Sunday: Even a Dreamer's Biggest Dream

You probably don't like golf. Well, you might like it okay, but you definately don't like to watch it on tv. It's boring, I hear many people say. It's not a sport, I hear often. But I love sports, and I really love to watch college football and golf (not really compatable, I know). I also recognize that sports don't really fit the general tenor of this blog. Yet, if you weren't paying attention, one of the most remarkable victories in sports history (if not the most) almost transpired on Sunday.

Back story: like tennis, golf has 4 premier events in a year called "majors": the Masters, the US Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. This last weekend the British Open was played in Scotland. The person who's won the most all-time majors is Jack Nicklaus. Number 2 you've probably heard of too: Tiger Woods. Number 6? That's right, Tom Watson.

While Tiger was finding (and sometimes not finding) his ball in thick, grisly grass on Friday on his way to not making the "cut" and so missing his chance to play the final 2 rounds, Tom Watson was keeping his name on the top of the leaderboard. So what's the big deal of a really good golfer being on top of the leaderboard through a few rounds? Tom Watson is 2 months away from being 60, that's what. Big deal, right? Golf isn't a sport.

Yeah, except that nothing remotely close to this has ever happened. The oldest guy to win a major was 48; only 3 guys over 46 have ever done it (one of whom was Jack Nicklaus). Michael Jordan at 38 was a virtual has-been. Yet, there have been other old-people phenoms. We marveled at Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds dominance into their 40's until steroid allegations came to the fore. We marveled all the more when Dara Torres, 41 year old swimmer, won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Lance Armstrong is even giving it a go at this year's Tour de France as a relative oldie.

But Tom Watson was in a different stratosphere this weekend. Even golf requires a powerful repetitive motion that befits a young man and a large swing. It requires the finesse and feel of someone who can have the touch in their hands around the green (which many older golfers admit goes away over time). Power and touch are young man's qualities, and Tom Watson was no young man.

And so the remarkable events transpired. He walked to the last hole of the tournament with a one-shot lead. A par and he wins. His drive: flush down the fairway. His approach shot to the green: executed flawlessly. Except for the club selection. You see, on a windy day it was sometimes hard to determine what club to hit and Watson hit one club too many. His ball sailed to the back of the green where he had a long putt. But still, 2 putts and he wins. And sadly, to the dismay of the entire golf world, he 3-putted. He then went into a 4-hole playoff where he lost to Stewart Cink (he himself an all-around good golfer and good guy). But Tom almost did it. Indeed, no one his age had ever even come close. And Tom was in the playoff. And now we get to the point: why am I typing this when you could read it on any sports website?

Because we all wanted to believe Tom could win. We, in the golf world, got so wrapped up in the improbable that we became obsessed with a story larger than ourselves. We forgot about our own lives and pulled so strongly for a guy that's a really old person by pop-American standards.

You see, because whether you are in the golf world or any other sphere of life, you want to believe in the improbable and wrap yourself in a story larger than yourself. We are all dreamers, and Tom Watson gave us the chance to dream that something improbable could actually happen. It is a universal human impulse.

2000 years ago, something improbable did happen. God became a man. He died and came back to life 3 days later to prove his victory over darkness and death so that all humans might have real, true life. That is a huge story larger than ourselves and, indeed, the whole universe. Tom Watson was just pointing us to that gaping impulse inside us all.