Kenny Perry is not an "average" golfer..."

Most of you know that I have had a passion for golf for all my adult life! I began hitting a golf ball around when I was about twelve, played my first round of golf on a "real" golf course with my cousin, Doug Dotson, when I was sixteen, and have been playing now for forty-eight years! I guess, other than living, I have played golf longer than anything else I have ever done!

Yesterday afternoon I watched on television, along with millions of others, the two greatest golfers in the world battle it out in the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. It was classic! No one could write a script any better! While neither of them won the tournament they made one spectacular shot after another for nearly four hours with only three or four "bad" (?) shots!

As much as I enjoyed the prowess of Mickelson and Woods, I was hoping that Kenny Perry would win it all! Maybe it was the older guy rooting for Perry to become the oldest player ever to win the Masters. Maybe it was because I had read some articles about Perry's relationship with Jesus Christ. Oh, maybe it was because I wanted to see someone beat the best in the world! Regardless of what I wanted, Perry came up short in the "sudden death" playoff.

In an interview that I listened afterwards, Perry hinted that he was not in the same caliber as the "stars" of the game, but was merely an "average" golfer! I wonder how anyone could consider himself "average" when he missed winning golf's greatest prize by one stroke. Perry is not your "average" golfer. Believe me, I know!

There must be a certain sense of reality that takes over when one "almost wins!" Those poorly made shots will be replayed forever in Kenny Perry's mind. Though there were only two or three of them, they will never be forgotten! It will always be, "what might have been!"

One thing that stands out in my mind is that Perry understands that golf is a "game," and in no way compares to "life!" The "almost winner" still has his family, health, and, most of all, his relationship with Jesus Christ. With those things he will always be a winner!