess what we did?  We sat right there and had Tiramisu and Creme Brûlée.  After a delicious meal, we thought we better get back down to the action, so we went outside by the eighteenth green.  There’s a large practice green there and all the players walk by it after their round.  Some metal railing has been setup for security, and all the kids hang out on them waiting to get autographs from the players with the gumption to sign them.

As it gets closer to the end of the tournament, the amount of kids and parents swells.  My kids were right down against the rail, too close in fact, as one of the security guys asked me to get them under control.  I explained that those kids were not mine (throwing them completely under the bus), but he knew I was fibbing.  I pulled them back a bit, at least until the guard moved on.  I was not prepared for what was about to happen next.

So there’s some of the players walking by and signing autographs.  Freddy Couples, a popular player and a recent Santa Barbara resident, came by and signed autographs with a smile.  (By the way, the fake letter in the forward section of GFG was meant to imply that it came from Freddy’s Lawyers).  Padraig Harrington signed everything.  The scene was a little hectic, but I noticed that there was a young boy waiting patiently who had Down’s Syndrome.  As a parent, and a human, your heart goes out to these magnificent kids.  He appeared to really be enjoying himself.  The boy got a few autographs, but he went largely unnoticed by the players.

Henrik Stenson has been a favorite of my kids for quite some time.  It might have started at last year’s tournament when he pretended to steal the giant million dollar winner’s check from the trophy table.  This year, Henrik had just come off the course, and was making his way towards the club house.  He is a great person and loves to interact with the kids.  Henrik’s caddie, Fanny Suneson, is also great with the kids.  Fanny used to be Nick Faldo’s caddie, when he was on fire.  

Henrik started signing hats and things that kids were holding out, but something special  happened.  Henrik noticed the boy with Down’s Syndrome and stopped in his tracks, as if frozen by the boy.  He finished signing whatever he had in his hand and moved straight to the boy.  He looked him right in the eye with a big smile, reached for and removed his own PING hat that he had been playing in all week, signed under the bill for the boy, and handed it to him with such honor and respect.  The boy was overjoyed.  Even more touching was that Henrik’s act was purely genuine - he did not look around for parents or the press to capture this heroic act, he did it to please the boy.  I was speechless, and I cried like a baby privately.  What a beautiful act.

Henrik Stenson, the man from Sweden, was my hero that day.